Respiratory allergies and asthma issues are very common, and both are made worse by breathing irritants in the air. However, it is possible to make sure the air you’re breathing at home is clean and free of the things that aggravate allergies and trigger asthma attacks.
Symptoms such as coughing and wheezing due to allergens or asthma triggers are a sign that your home is not healthy or performing well, especially if you’ve already taken measures such as getting rid of carpet.
The common culprit behind poor indoor air quality is dirty air being pulled into your home through an unsealed duct system or through other leakage areas. Since the duct system is usually in the crawlspace or attic, it can pull in outside pollutants (like ozone or pollen from outside or mold spores and dust from the attic) and trap them in your home. Sealing leaky ducts can often make a significant difference at home for people with allergies and asthma, but it is often overlooked as a solution. For the same reason, air sealing in the attic and crawlspace are also highly recommended.
It is also important to properly ventilate your home and clean/change your furnace filter regularly – or better yet, install a high efficiency air filtration system. If you take all of these steps, you can breathe easy knowing that the air in your home is healthy.
Another thing is learning how to efficiently operate modern homes. When energy was cheap and equipment cheaper we used to open windows and make use of natural ventilation as a way to expell indoor air polution.
Technological advances, and greater susceptability to outdoor irritants, have cause a paradigm shift in proper and efficient operation of homes. Furnace filtration via 4-5 inch media, or better, combination electronic/media filters allow hyper cleaning of air. Energy recovery units allow super efficient continuous introduction of fresh air-which is filtered of dust and allergins before being distributed to our lungs and bookshelves. All of this is accomplished by super low consumption fans in a process that means keeping your house closed up actually saves energy (reduce dehumidification needs, etc), saves health, saves cleaning, and makes homes into the sheltering, protective, comfortable spaces we aspire to experience.
Comment by Ted Kidd — May 15, 2010 @ 10:20 am