Ways to Know If Your Indoor Air Quality Is Bad

Poor indoor air quality can be extremely hazardous to your health. Effects of poor indoor air quality can range from mild, short-term symptoms that resemble those of a common cold to serious, long-term health issues. Poor ventilation, gas leaks, mold growth, indoor smoking, failure to change HVAC filters, and even use of cleaning supplies that contain harmful chemicals can all cause poor air quality. Due to the negative effects that poor indoor air quality can have on your health, it’s important to make sure the air quality in your home is good. The first step to doing so is learning how to recognize whether your home’s air quality needs improvement. Here are some helpful ways to know if your indoor air quality is bad.

Recognize the symptoms

Common symptoms of poor indoor air quality include headaches, fatigue, coughing or sneezing, and dizziness as well as eye, nose, throat, and skin irritation. If you’ve been experiencing these symptoms for a prolonged period, your indoor air quality may need improvement—especially if multiple residents are exhibiting the same symptoms or if you notice that your symptoms diminish when you leave the house.

Pay attention to strange smells

Many causes of poor indoor air quality are odorless, but you can recognize some by their strange scent. If you notice your home smells a little off or if scents tend to linger longer than they ought to, you may have an issue with the airflow throughout your home. Because poor airflow is often associated with poor indoor air quality, it’s important to make sure your ventilation system is working properly.

In addition to stale odors, chemical smells are also common signs of poor indoor air quality. If you notice such scents, a dangerous gas or fluid leak in your home may be hurting the air quality. Address such immediately to protect the safety of your home’s residents.

Get an air quality detector and carbon monoxide detectors

Poor air quality doesn’t always reveal itself in the form of obvious odors or immediate symptoms. In some cases, poor air quality can go unnoticed for many years before symptoms start to emerge in the form of serious health issues. To determine if the air quality of your home is healthy, consider purchasing an air quality monitor. Such monitors will be able to test your home’s levels of chemicals, allergens, dust, and other pollutants. In addition to purchasing an air quality detector, you should also install carbon monoxide detectors throughout your home to specifically test for this dangerous colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas.

If you’ve determined that your indoor air quality is less than optimal, there are many ways you can improve it. One of the best ways to improve your home’s air quality is by investing in an efficient ventilation system. At the Pioneer Mini Split Store, we offer a wide variety of ventilation systems to filter out harmful particles in your air and help you breathe easy. In addition to ventilating your home, our mini split air conditioners and ducted mini split heat pumps will keep your home comfortable all year long. For more information regarding our products, contact us today.