Five Common Pollutants Affecting Your Indoor Air Quality

Smog, wildfire smoke, and vehicle exhaust are among the pollutants that can stop you from heading outdoors for a breath of fresh air.

But did you know that indoor air can have higher concentrations of contaminants? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, where pollutants can be two to five times higher than outdoors. Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) can affect children, the elderly, and individuals with respiratory or cardiovascular disease especially hard.

You cannot control outdoor air quality, but you can protect your health and enhance your comfort by improving the air inside your home. A Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer can offer heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) solutions for your unique living environment.

Carrier Cooling Center makes it easy for customers to connect with qualified pros in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas.

Click here to find a dealer near your location to get started. An HVAC expert will recommend the best strategy to maintain indoor air quality (IAQ).

How Can I Improve the Air Inside My Home?

First, take a closer look at a few of the contaminants that may be airborne in your home:

1. Dust Dead skin cells and portions of dust mites and their droppings constitute the layers of particulate matter that cover surfaces and float through the air in your home. Dust can make life miserable, especially if you react by sneezing, wheezing, and coughing. Dust mites can trigger allergy symptoms and worsen breathing difficulties for individuals with asthma. The key to keeping dust at bay in your home is to dust and vacuum often. Use a damp cloth to wipe up dust and a HEPA filter in your vacuum. Changing your HVAC air filter every 30 to 90 days will help reduce contaminants and maintain airflow in your heating and cooling system. Consider cleaning your ductwork. Check our Carrier Cooling Center network for an HVAC pro with the professional tools and knowledge to clean, repair, and replace air ducts. Ask about a whole-house filtering system such as Carrier’s Comfort™ Series Air Purifier, which uses a high-efficiency air filter to trap up to 65 percent of particles as small as 1.0 microns.

1. Mold and Mildew Mold grows when too much moisture is present in your home. A whole-house dehumidifier will dry damp areas and keep your humidity level from 40 to 60 percent. A germicidal ultraviolet (UV) light installed in your HVAC system can kill mold and bacteria on the indoor coil and drain pan.

1. Viruses and Bacteria Kitchen countertops, cutting boards, light switches, stove knobs, door handles, faucets, towels, keyboards, and remote controls are a few of the surfaces where germs can grow in your home. Viruses and bacteria can be airborne too. In addition to cleaning the areas you frequently touch in your home, consider installing a whole-house air purification system. Carrier’s Infinity^® air purifier captures particles, bacteria, and other airborne pathogens in a high-efficiency filter and then kills them with an electrical charge.

1. Smoke and Exhaust Cooking comfort food and burning wood in the fireplace may be perfect ways to ramp up coziness on a cold winter night. However, smoke from the fire, mixed with emissions from the natural gas burners and cooking food, may aggravate allergies and respiratory problems. Opening a window can help bring fresh air into your living space and dilute smoke and stove exhaust, but that is not the best option in winter. An energy recovery (ERV) ventilator is a better choice. It exhausts the stale air in your home to the outdoors, using the heat from the outgoing exhaust to condition the incoming fresh air.

1. VOCs Many household products, cleaning liquids, paints, solvents, pesticides, furnishings, printers, permanent markers, and other items emit chemicals as gas. These volatile organic compounds can trigger dizziness, nausea, headaches, and allergic reactions. Ask a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer which whole-house air purifier is best to remove VOCs from your home.

Improve Indoor Air Quality

Find an HVAC expert in California, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas through Carrier Cooling Center. A Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer can recommend the best solution for your indoor air quality.