How to measure indoor air quality with an indoor air-quality monitor and other useful tools.
Most likely, you’ve heard us mention that the air in your home is up to five times more polluted than outside. This is a shocking statistic, given the attention paid to outdoor air pollution. It will hopefully shed some light on indoor air quality issues, which most people don’t know about.
Air pollution levels in homes in the United States will vary. They’ll vary quite a bit. IAQ is affected by a variety of factors, and the ones that are most relevant to each state, county, or town can vary. You can estimate the amount of indoor air pollution in your home if you are aware of these factors. You can test the air in your home to be sure. You’ll at least know what’s going on. Here are some tips to help you.
Buy An Indoor Air Quality Monitor.
Indoor air quality monitors are exactly what they sound like devices that monitor the quality of indoor air. IAQ isn’t something people think about enough, so you are probably among the majority of consumers who didn’t know these products were available. These products are available and are the best way to check your Indoor Air Quality.
What does it do? It is an electronic device that continuously tests and reports the level of pollution in your home.
What is it testing? The test varies from device to device, but they all test for humidity, particulate matter, and chemical pollutants. Some devices will monitor temperature, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide levels, as well as formaldehyde.
What is the price? Some home air quality testing in edmonton retail for just over $50. However, their average starting price hovers around $100. The highest price ranges north of $300, and most are sold at a middle-ground of about $200. The device is not cheap, but for investment once in-home wellness, it’s not bad.
How do home air quality testers work? Most models come with a display that shows you the values and readings right on your device. Some models display the overall IAQ via an indicator light, while others share specific readings to your phone through a dedicated application. Many are also smart home compatible and can be paired with devices such as thermostats to manage indoor air quality and energy consumption.
You can find many examples of IAQ monitors that you can buy for your home. Here are a few.
Foobot
Measures: Particulate Matter, Chemical Pollutants, Humidity, Temperature
Features: App to track and compare readings to the outside air. Smart home enabled. Offers general IAQ reading using a single light.
Awair Glow
Measures: Chemicals, temperature, humidity, and Carbon Dioxide
Features: Can turn on non-smart and smart devices using its external power outlet. Night light.
Netatmo
Measures: Humidity, air quality, noise, temperature
Features: an app to track readings. Smart home enabled. Offers general IAQ reading using a single light.
Check For Mold In The Air.
Mold is a common household pollutant, but your monitor will not report it. Mold is a common household pollutant that your indoor air quality monitor will not report on. It is simple to remove the mold. Just throw the bread away. Mold spores in the air that pollute your indoor air are a less obvious but more dangerous threat to your health.
What kind of mold test at home should I perform?
Mold tests at home are inexpensive, easy to use, and available in most hardware stores. They are also almost completely useless. The answer is no. Use none of them.
Standard home mold tests consist of a Petri plate that is left in the home with a substance (usually potato dextrose) to encourage mold growth. The test is left out for a certain amount of time, and then the petri dish is covered and incubated for a specific amount of time. The time varies by brand. Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Mold is mold if it grows. If it doesn’t, well, you get my point.
Spoiler alert! There is mold in the air. Mold spores can be found in the air almost anywhere, even inside your own home. Tests for mold are similar to tests for air. We promise it is there.
Mold in your home is a serious issue. But whether it exists or not is not the most important question. First, determine if the airborne amount of mold spores in your home is excessive. There is no official guideline by the EPA for how much mold in your home is excessive. This is done by comparing mold spores that are floating inside to those outside. This is a job for professionals.
If you suspect that you may have mold, but you are not sure because you haven’t noticed any, you should schedule a test. The mold that is more than normal in size will often have a musty odor. You may also notice that you are coughing and sneezing a lot more than normal.
Mold inspections are most commonly performed for eight reasons, according to Mold man, a professional mold removal company.
“8 situations where mold testing is warranted:
- If you are not sure what is causing your symptoms, such as a stuffy head or headache, a scratchy throat, or sneezing, but they persist, it could be an allergy.
- If you think that mold is present but are not sure it’s mold.
