Indoor Air Pollution

Most people think of their home as their castle, and want it to be a healthy & safe environment to live, love, play & sleep. The fact is that the quality of the air in your home can be up to 100 times more polluted than the outdoor air. There are many things that can effect the air quality of your home, especially here in South Florida, where many of us have hurricane windows & keep the house buttoned up tight most of the time.

Let’s start with a basic AC lesson, air travels through the ductwork in your home anywhere between 350-450 feet per minute (That’s around 10 miles per hour). In order to get the air from the AC unit to all the vents in the house, there are at least 2 & often 3 connections in the ductwork for every vent in the house. In your typical 3/2 house, there are an average of 25-30 connections in the duct system. What difference do the connections make you ask? if your duct system is more than a couple years old those connections are starting to fail. The fancy term is Venturi Effect, wherever the duct system is not sealed, it creates a little miniature tornado at each opening, sucking in whatever is floating around in your attic, between the floors or wherever the ducts are located. It sounds amazing but the dust in most houses primarily comes from the attic area. When you dust do you see it coming back in days or even hours? Do you see any streaking around your vents? If so, there may well be a problem with the ductwork connections which are causing poor air quality in your home.

Other causes of indoor air pollution can come from mold, VOC’s (volatile organic compounds), pesticides, cooking smoke, & high humidity just to name a few. Air conditioners turn the air over in your house 30-40 times per day which spread any contaminates in the air everywhere. Your ac system is the perfect place for biological growth, air handler coils are almost always wet and in the dark. it’s a paradise for mold growth. The VOC’s come from many different places including new furniture, drywall and many other manufactured items. Do you get stuffy or congested in the house and the symptoms get better when you go out and about? Again chances are the is a problem with your ductwork or the AC itself. The good news is we here at Art Plumbing & AC can help.

Call us today at 1-888-TELL-ART, and ask for your complimentary whole home evaluation, we will inspect your duct system, your AC and the whole air distribution system all at no cost or obligation. We will even give your a few DYI tips that you can do as easy weekend projects to improve air quality in your home. If you want to breathe easier, have less dust, and better indoor air quality call us today.