Why is residential air quality testing important? When you are a resident of the home you are most vulnerable to indoor air pollution. It is estimated that nearly 20% of all homes in the United States contain some level of contaminants. It is especially important to know what you are breathing on a daily basis, and to keep it clean. Read on to find out how residential air quality testing can help you get the cleanest air possible.
Consider buying a residential air quality testing device to placed in your house. These handy devices are very portable so you can easily move them around to various room areas, like from your living space to your garage or even into the basement. This helps to isolate specific indoor pollutants, like pet dander and dust. Also, you should be aware that there may be certain types of contaminants that cannot be detected by these devices. For instance, it would be impossible to identify carbon monoxide or radon if the source is an upper level crawl space or an unventilated basement.
There are many benefits to residential air quality testing. The most obvious one is that it lets you know what is in your air. By analyzing your air and determining the cause you have the power to make the necessary changes. You might discover that switching to a higher efficiency HVAC system is all that is needed. Or you could determine that replacing your traditional furnace with an energy star model will be all you need to do. Even though your testing results will not change drastically, learning what is in your air is important for your health and for the safety of your family.
When considering residential air quality testing, there are a few things to consider before jumping in. First of all, you should consider the type of sample that you are testing. Is it an indoor or outdoor unit? Outdoor samples can be collected from the inside of your home, but you must collect it outside and then transport it to the laboratory. Indoor samples can be collected anywhere that air is exchanged, so long as the room is sealed off from the outside environment.
In order to conduct an indoor or outdoor residential air quality testing, the technician uses special equipment to draw samples of the air throughout your house through vents and fan exhausts. Then the technicians will measure the amount of contaminants present in the air. Next they will evaluate the collected material to see what type it is based on the characteristics that they see. Different types of samples will have different measurements and the technicians will determine what measurements are necessary for the material they have collected. This step helps them determine the amount of pollutants in your area.
One of the most commonly used tools for air quality testing is a hygrometer. A hygrometer measures the amount of absolute humidity or the humidity of the air. Absolute humidity, which is the concentration of water vapor in the air, can provide a good indication of the quality of the airflow throughout the home. Relative humidity measures the humidity in the air over a specified span of time. The higher the relative humidity is the higher the moisture level in the air.
When testing the quality of the ventilation in your home, you should pay special attention to where the heating and cooling systems in the house are located. Many homeowners are surprised to find that the source of their air quality problem lies not in the vents but in their central air conditioning units. It is possible that dirty filters or ducts are the cause of the problem, but the problem can also originate in these units. If the filters are clogged with dirt and debris they will not function properly and this can lead to poor air quality within the house.
There are several other types of testing that should be done before considering adding residential HVAC equipment to your existing system. These include testing for radon and VOC's. Radon is a naturally occurring substance that is trapped in the earth's crust. It can seep into your basement and other crawlspaces, causing a variety of health concerns. In addition, VOC's are a substance that evaporates into the atmosphere and is absorbed by plants, animals, and people.