Improve Indoor Air Quality By Controlling These Airborne Particles

Protecting and improving your home's indoor air quality is one of the most important aspects of home ownership. At any given time, there are a number of airborne particles floating around your Broken Arrow-area home, and now is a great time to get them under control.Every home has airborne pollutantsWhat types of pollutants can you expect in your house? They fall into one of two categories:

• Biological particles -- This category consists of pollutants that range from viruses, mold spores, and bacteria to dust mites, animal dander and insect droppings.

• Gaseous pollutants -- Many of these are man-made, in a sense. They include remnants of cigarette smoke, household cleaners, pesticides, and many other commonly used irritants.

Protecting your family's healthAll of the above pollutants can cause health issues, particularly for people who suffer from asthma, allergies and other respiratory problems. Ridding your home of these particles can be done by following these techniques:

• Source control -- Stopping pollutants at the source can be a powerful strategy. For example, getting rid of pressed wood elements (which can produce formaldehyde) and lowering the emission of combustion appliances are a great start.

• Better ventilation -- If your home is not properly ventilated, your indoor air quality will suffer. The air inside becomes trapped and the pollutants float from one area to another. Ventilation helps to get good air inside your home while circulating the bad air outdoors, and can be done through the use of exhaust fans, open windows, and mechanical ventilation, to name a few.

• Air cleaners -- When used in conjunction with the first two techniques, air cleaners can be effective in improving indoor air quality. The best strategy is to utilize a whole-house approach, which will help neutralize the pollutants in your air without the added cost of a separate air cleaner in every room.

If you would like further assistance with improving your indoor air quality, or for questions regarding home comfort, please don't hesitate to contact the experts at Air Assurance. We proudly serve the HVAC needs of Broken Arrow and its surrounding areas.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock

How UV Lights Work With Your HVAC System To Improve Indoor Air Quality

Problems with your indoor air quality? Perhaps what your Oklahoma home needs is a collection of UV lights to help you clean out all the nasty pollutants that have invaded your house. With their uncanny ability to destroy airborne particles, UV lights could improve your indoor air quality significantly.The power of ultraviolet raysWe all know the dangers from extended exposure to the ultraviolet radiation emanating from our sun. Why else would we lather ourselves with slimy sunblock and pay a fortune for a pair of sunglasses? Too much exposure leads to damaged skin and, in some cases, skin cancer.The reason for this is simple: ultraviolet rays have the ability to penetrate and cause mutation of our cells. In humans, this causes health problems. Airborne pollutants, however, have no way of protecting themselves, which means that exposure is a death sentence. UV lights literally break down and destroy these harmful particles.The power of cooperationAirborne pollutants, which include mold spores, bacteria, virus, aerosol contaminants, dust mites and quite a few other types of particles, can cause respiratory problems if they are inhaled. In the fight against these pollutants, the high intensity ultraviolet lights don't have to work alone. They have a partner in your HVAC system.How this works is simple, too: first, the UV lights are installed at either the induct or compressor coil of your HVAC unit. When the system is switched on, the particles are drawn into your ductwork. After a while, the pollutants make their way toward the coil, where the ultraviolet lights are lying in wait. Over time, this process will result in the destruction of many of the pollutants in your home.As if that wasn't enough, there's an added benefit of installing ultraviolet lights. By destroying the airborne pollutants before they finish going through your ductwork, they won't get a chance to clog up your HVAC system.For more expert advice about UV lights, or for questions relating to home comfort, please contact the friendly professionals at Air Assurance. We proudly serve the residents of Broken Arrow and its surrounding areas.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Improving Indoor Air Quality Can Combat Spring Allergies

Indoor air quality in Oklahoma residences is on average, 10 times worse than outdoor air, reflecting a national trend. Your home may be sealed up to make the most of energy savings, but this compounds poor air quality, especially in the spring, when allergy season starts up. Allergens can get into your home, but have a hard time getting back out again. One of the most important steps to take in combating spring allergies and improving health year-round, is raising your indoor air quality.Allergens are found on many household surfaces, but the kinds that cause severe reactions are typically airborne particles. Some of the most common symptoms experienced in Oklahoma are hay fever, asthma and respiratory problems caused by grass, tree pollen, mold spores and flowers. Other common irritants that reduce indoor air quality include:

• Dust (Dust is the No. 1 way germs and microorganisms enter your body, and for every 1,500 square feet of space the average home has 40 lbs of dust!)

• Pet dander

• Off-gassing from building materials and carpets

• Fumes from cleaners and air fresheners

• Radon (the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US after cigarettes)

It’s important to keep air circulating in your home, as well as keeping it filtered. During the spring, an open window will only compound your allergy troubles! Devices such as energy recovery ventilators keep fresh air coming and in push stale air out and can filter the air as they do so. There are also high efficiency filters, such as HEPA filters, that can dramatically improve indoor air quality by removing up to 99.9 percent of airborne particles, including many allergens. Keeping humidity levels balanced by adding or removing moisture from the air can also improve your air. Particles remain airborne longer in dry air and humid environments foster mold.If you would like more information on how to improve your indoor air quality, reducing the effects of spring allergies and improving overall health year round, call Air Assurance. We'll be happy to discuss your options and find a solution that's right for your home and health!Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information, click here. Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. To get started, check out our website or see our current promotions.

What Is Microbiocide (BBJ) And How Can It Help Indoor Air Quality?

Operating costs for heating and air conditioning systems continue to rise year after year. So, we make sure our homes are sealed and insulated, weatherstripped and caulked, in order to reduce the infiltration of outside air and the loss of our precious, indoor conditioned air. That saves us money; but, it also creates another problem.Indoor air quality in homes is the new problem. The air we use gets circulated and filtered and we think all is well. Filtration is a tremendous help; the problem is that mold, mildew and bacteria can live in our homes with us. As they breed, their presence can cause allergies to flair and can contribute to other, more serious, respiratory conditions. Poor indoor air quality has become the price we pay for keeping our homes tight, more comfortable and for reducing our energy costs.When pollutants and contaminants leave our home to be filtered they travel through the duct system. Not all bacteria and mold spores go to the filter. Many cling to the ducts and other components in our heating and air conditioning system. As they breed, their numbers increase and they become unwelcome guests in our homes. They can live on anything that provides a comfortable, humid environment. The biggest example of where mold growth can occur is in our air conditioning evaportator coils.  This is most likely the darkest, wettest, area in the home, which provides an ultimate safe harbor for these culprits to live, eat, and reproduce.  A product that can fight mold and mildew in our home air ducts and coils is MicroBiocide.Microbiocide is a harmless chemical thats been approved by the EPA, to help reduce mold and other contaminants in our home comfort system. A treatment with this approved organic chemical can substantially improve the indoor air quality of any home.Reducing microbial irritants in the ducts can reduce duct odors, inhibit the spread and growth of mold colonies and greatly reduce allergens in the indoor air.  Not only that, but by reducing these things that attach themselves to the coils, airflow and temperature transfer is less inhibited, therefore allowing your system to cool or heat more efficiently.Get more information on reducing mold and mildew and increasing the healthy level of indoor air quality by going here. For other information regarding the maintenance of quality indoor air for your family, log onto Air Assurance. We want everyone to enjoy both home comfort at the lowest possible cost and clean, healthy indoor air.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information, click here. Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. To get started, check out our website or see our current promotions.