On this page:

Who needs indoor air quality products?

Three steps to follow before you start shopping

Air cleaning products

Humidity control products

Ventilators

Filtration

 

 

Who needs indoor air quality products

• experience adverse health effects caused by indoor air pollution, such as headaches, chronic fatigue, itchy skin, nervous problems, and nosebleeds (provided other causes of these symptoms have been ruled out by a doctor);
• suffer from allergies, asthma, or other respiratory problems;
• have homes with special features, such as extensive wood work, antiques, and art work, which need to be protected from dirt, molds, and air that is too dry.

1. Try to determine as accurately as possible what causes your symptoms (ask your doctor for help with this one). For instance, it would be helpful to know that you are allergic to molds, or that solvent fumes (e.g., from paints, glues, etc.) give you headaches.
2. Once you've got some idea of what the offending contaminants are, you should try to locate their source, and eliminate them if you can. For instance, do you have a wet crawlspace where mold is breeding? Does your spouse keep fuel oil, paints, or pesticides in the garage attached to your house?
3. If you can't eliminate the source of the trouble (for instance, if your spouse smokes in the house and refuses to quit), seek the help of a professional HVAC contractor who has experience solving indoor air quality problems. Such a contractor should recommend that you follow steps 1 and 2 before you talk about solutions to your air quality problems. If they don't, then look for someone more experienced.

• Air-cleaning filters trap particles. They come in a variety of types and efficiencies. Some air cleaners, such as those with HEPA filters, are 99.9% efficient, and when combined with charcoal, can remove mold spores and toxic gases.
• Air purifiers use ultraviolet light to kill molds and eliminate the odors associated with some volatile organic gases (such as paint thinners, glues, pesticides, etc.).

• Local ventilators exhaust locally produced humid air, odors, gases, and particles. Kitchen range hoods and bathroom exhaust fans are examples of local ventilators. If you operate a workshop inside your home (or garage) in which you work with chemicals, you should install a local ventilator to remove harmful contaminants.
• Whole-house ventilators not only continuously exhaust a home's entire volume of stale indoor air, but they also bring in an equal volume of fresh outside air. These ventilators can help to control humidity and dilute harmful gases (e.g., formaldehyde, which off-gases from insulation and press-wood furniture; carbon monoxide and other gases from cigarette smoke, etc.). Whole-house ventilators are generally sold as heat-recovery ventilators (HRVs) or energy-recovery ventilators (ERVs). Both of these types save some of the energy you've put in to the air before it is exhausted outside. For example, in the cooler months, an HRV extracts most of the heat from indoor air before it goes outside.

• Drum style humidifiers have a pan of water over which air passes. This is a standing source of water, so if it is not scrupulously cleaned every month, you'll have mold and bacteria growing in a place where they can easily be distributed throughout the house by the furnace fan.
• Flow-through style humidifiers use water that circulates continuously, and is eventually drained out of the system if it does not evaporate into the air. A flow-through humidifier is the safer option in terms of preventing germ circulation.