How to Control Your Home's Ventilation and Maintaining Good Indoor Air Quality

With today's newer building technology to make houses more energy-efficient, your home is now more insulated... "sealed"....to the point of being considered "airtight", and because of that, ventilation becomes critical in maintaining good indoor air quality. 

To achieve good ventilation conditions, stale, humid, contaminated and oxygen-depleted air, needs to be exchanged with fresher outdoor air. This is difficult to achieve and to control by simple ventilation, opening windows or depending on small permanent vents for exhausting stale indoor air. Wind conditions may vary, and some exterior surfaces will be exposed to face positive winds, blowing against the house.  At the same time, sheltered surfaces cause negative pressure, creating a suction effect. When this occurs, chimneys get a downdraft and could create smoke fumes. This draft of air in rooms with open fires in fireplaces, boilers or heating appliances, if not sealed against indoor air, when ignited, combust indoor oxygen and deplete the room of oxygen. Worse yet, it can create a build-up of carbon monoxide to dangerous levels.

Radioactive radon gas levels can also increase indoors, by open chimneys, drawing warm air up and out. This can happen in circumstances where there’s a lack of ventilation vents. The interior spaces can create a negative air pressure with the ground, thereby vacuuming radon up from below the ground and trapping it within the interior environment of the house. 

Odors from toilets, grease and fumes from cooking, all create health problems. However, the most common health damage caused by poor ventilation is a build-up of humidity and condensation.

High relative humidity conditions are now quite common in homes, especially since the fitting of draft-sealed windows and closing of permanent vents. Can you imagine the amount of vapor you create in your home, from washing, cooking, breathing, and even perspiring....being sealed within your home during the cold and therefore, long heating season, sometimes lasting several months? Therefore, you need quality ventilation, without giving discomfort to you and your family and without causing a heat loss from uncontrolled cold drafts. 

Asthma has increased tremendously over the last twenty years and much of this increase is triggered from high humidity, producing condensation and molds, and favoring conditions for dust-mites to multiply.

An effective solution to ventilation for airtight homes, is fitting a Heat Recovery Ventilation System. This is to prevent warm interior air that’s heated during the cold days of winter, from driving through the exterior building elements, to balance with the outside ambient colder air. The warmer, interior air typically suspends more water vapor then the outside colder air, causing a differential vapor pressure. This pressure drives the warm air to the outside, to balance the vapor pressure with the outside environment. It is therefore critical to
prevent this vapor-packed air from driving through permeable materials like plasterboard and timber that are fitted on the inside of insulation. This is achieved by laying a vapor-resisting, airtight membrane, ‘smart-ply’ OSB boards or by applying coats of wet plaster rendering. It is also important to eliminate all small gaps at joints and junctions that leak moist, warm, interior air to the colder air outside, which contains much less water vapor. This is achieved by hermetically sealing all joints and junctions.

How Can You Tell if your Home’s Air Contains Pollutants?

To answer right away....you just don't know.  You don't know, but doing some investigating in and around your home and using your 5 senses, you should be able to determine if it does.

I've did some research and came up with a 30-point checklist that highlights the typical sources of indoor air pollution in the average home. You can use it to decide whether or not your home is likely to be experiencing air quality issues.

If you check off any of the following "opportunities", the chances are good that your home could use some indoor air remedial action. The more checks you make on your list, the greater that action likely needs to be and the faster it probably should happen.

