Last Updated on December 10, 2023 by Kimberly Crawford
According to experts, humans breathe an average of around 10,000 liters of air every day. Air is believed to help people like you live better and do the things you want to do. However, not all air you breathe is the same, especially when it comes to indoor air quality.
If your home feels muggy, stale, or unpleasant, you might have problems with your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system like inadequate ventilation. Since such problems are difficult to address on your own, you might want to ask professional HVAC contractors for help.
Fortunately, there are countless companies across the United States that specialize in improving indoor air quality. If you’re from Virginia, you may contact Inwood ventilation inspection or your area’s local HVAC contractors. They’ll ensure that your system is working properly and efficiently to provide you with the best indoor air quality you need.
Nonetheless, if the problem isn’t your HVAC system, you may consider using an air humidifier. This essential home gadget may eliminate the dryness in the air by adjusting your home’s humidity levels.
But why is it so important to ensure your home’s indoor air quality? To further answer that question, here are some of the benefits of high quality indoor air:
Improved Quality Of Sleep
Sleep is an essential human body process necessary for better mental health, physical health, and quality of life. Nevertheless, there are cases where it can be quite challenging for people to have a good night’s sleep. Such sleep problems may increase the risk of having severe health conditions, such as obesity, heart issues, and stroke.
If you want to have a healthy and undisturbed sleep cycle, you might want to consider checking your bedroom’s air quality. According to experts, there’s a significant link between indoor air quality and sleep quality. Based on their studies, poor indoor air quality, particularly ventilation, leads to groggy mornings and often restless evenings.
Also, per experts, poor indoor air moisture and quality may result in sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a medical condition of repetitive stopping of breathing while sleeping. This may lead to various complications and other health problems such as:
- Type 2 diabetes due to insulin resistance;
- High blood pressure due to sudden and multiple drops of oxygen in the blood;
- Heart conditions, such as heart attack, stroke, and irregular heartbeat; and
- Liver diseases like fatty liver.
With that said, it’s important to have clean and pleasant indoor air for proper breathing and refreshing and energized mornings.
Reduced Unpleasant Odors Indoors
Unpleasant odors could be because of the kitchen, especially when you’re dealing with fish products and chicken, accumulated pieces of garbage, rotten food, or your cat’s litter. Whatever the reason behind them, bad odors are always a problem.
Plus, such odors may affect your mood, behavioral patterns, and good night’s dreams, leaving you irritated, problematic, and ill-tempered. On the contrary, pleasant scents will provide you with an improved mood, calm mind and body, and relaxed heartbeat.
Furthermore, it’ll be hard for you to focus on your work and eat your dinners with pungent mystery odors that keep lurking in your home and bothering you.
If you want to address these odors, look for ultraviolet (UV) filters that can break down volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air. This is because traditional filters may only work in a short period of time, leaving the root cause unremoved.
You may also remove unpleasant odors by using air-purifying indoor plants, like spider plants, golden pothos, philodendrons, geraniums, and peace lilies.
Removal Of Air Allergens And Pollutants
According to experts, around 20 percent of the population is suffering from a condition called allergic rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis is a case of an inflamed nose due to allergens present in the air, such as pollen, cockroach debris, dust particles, molds, and dander from cats and dogs.
The common symptoms of allergic rhinitis may include:
- Nasal congestion;
- Consistent sneezing;
- Itchy and sore throat; and
- Itchy and irritated eyes.
Moreover, these allergens and pollutants may suspend in the air or fall on surfaces, especially heavier ones. With improved air quality, these allergens and pollutants causing you a lot of trouble will be eliminated. Because of this, you won’t have to endure sneezing problems and other debilitating symptoms.
Improved Breathing
Breathing is an essential involuntary body function. Yet breathing can feel like sucking on a blocked plastic straw if your home has poor indoor air quality. You might not realize it as soon as possible, but your body will surely do.
If breathing problems continue, your body will be put under a lot of stress, especially your lungs, which may trigger other conditions like chronic asthma attacks. Furthermore, it’ll be hard for you to breathe while you climb your stairs. It might feel like grasping your last breath in every step.
But with clean indoor air, such problems will cease to exist. You can breathe a good amount of oxygen without having problems, supporting what your body needs to function well.
Lower Energy Consumption
Usually, the problem of having poor indoor air quality may concern your HVAC system. A properly working HVAC system is said to be crucial to maintaining humidity, reducing carbon dioxide levels, and improving ventilation and air circulation. If your HVAC unit fails, you’ll not only suffer from poor air quality but also high energy bills.
An HVAC system may fail if it’s not properly sized based on the dimensions of your home. For example, if it’s too large, the machine may suffer from short-cycle, meaning it may turn on and off consistently due to it being incompatible.
In addition, in order to maintain good air quality, you would need to check your system first to see if it’s functioning well. If it’s not, you might need to replace it with a new one that can provide good air quality and reduce electric bills at the same time.
Balanced Levels Of Humidity
Humidity is the moisture level present in the air. The higher the amount of moisture, the more humid the air is.
A high humidity level means moist air, which could make your home stuffy and muggy. In addition, this moist air may carry potentially harmful organisms, like mold and dust mites. Low humidity may cause irritated and flaky skin, nosebleeds, and frizzy and damaged hair.
To have a balanced humidity level, you can use humidifiers and other devices that display humidity levels. If you have a thermostat, make sure to maintain the humidity level to 40 to 50 percent. Anything less can be problematic in the long run, so always stay on the aforementioned range.
Final Words
Since most people spend most of their time at home, having good indoor air quality is more crucial. If your home feels stuffy, muggy, and unpleasant, check your HVAC unit for any possible problems.
It’s recommended that you call your HVAC provider immediately to reap the benefits of high quality indoor air. Advantages include a good night’s sleep, improved breathing, removal of harmful allergens and pollutants, reduced electric bills, and balanced humidity. Plus, it’s believed that these perks will not only improve your physical and mental health but also your quality of life.
