Air Quality Testing

How Do I Test the Air Quality in My Home?

You don't, we do! We do all the hard-work for you. For the health and safety of all, it's necessary to have the air quality in your home tested. That's why you want an experienced professional. 

When you choose EnviroVent, you can be sure of receiving a professional service from your first call with your local ventilation specialist through to installation with our qualified ventilation engineers. We pride ourselves on the quality of our ventilation products and offer long term warranties to protect your home and your health.

The Home Health Check is a detailed Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) survey that is especially helpful if you suspect you may have a problem. Many of us think that if we dust and vacuum regularly, as well as disinfect the surfaces around the home, then we are safe from particles that can cause us harm.

While this is generally true, sometimes a home may have more serious air quality problems than a general cleaning can’t fix. And, with toxic particles being invisible to the naked eye, you can’t always spot when you have a problem.

Photos will be taken, temperatures will be recorded and weather conditions will be monitored. All this data is gathered along with your responses to our simple questionnaire, in order to create your personal home report.

Why You Should Care About Your Indoor Air?

Indoor air quality may not be high on your list of concerns. Most people don't associate health problems with the air in their homes and think, 'I'm just prone to headaches,' or 'my nose is always stuffy.' Yet, 81% of people are at risk of respiratory problems or dermatological conditions due to the air in their homes.

Exposure to elevated levels of formaldehyde, carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds which can all be found in the home can have a damaging effect on your health. Some pollutants in the air are especially harmful for children, elderly people and those with health problems.

Several sources of air pollution are in homes, schools and offices. Some pollutants cause health problems such as sore eyes, burning in the nose and throat, headaches, or fatigue. Other pollutants cause or worsen allergies, respiratory illnesses (such as asthma), heart disease, cancer and other serious long-term conditions. Sometimes individual pollutants at high concentrations, such as carbon monoxide, cause death.

Indoor Air Pollution

The WHO (World Health Organisation) found that 3.8 million people die every year as a result of household exposure to air pollution. Most commonly, household air pollution is caused by smoke from dirty cookstoves and fuels that are used within the home. Studies have found that 50% of all pneumonia deaths in children under the age of five are due to household air pollution.

A typical home has lots of different sources of pollution: heating, cooking, cleaning, smoking, perfumes and furnishings. Even the simple act of moving about stirs up particles. Demands to improve the energy efficiency of buildings comes with the concern that more airtight homes could have an adverse effect on indoor air quality.

Different Types of Indoor Pollutants:

• Biological pollutants, like mold, dander, pollen, dust mites, and bacteria
• Chemical pollutants, which include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde, and the other chemical pollutants lead and radon
• Combustion pollutants, like carbon monoxide and tobacco smoke (incidentally, VOCs and other chemical pollutants may result from combustion)

Volatile Organic Compounds

You may or may not be aware but Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are airborne pollutants found lurking in the air inside our homes. As the word ‘Volatile’ indicates, these airborne pollutants do not contribute to the health of the household, in fact they can play havoc with your health. VOCs are irritants which affect some people more than others, they can cause allergic reactions, headaches, tiredness, respiratory problems and other illnesses.

Consumer Products Which Can Contain VOCs:

• Aerosols
• Cleaning Products
• Tobacco Smoke
• Hobby Supplies
• Candles - That's right even our beloved scented candles can release high amounts of VOCs which exceed safety limits and they don't even need to be lit! 

Not only do VOCs cause negative side effects, long term exposure could be detrimental to your human health attacking your central nervous system causing damage to your liver and kidneys and can even cause cancer.

What Do We Test For In Your Home?

On the day of your Home Health Check, your analyst will carry out a series of tests using specialist equipment to test for:

• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
• Humidity
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
• Formaldehyde
• Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (MVOC)

The Home Health Check costs £299 including VAT and will take 90 minutes to carry out all the air quality tests.