Periodic indoor air quality (IAQ) testing helps maintain a healthy and safe home environment for you, your family and guests. Professional testing of the air supply in your Twin Cities metro area home is quick and cost-effective. Air quality testing can be done as part of your springtime air conditioning tune-up. This preventive maintenance will ensure that you’re ready for the coming summer.
Poor indoor air quality may go unnoticed because the effects of bad IAQ often occur gradually. Your family may show signs of headache, fatigue, inability to concentrate, and/or allergy-like (sneezing, coughing) symptoms. Sometimes your first clue com
es from excess dust, stale air and lingering odors in parts of the house.
Common causes of indoor air pollution
- Home improvement projects leaving behind sawdust, paint odors and more
- Household cleaning products
- Dust and rodent/insect debris, collected in the duct system over time
- Pet dander
- Stored chemicals in the home or attached garage
- Hobby products (adhesives, etc.)
- Incomplete combustion of gas appliances, releasing excess gases from unmaintained stoves, clothes dryers or heating systems
- Wet carpet (may emit irritants into the air)
Air quality monitoring devices
Make sure you have properly installed detectors, monitors and/or alarms in your home to warn you of unsafe levels of dangerous gases. Include radon gas monitor(s), smoke alarm(s) and multi-gas detector(s) that warn of high levels of carbon monoxide (CO), propane and methane gas. Test the devices often to ensure that they’re always in working order.
Testing options
Home test kits are available for mold, bacteria, yeast, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide and more. You can evaluate the results against the testing guides generally included. Consider avoiding the do-it-yourself piecemeal approach in favor of professional IAQ testing. Your local HVAC expert is specially trained and equipped to identify unhealthy contaminants and can go further. He or she can diagnose the problem and recommend the best solution. Source control combined with a minor home repair or an upgrade can solve most IAQ problems.
If you have questions about your home’s air quality, contact the experts at Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning. Visit our website to learn more or contact us.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about testing your air quality and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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