Indoor Air Quality: Issues,Problems,Solutions

My name is Nikki Krueger and I am an Indoor Air Environmental Specialist (IAES) and Media Relations Manager for Aprilaire.  I have also completed the training and testing to be a green home verifier for the National Association of Home Builders.  As the mother of a daughter with seasonal and indoor allergies/asthma I am passionate about discussing (ask anybody, I love to talk!) and educating on the importance of indoor air quality. The goal of this blog is to look at all the aspects of how indoor air quality affects our health, homes and overall well-being.  From respiratory issues to green living and even to bad hair days the air in our homes impacts us all.

I was recently speaking with a television anchor about indoor air quality and the subject of dry skin came up.  She asked about the use of humidifiers and if an Aprilaire whole-home humidifier "would stop her face from peeling off."  Although many women pay good money to have procedures like this done, I don't recommend trying it at home! 

According to a recent BuzzBack Market Research study, women have very specific concerns about skincare, especially during the winter.

Women’s Top Three Skincare Concerns:
•    Keeping skin moisturized
•    Health of facial skin
•    Health of body skin

During the colder, drier months, the air in your home can become so arid that it results in severely dry, cracked and itchy skin.  Reason being is that dry air sucks moisture from everywhere and everything in the home - including your skin. Yes, a whole-home humidifier is one of the best things you can do for your skin in the winter!  Here are some additional tips  http://tinyurl.com/7w2zzr

Did you or one of the kids wake up this morning with a stuffy nose, headache, sneezing, etc...?  The guessing game begins - is it a cold or possibly indoor allergies (tinyurl.com/969c2a)? 

Wintertime allergies are usually triggered by allergens trapped in the home, where they pose a risk to respiratory health. These irritants are always present, but during the winter months they tend to multiply because people keep their windows closed and there is little circulation of fresh air.

So how can you tell if you are suffering from allergies or a cold? According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, here are the major differences:

Colds
•    Results from a virus infection.
•    Symptoms may also include a fever and aches and pains.
•    Usually takes a few days to hit full force.
•    Symptoms should clear up within several days to a week.

Allergies
•    Symptoms begin almost immediately after exposure to an allergen.
•    Symptoms last as long as they are exposed to the allergen.
•    If the allergen is present year-round, symptoms may be chronic.

A whole-home air cleaner is an efficient and effective way to reduce all
airborne contaminates in a home, including dust, pollen and bacteria
When using a whole-home air cleaner, be sure to run the fan continuously on the heating and cooling system.

Want to save some money on your heating costs this winter and feel more comforatable at the same time?  Impossible you might say - hear me out.

In order to keep heating bills manageable, most of us will setback our thermostats to lower temperatures, resulting in cold uncomfortable living conditions.  A better solution - turning the thermostat back and adding an Aprilaire whole-home humidifier to your heating and cooling system
http://www.aprilaire.com/index.php?znfAction=ProductsCat&category=humid . 

Most people don’t realize that when moisture is added to heated dry air, the human body will actually feel warmer at lower temperatures.  Think about it - in the summer it can be 75 degrees out with high humidity and it feels much warmerbecause of the humidity. By adding a whole-home humidifier, you will not only feel comfortable all winter but they can also lower their energy costs.

A whole-home humidifier allows you to reduce the thermostat setting two to three degrees, without noticeably feeling the difference.  Lowering the thermostat by just one degree during the heating season has been proven to save as much as three percent in energy costs.  When teamed up with a programmable thermostat, which studies say can save another 18 percent on heating costs, the Aprilaire whole-home humidifier could make quite on impact on a homeowner’s heating bill.  For example: if the thermostat is programmed for 70 degrees when the home is occupied, it could be lowered to 68 degrees when using a whole-house humidifier without feeling a noticeable difference.

Dry air does more than draw moisture from the skin, it also shrinks the framing around doors and windows, resulting in gaps that let in cold air from the outside, making the home even less energy efficient.

There are also proven health benefits from using a whole-house humidifier during the heating season. According to medical experts, many viruses thrive in low humidity and can increase the likelihood of getting colds, flu and upper respiratory ailments.

Is your family pet creating an irritating living environment? According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma&Immunology, approximately 42 million Americans suffer from some sort of pet allergy. A recent article on CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/12/02/pet.allergy/index.html discusses why 10 million people own pets even though they are allergic to them.  Not a suprise, as most people consider their pets members of the family. 

Pet allergy symptoms may include sneezing, congestion, runny nose and rashes, all which can range from moderate to severe.  Allergy-suffering pet owners are calling out for a solution, as getting rid of Fluffy or Fido does not seem to be an option. According to a recent survey, 75 percent of allergy suffering pet owners would never consider getting rid of their pet and 83 percent would never do it.

Previous misconceptions have caused pet owners to believe the fur of cats and dogs provoked allergies. However, recent research has shown that allergy symptoms are the result of proteins secreted by oil glands in the animal’s
skin. These also are produced in the animal’s saliva, which sticks to the fur when the pet grooms itself. Once these proteins dry, they can float into the air and cause allergic reactions. Cats are more likely to cause allergic reactions, since they groom themselves and spend more time in the house than dogs.

Experts offer several suggestions to help combat allergies from pets:
• Make your bedroom off-limits
• Confine them to one area of the home
• Keep the pet outdoors
• Bathe the pet once a week
• Brush your pet
• Wash your hands after handling the pet
• Install a whole-house air cleaner

Although a combination of these suggestions may reduce symptoms, many pet owners do not put them to use. They need and want a solution that is less time consuming and one that does not disrupt everyday routines.