If you didn't check off any opportunities, that indicates your home is probably free of indoor air quality problems, but it’s wise to adopt a few principles of healthy precaution to keep things that way!
1. Does my home have unusual and/or lingering odors?
2. Does my home regularly have stale or stuffy air?
3. Is my central heating and cooling equipment dirty or not working properly?
4. Does anyone in my household suffer frequent colds, allergies, respiratory problems, or burning eyes?
5. Does my home regularly experience high humidity?
6. Are mold or mildew present in any room?
7. Does anyone in my house smoke indoors or do I regularly have guests who smoke indoors?
8. Does my basement have a radon problem?
9. Is my fireplace or woodstove malfunctioning or improperly vented?
10. Does my home typically accumulate a lot of dust that requires regular removal?
11. Do I use any synthetic chemical household cleaners?
12. Do I use any room deodorizers and/or air freshening products?
13. Do I use hair spray or other synthetic personal care products, especially spray products, perfumes, and nail polish supplies?
14. Do I use any pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or other poisons inside or outside my home?
15. Has my home been recently painted or have any furnishings been recently painted or varnished?
16. Is my home weatherized or otherwise sealed tightly to conserve energy?
17. Does my home contain any ceiling panels, acoustic ceiling tiles, or similar products?
18. Does my home contain any decorative wallpaper less than one year old?
19. Has my home been remodeled or added onto in the last two years?
20. Does my home contain any new furniture or carpeting less than one year old?
21. Has my home had any furniture or fixtures like cabinetry added to it in the past two years that are made from pressed or composite
    woods?
22. Do I use kerosene or other non-electric space heaters?
23. Does anyone in the house engage in hobbies or other activities that make frequent use of adhesives like rubber cement or model glue,
    strippers, finishes, paints, wood fillers, etc.?
25. Do I have any textile product labeled permanent press, easy-care, wrinkle-free, flame-resistant, etc. that are less than one year old?
26. Does my home contain any synthetic foams?
27. Do I use dry cleaning services regularly?
28. Is my home located on or near any heavily traveled roads?
29. Are any of my home’s various flue pipes, vents, or chimneys damaged in any way?
30. Does my home contain any copy machines or computer laser printers?

Affordable Ways To Seek Allergy Relief

Do you suffer from allergies?  If you do, are you looking for affordable ways to seek allergy relief?  If you are, you will want to continue reading on.  Below, a few easy and affordable steps that you can take to reduce your allergy symptoms are outlined.

If you have good health insurance, you will want to visit your doctor.  He or she cannot only provide you with prescription medication, but he or she may also be able to provide you with additional tips.  These tips may include other natural and easy ways that you can go about seeking relief.  Management tips, including how you can learn to live with allergies, may also be discussed by your doctor.  Those with adequate health insurance, often find this approach easy and affordable.

If you do not have health insurance and if you cannot afford a visit to the doctor, you will want to examine over-the-counter products that are designed to provide relief to those suffering from allergies.  Over-the-counter products are often much cheaper than getting a prescription without insurance.  For the best level of success and relief, you will want to research online or ask those that you know for information on which over-the-counter products work the best.  Seeking recommendations or reading ratings and reviews online is a great way to save money.  Of course, be sure to read all warning labels before trying an over-the-counter allergy relief product.

Another natural and easy way to seek allergy relief is by removing yourself from the source of your problems or at least limiting your exposure.  For example, if you are allergic to pets and if you are a pet owner, consider seeing if a friend or family member can take your pet for you.  If you do not want to take this approach or if you cannot find a good home for your pet, limit the contact that you have with them, especially indoors.  Keep all pets off furniture as much as possible and keep them out of your bedroom.

Clean your home as much as possible.  There are some individuals who are allergic to mold and large amount of dust.  If are one of those individuals, you may find it difficult to clean your home.  One tip involves cleaning your home as much as possible.  This is a great way to limit the dust that accumulates in your home.  Although not necessarily affordable, you may also want to consider using a professional housecleaner.  In keeping with professional help, if you suffer from mold and mildew allergies, consider calling on a professional mold remover.  Although not cheap, it is the best way to seek relief and your home may also increase in value.  If this expense is too much, consider limiting the amount of time you spend in your basement or other areas where mold is present.

Green tea is another easy and natural way to seek relief from allergies.  Some teas have natural antihistamines in them.  These are a great way and affordable way to seek relief.  Even teas without natural antihistamines in them can help, as tea is known for it calming affect.  The comfort and calmness provided may be welcomed with open arms by those suffering from severe allergy symptoms.

As you likely already know, allergies come in a number of different formats and those suffering from allergies often have different symptoms.  If you suffer from hives, oatmeal should be used.  Oatmeal should be prepared with one cup of boiling water.  Wait a few minutes, around thirty minutes, and then strain.  The remaining liquid can be applied to the skin and hives.  A small paper towel or cotton ball will work.

As you can see, there are a number of affordable ways that you can go about seeking relief from many common allergy symptoms.  If you suffer from allergies, you are encouraged to give the above mentioned approaches a try.  You have nothing to lose by doing so, as most of the above mentioned steps are easy and affordable to take.