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By Ruth MacEachern
Product Manager
The quality of the air in your home can have a massive impact on your health and wellness. With people spending more time than ever in their properties due to changes in the way we work, ensuring that you maintain a healthy environment in your house has never been more important.
In recent years, home design has focused on improving the energy efficiency of our properties, reducing the flow of air to reduce heat loss and avoid wasting energy. Unfortunately, this can lead to buildings that are airtight boxes where chemicals and humidity can be trapped and build up to levels where they can start to affect your health.
From mould spores that develop as a result of condensation and damp through to pollen and Volatile Organic Chemicals released from cleaning products and other aerosols, without good ventilation, the air in your home can become a soup of allergens and start to affect your health.
There are though, some easy ways to improve the quality of air in your home.
I’ve you’ve been suffering with allergies or started to notice patches of mould or mildew forming in your home, then it’s a good idea to start off by getting the air quality tested. Our local specialists can visit your home to perform a free home survey that will identify the causes of any problems and give you advice about the best way to resolve them before they get worse.
With summer on the way, it’s easier to dry clothing outdoors on the line rather than indoors. Drying clothes and bedding outdoors doesn’t just keep your washing fresh, it also helps to reduce condensation.
Moisture from your washing will evaporate as it dries indoors, and when that water vapour finds a cool surface – such as an exterior wall or window, it will condense and potentially start to form damp where mould can grow. The spores from mould – particularly toxic black mould - can seriously affect the quality of air in your home if they build up to high levels..
The recent rises in energy prices mean that heating our homes is more expensive than ever. Aside from being one of the most inefficient and costly ways of getting heat into a room, old-fashioned portable paraffin and gas heaters can also release toxic fumes including carbon monoxide into the atmosphere of your home.
If grease and dust are allowed to build up on your extractor fans, they will become less efficient and much less effective at removing moisture from the air in your home.
Most extractor fans are designed to be easy to clean so that they work properly, but if you start to notice strange noises, it might be time to get the fan replaced with a more modern energy efficient version.
One of the most important things you can do to improve air quality is to allow air to move around more easily. If large items of furniture such as wardrobes are positioned up against exterior walls, it will create pockets where dust and mould can build up quickly. Leaving a 2-inch gap between furniture and walls allows air to circulate through a room more easily and helps to stop mould from building up to the point where spores will start to become a problem.
Carpets can add a touch of luxury to your bathroom but are a bad idea. The high levels of moisture in bathrooms means that carpets can become saturated which creates the perfect environment for dust mites to thrive.
Hard floors don’t allow water to soak in, and as a result, will help reduce the potential for dust mites and mildew. Make sure that bathmats are regularly washed to keep them clean and dry them after use.
Cleaning products and aerosol air fresheners can contain volatile organic compounds including formaldehyde which can cause tiredness, respiratory problems, and allergic reactions.
Consider using environmentally friendly cleaning fluids and avoid the use of home oil burners and scented candles and ensure that rooms are well ventilated when cleaning to prevent any chemicals from building up.
The results of condensation such as mould and increased dust mite activity come about because temperatures in different rooms can vary, allowing the air to release water vapour onto surfaces where it forms damp patches.
Maintaining consistent temperatures throughout your home helps to prevent cold spots where condensation can form, and if you combine even temperatures with good airflow, it can even make your home heating more efficient.
In average households of four people, day to day activity including bathing and cooking can release add more than 60 litres of moisture into the air.
Without good airflow in all rooms, this moisture can build up and cause condensation. While extractor fans are helpful in dealing with humidity in a single room such as a bathroom or kitchen, a whole house solution will handle moist air throughout your home.
PIV systems such as ATMOS work by drawing in clean, filtered air from outside the building and gently ventilating the home from a central unit. PIV systems replace the moisture laden air and control humidity between 45% and 60% providing air quality benefits that you’ll notice immediately.
If you have found damp or mould patches in your home and are worried about whether this could be a health risk or cause damage to your property, we can help. Book your free home survey from our local ventilation specialist. They will be able to identify the causes of condensation damp in your home and provide you with advice about the best way to get rid of the problem for good.
Simply enter your postcode below to find your local ventilation expert.
One of our local experts will contact you to learn more about your problems, offer free expert advice and make recommendations for a permanent solution.
During the free survey we will
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