Installing a whole-home air cleaner may play a pivotal role in allowing pet owners and their pets to happily cohabit. Aprilaire’s Model 5000 Electronic Air Cleaner traps pet dander particles at an efficiency of over 99 percent (as measured in certified laboratory tests) and silently cleans all the air in the home as it passes through the heating and cooling system. It could help provide pet allergy suffers much needed relief.

With the Aprilaire Model 5000 Air Cleaner, pet allergy suffers can enjoy relief without the hassle.  The unit only has to be serviced once a year and because it attaches to the home’s furnace, it doesn’t intrude upon the aesthetics of the living space.

It is that time of the year again, when the weather turns wet and cold and our homes become warm and unfortunately, very dry. This dryness can lead to itchy skin and dry noses and throats, but what most people don’t realize is that dry air makes people more susceptible to winter colds and airborne infections, which thrive in lower humidity conditions.

The Food and Drug Administration (http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20071019/panel-no-cold-medicine-young-kids) has warned against administering cough and cold medicine to young children. The FDA began investigating medicines that are labeled for children when the health commissioner from Baltimore found “hundreds of cases of potential overdose and four deaths related potentially to these products.”

Many companies began taking medicines geared toward infants and toddlers off the market, but many medicines remain on store shelves, forcing parents to decide whether children’s cough syrup is helpful or harmful.

One way to help prevent winter colds and airborne infections from the get-go is to control the indoor relative humidity with the use of a whole-home humidifier, http://www.aprilaire.com/index.php?znfAction=ProductsCat&category=humid .

Here are some other tips to help children avoid colds:

When thinking “green” most of us automatically think of energy efficiency and saving money. Therefore, our health and the health of our homes are often overlooked. Every green certification program, such as the National Association of Home Builders Green Certification, addresses energy efficiency, health and require at least a minimum of a MERV 9* high efficiency central filtration system. 

Since the 1970’s, advancement in home building technologies has led to homes built much tighter in order to save energy. While good for the pocket book, these advancements have lead to  the increase of indoor air pollutants – houses don’t breathe like they use to. 

Indoor air quality is among the top five environmental risks to public health,according to the Enviromental Protection Agency.

The Sustainable Living Sourcebook states that small, invisible respirable-size air particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, where they may stay a long time and cause acute or chronic effects. While large particulate matter such as some molds, pollen, animal dander, and house dust allergens, do not penetrate as deeply, they may still cause an allergic response.

Aprilaire has been a driver of air filtration technology and offers several models to meet your health needs, including the recent launch of the Model 4000.  This new series of air cleaners exceeds green standards by featuring a MERV 13 filter. This means it will remove 93 percent of particles that are 3 microns (approximately 98-99 percent of all particles are in the size range of 5 microns or less).

Central air cleaning systems work by filtering the air the when the heating and cooling system fan is running.  Typically this is when the unit is heating or cooling the house during the winter and summer months.  Because temperatures are more moderate in the spring and fall most heating and cooling systems run very little and don’t allow the air to be filtered.  Unfortunately, this is also when allergens, such as pollens, peak.  Aprilaire addresses this problem by offering a one-of-a-kind air cleaner control that allows you to actively clean the air in their entire home based on personal preference and event triggers:

• Constant Cleaning: air cleaner is active for 24 hours a day
• Automatic: air cleaner will run a minimum of 30 minutes per hour
• Event Clean: air cleaners will run for three hours continuously and then turn off
• Allergies: air cleaner will run continuously for 24 hours and then turn off 
   

Installed next to the thermostat or on the air cleaning unit, the new control also provides validation the air cleaner is working by indicating through a sequence of bars that rise when the blower on the heating and cooling system is energized.  It also indicates when the filter needs to be replaced based on blower run time.

 
With the recent news of the devastating forest fires in California, I was reminded of an article I wrote a couple years ago after meeting with Dr. Leonard Forebes who lives in Stevenson Ranch, CA.  He had contacted us after experiencing the October 2003 fires that destroyed over 80,000 acres. Why would he contact Aprilaire you ask?  Read on...

Every year thousands of wildfires wreak havoc on homes across the Western half of the nation. While many homes maybe completely destroyed, far more will suffer damage from smoke, soot and ash.   According to experts, cleaning up this type of damage can cost between $10,000 - $15,000.

Unfortunately, the conditions for this type of natural disaster in the West are prime again this year because of the hot dry weather. While nothing can completely protect your home and belongings from the damaging effects of smoke, soot and ash, according to the American Red Cross there are several precautionary measures homeowners can take: 

• Close all windows, doors, vents, and fireplace screens
• Shut off the gas at the meter
• Open the fireplace damper
• Move all flammable items to the center of the home
• Seal attic and ground vents with plywood or commercial seals
• Turn the air conditioning fan on and set to “re-circulate”
   

Dr. Leonard Forbes of Stevenson Ranch, CA practiced several of these tips during the October 2003 wildfires that destroyed over 80,000 acres.  

“We evacuated our home when the fire hit the ridge in the back of our home,” said Forbes.  “We returned three days later to find our home virtually damage free, while our neighbors had severe interior smoke and soot damage.” 

 Dr. Forbes credits this to his quick thinking - he turned on his air conditioner to continuous fan, keeping the air inside his home continuously circulating.   While this alone would have not been enough to eliminate the soot and smoke, the installation of two Aprilaire Model 5000 Whole-Home Air Cleaners on his heating and cooling system were.

 “While most of our neighbors were using a cleaning service to try and remove the smoke smell and the soot, we had no visible soot or smoke smell in our home,” said Forbes.  “Keeping the air circulating and having the high efficiency whole-home air cleaners continuously clean the air during the fires protected our home.”

 The Aprilaire Model 5000 Whole-Home Air Cleaner traps particulate such as smoke, soot and respirable dust at an efficiency of over 98 percent.