Did you know the air inside your home can be more polluted than the air outside? In fact, experts estimate that household air pollution contributes to about 3.2 million deaths each year worldwide (1). The impact of poor indoor air quality (Iaq) goes beyond these staggering numbers, affecting our daily lives in more ways than we may realize.
Pollutants in homes, businesses, and schools can trigger or worsen symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath, and pose long-term health risks such as asthma, heart disease, and cancer. Indoor air quality monitoring is critical to identifying pollutants, despite the challenge that air quality can vary widely in different parts of your home.
Let’s explore effective strategies to monitor and improve our indoor air so we can better protect our health and turn our homes into well-being sanctuaries.
Indoor Air Quality Monitoring 101: Navigating Your Home’s Unique Ecosystem
IAQ is not a static measure, as many factors inside and outside can cause it to fluctuate.
Impact of outdoor air on indoor air quality
The interplay between outdoor and indoor air quality complicates the IAQ landscape. Pollutants from outdoor sources, such as traffic emissions and industrial activities, can infiltrate homes.
Homes with poor ventilation systems or inadequate sealing can experience higher levels of outdoor pollutants coming indoors. On the contrary, effective air purification and ventilation strategies can reduce indoor pollution, reduce outdoor pollution intrusion.
IQAir’s AirVisual Pro Sensor provides real-time indoor air quality monitoring-so you can identify pollution hotspots and fluctuations and take immediate action, whether it’s improving ventilation, using air purifiers, or modifying activities that harm air quality.
Sources of Indoor Air Pollution Right: A Room-by-room guide
Each area of your home has a unique air quality challenge. Identifying and addressing these sources is key to reducing indoor pollution and maintaining healthy indoor air:
Kitchen
The kitchen is often the most polluted room in the House. The main cause? Pollutants emitted from the gas range. These can include nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. Cooking also produces harmful ultrafine particles, known as UFP, which are particles so small that they can penetrate deep into your bloodstream and wreak havoc on your health.
Use a range of hoods that cover the entire cooking surface to effectively capture pollutants. A reach hood that extends 3-6 inches beyond the stove can provide better protection.
Choose a range hood with a fan capacity appropriate for the size of your kitchen, ideally moving at least 200 cubic feet of air per minute.
Be sure to span the exhaust hood outside to effectively remove pollutants, rather than recirculating the air indoors.
Engage the Range Hood fan before starting cooking and leave it on for a few minutes after finishing to wash off any remaining pollutants.
If possible, Cook on the back burner as range hoods usually offer better coverage on the back.
Living room
The living room serves as the heart of the home, often hosting a mix of activities that can affect air quality. From family gatherings to solo relaxation, it is important to maintain a clean and healthy environment.
Regularly use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to minimize the accumulation of dust and allergens.
Maintain an optimal level of humidity (30-50%) to prevent the growth of mold and dust mites.
Choose furniture, cleaning products, and paints that emit low or non-volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to keep the air fresh and clean.
Bathroom
The combination of water and limited ventilation makes the master bathroom an area for mold and mildew growth, affecting air quality.
Use an exhaust fan during and after showering or bathing for at least 20-30 minutes to reduce moisture levels and prevent mold growth.
Clean bathroom surfaces regularly with a mold-resistant cleaner.
Check and repair leaks immediately to avoid moisture accumulation, which promotes mold growth.
Bedroom
We spend most of our lives sleeping, making bedroom air quality important for overall health.
Wash bedding regularly.
Keep pets out of the bedroom reduce pet hair.
Use an air purifier to catch airborne dust mite droppings and other particulates from the air.
Garage and basement
Garages and basements can hold a variety of pollutants, from car exhaust to stored chemicals, affecting a home’s overall air quality.
Make sure that the garage and basement are well ventilated to prevent the accumulation of vehicle exhaust and chemical fumes.
Store chemicals and solvents in a tightly closed container and keep them away from living rooms.
If your garage is attached, make sure there is an effective air seal between the garage and the rest of the house to prevent the transfer of pollutants.
Beyond one sensor: comprehensive indoor air quality monitoring
A single Monitor may not be enough due to the complex nature of the indoor environment. Strategic placement monitors can help you identify variations in your IAQ, enabling targeted action to improve things.
Here are some suggestions on where to place the monitor for comprehensive coverage:
High-traffic areas: Place monitors in living rooms or common areas so you can assess IAQ where family members spend most of their time.
Bedroom: studies have shown that maintaining good air quality may be the secret to restful sleep. Placing a monitor in the bedroom can help ensure air quality supports restful sleep.
Near potential sources of pollution: kitchens and garages often have higher levels of pollutants.
With exterior doors and windows: placing monitors near entry points can help you understand how outside air quality affects your indoor environment.
At different levels: in multi-storey houses, place monitors at each level to detect variations in air quality. Because some pollutants can be heavier or lighter than air, their concentration can vary between floors.
Remember, the purpose of strategically placing AirVisual Pro monitors is not just to detect the presence of pollutants but to understand their sources and patterns. This knowledge allows you to implement targeted improvements – such as ventilation adjustments, reducing sources of pollution, and using air purifiers efficiently.
Optimizing indoor air quality management
Integrating air purifiers with AirVisual Pro monitors in different rooms can improve air quality management, offering a dual approach to monitoring and purifying indoor air.
By strategically placing air quality monitors throughout your home and equipping them with high-performance air purifiers, you can achieve a nuanced and effective indoor air quality management strategy.
By placing air quality monitors throughout your home and equipping them with high-performance air purifiers, you can achieve a nuanced and effective indoor air quality management strategy.
Living room & bedroom: place air quality monitors in the main living room and bedroom to ensure continuous monitoring of where you spend most of your time. IQAir’s HealthPro Plus air purifier filters a wide range of pollutants, including allergens, bacteria, dust, viruses, and common VOCs, making it a comprehensive solution.
Kitchens and garages: IQAir’s GC MultiGas Air Purifiers are specifically designed for environments with higher concentrations of gaseous pollutants, which are common in kitchens and garages. It offers powerful full spectrum protection, packing the chemical removal power of more than 100 gas masks.
Multi-storey houses: utilizing air purification systems on a variety of different floors can ensure comprehensive coverage against particulate and gaseous or chemical pollutants, tailored to the specific needs of each level based on IAQ readings. A whole house air purifier is another powerful solution for filtering the air throughout the House. Such a system can be installed in line with your HVAC system, cleaning 100% of the air that passes through the HVAC system, providing HyperHEPA filtration.
Takeaway
Recognizing variability in IAQ across different spaces of the home is critical. Employing multiple devices for comprehensive monitoring, in addition to selecting suitable air purifiers and other solutions, can significantly contribute to creating a healthier indoor environment.
Leave a Reply