Healthy Indoors Magazine
Issue link: https://hi.healthyindoors.com/i/1345844
Healthy Indoors | 33 installed. This system will signifi- cantly reduce the radon levels in your home's air supply. Check Stoves, Fireplaces, and Chimneys While they are effective at heating your home on a cold winter day, stoves and fireplaces could also be degrading your air quality. Blocked or leaking chimneys or flues, for instance, may actually be releasing smoke and other harmful gasses, like carbon monoxide, back into your home. An annual inspection of your stove or fireplace will detect leaks and blockages that prevent smoke and gasses from exiting your home. Once fixed, you'll be able to enjoy the warmth of the fire without the poor-quality air. Use Eco-Friendly, Toxin-Free Products Many of our daily activities could be contributing to the low-quality air in our homes. Using aerosol hair spray, lighting a candle, or painting a room could release harmful chemicals into the air, which could then be recirculated through- out the home. To lessen the amount of harmful chemicals in the air and maintain good air quality, opt for non-aerosol sprays and cleaners, natural candles, and low VOC paints as often as possible. Tips to Ensuring Good Air Quality The quality of your home's air supply has a direct impact on your health, from chronic allergies caused by recirculating dust to severe reactions to mold, and even death when exposed to carbon monoxide. That's why it is so important to monitor your home's air quality and take steps to improve it. Follow these steps to minimize the amount of dust and debris in your air, prevent mold growth, and eliminate ex- posure to harmful gasses. You may not be able to see your air getting cleaner, but the effects of clean air won't go unnoticed! Inspect HVAC Systems Annually We don't often realize there is a problem with air quality in our home until it is too late, and we are dealing with chronic health problems. Scheduling an annual HVAC in- spection ensures that a licensed profession- al will be checking the effectiveness of your system, the condition of your duct work, and the quality of your air on a yearly basis. If a problem is encountered during the annual inspection, it can be remedied right away, before any further damage is done. Test for Carbon Monoxide and Radon Both carbon monoxide (CO) and radon are colorless, odorless gasses, which are extremely harmful to breathe in. Deadly CO is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and it is lethal in unventilated spaces. Boilers and heating appliances have been known to release CO into homes without being detected. The best defense against this deadly gas is a carbon monoxide alarm, which is easy to install and can alert you immediately if CO has been detected in your air supply. Radon is a natural gas that can be found underground in certain areas, and it can easily make its way into your home through your slab or basement. Exposure to this gas can lead to lung cancer in the future. No matter your home's age or location, it's a good idea to have the soil checked for radon. If the gas is naturally occurring under your home, you will need to have a radon mitigation system Alan Smith Alan Smith is marketing coordinator for Spartan Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, a leading plumbing /HVAC company that assists all types of businesses and residences throughout the Washington D.C. region and parts of Maryland. Spartan has an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau and was voted Best Plumber in D.C. for four years in a row. You can reach Alan by email at alan@spartanman.com or www.spartanman.com.