- You can smell mold but not see it.
- You have experienced water or plumbing problems in your home or workplace.
- After mold removal is completed by yourself or a professional, you may want to test the air quality in order to determine if mold levels are normalized.
- If you are a buyer, seller, or both in a real estate transaction and want to know if airborne mold levels have not been normalized.
- If you are a landlord or a tenant and want to know if there is a problem with mold in your home.
- “You want to know if your family is breathing clean, high-quality air at home.”
When an inspection reveals that there is mold in the air, you need to know the source. You can’t fix the problem without knowing the cause, and your ultimate goal should be to rid your house of large amounts of mold. This should also be something that your inspector can do.
There is a widespread belief that the third question is, “What type of mold are you dealing with?” This information is often useless. There are literally thousands of different types of mold. Many people are familiar with black mold and believe it to be toxic mold.
In reality, most molds, including black molds, do not produce toxic substances. Some species can only produce toxins under specific conditions. Inhalation is not the most dangerous way to be exposed to toxins, even if your home has mold that produces them. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that you will be able to inhale toxic levels of mold toxins from the air inside your home. The removal process for all mold types is almost identical. This means that you don’t need to worry about the type of mold.
Professional mold inspections can answer all your important questions. An inspection of a house with an average size will cost you between $300 and 400 dollars.
Install Carbon Monoxide Detectors.
Indoor Air Quality problems will affect your health in a gradual and long-term manner. Carbon monoxide is not among them. CO, also known as the silent killer, is odorless and colorless. It will kill you if you are exposed to high levels of CO for a long time.
Carbon monoxide, a by-product of fuel combustion, is dangerous. Gas dryers, gas stoves, and gas furnaces all pose a risk. Carbon monoxide detectors are a must for anyone who owns any of these appliances.
It’s still a good idea to install gas detectors, even if you do not own a stove or dryer. Carbon monoxide is not a major danger to your family, but it can be produced by gas water heaters and fireplaces. CO is produced by any fire, whether it’s wood burning or not. Get a CO detector. Few alarms are a small price for the assurance that you will be safe from this silent killer.
Indoor air quality monitors can measure CO levels and alert you to any changes. You can place them in different areas of your house, but they cost around $1000 and don’t have a loud alarm to wake you in the middle of the night. CO alarms are important.
The average carbon monoxide detector costs around eight dollars at your local department store or big-box retailer. You should have one alarm within 10 to 15 feet of every sleeping area. Also, keep it away from corners. Many models are wall-mounted, and some are battery-powered.
Conduct A Radon Test.
Like carbon monoxide, it is tasteless, odorless, and colorless. It cannot be detected without a special detector. It is not as deadly as carbon monoxide but can be dangerous over time. The American Cancer Society reports that radon is responsible for 21,000 lung cancer cases per year.
Radon gas can enter your house through cracks around pipes, foundations, floors, or walls. As radon is formed by the breakdown of uranium in soil, it tends to enter the lowest level of your home.
National Radon Program Services at Kansas State University provides discounts on short-term radon testing kits. These tests are more valuable than home mold tests because they tell you the amount of radon in your house.
It is easy to perform short-term radon testing. Place the test object in the package at the highest-risk area in your home. Allow it to sit there for the recommended time period, usually between two and seven days.
Close all windows and doors in the vicinity of the test area, and don’t use the area again until the test has been completed. This will eliminate external factors which can influence radon levels. You must send the test back to the lab of the manufacturer after the test period has ended. You have completed your short-term radon testing.
Long-term radon testing can be done in your home for 90 days or even up to a year. Radon levels fluctuate depending on weather conditions and the time of year. A long-term radon test will help you determine an average over a period of several months or a whole year.
Lab results can tell you if further action is needed to address radon levels in your home. A professional inspection is recommended if you detect high levels of radon. This will help identify any trouble spots that need to be sealed.
Radon gas, like carbon monoxide, is nothing to play with. As long as you follow some easy and simple steps and know what you can do and cannot fix yourself, you will not be at risk from these gases.
