The air in your southeast Michigan home contains gaseous pollutants and particles including mold, pollen, bacteria, viruses and dust. According to the EPA, the air in the typical home is one of the top five environmental hazards. Poor indoor air quality can cause a number of respiratory illnesses, including allergy and asthma attacks, and can increase your risk of heart disease and certain cancers.
If you’re remodeling your home or building a new one, there are several key things that can be done to ensure optimal air quality. Builders can use certain construction methods and a variety of technologies to decrease pollutants in your home.
- Talk to your builder about features to reduce radon, the second-leading cause of lung cancer. Radon enters the home through openings in walls and floors that are in contact with the ground.
- Make sure your new construction has proper drainage to reduce mold and mildew growth. Seal the foundation to further discourage these damaging and potentially dangerous growths.
- Consider a mechanical ventilation system, especially in a tight new house. These systems bring in fresh air from outside through vents and vent stale air outside, greatly improving your indoor air quality.
- Always have new appliances such as water heaters and gas furnaces installed by a licensed and knowledgeable HVAC technician. Improper installation and venting can be hazardous to your family’s health and safety.
To help improve your home’s indoor air quality, follow these simple tips:
- Check your furnace filter every month and change it when it’s dirty.
- Use low-VOC (volative organic compounds) paints indoors.
- Turn on vent fans and open windows when using volatile chemicals in your home.
- Don’t smoke in your home.
- Thoroughly dry water damage within 24 hours. Fix leaky faucets and other moisture problems immediately.
- Install carbon monoxide detectors on every floor in your home, including one in close proximity to your main sleeping area.
For more expert advice on attaining optimal air quality in your home, please feel free to contact us at Aladdin Heating & Cooling. We’ve served the metropolitan Detroit area for over 65 years with a high level of customer satisfaction.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about indoor air quality and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Aladdin Heating services Novi, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Southfield, Oak Park, Ferndale, Beverly Hills, Berkley, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Bloomfield Twp., Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Madison Heights, Clawson, Sterling Heights, Warren, Troy, St. Clair Shores, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Park, Detroit, Utica, Shelby Twp., Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Lake Orion, Oxford, and Clarkston.
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