How Your Health and IAQ Go Hand-in-Hand

If you want to take care of your health, there are a few things you should do: eat right, exercise regularly, get a medical checkup annually… and improve your home’s indoor air quality. That last one doesn’t generally make it to lists of health tips, but it’s more important than you think.

Here are some of the ways poor IAQ can affect your health, and what to do about it.

IAQ Effects on Health

You no doubt know about the short term health effects your air quality has. Contaminants can exacerbate allergies and asthma, and are a major factor during cold and flu season. Especially in Corpus Christi, the high humidity fosters bacteria.

However, there are also IAQ effects on your long term health. The American Heart Association has found that prolonged exposure to poor air quality can increase the risk of heart disease, as pollutants have an inflammatory effect on the heart. In some patients, this can lead to a higher risk of heart attacks or strokes.

What to Do About It

The smaller a contaminant is, the more harmful it is. Your HVAC system can eliminate basic dust and pollen from the air, but the most harmful particles, like bacteria, or cigarette smoke, pass through the filter and continue to circulate.

Air filters strong enough to eliminate these contaminants, called HEPA filters, are too thick to go into your regular HVAC system without damaging it. However, a dedicated air purification system is designed for these filters and can eliminate contaminants down to 0.3 microns.

You might also consider a whole-house humidifier/dehumidifier. We already talked about the problems that high humidity can cause for your IAQ. A whole-house dehumidifier allows you to set your ideal humidity level, keeping it in the “Goldilocks Zone,” between about 30 and 50 percent. It’s not too low and not too high, so that you can breathe easy and have good health for years to come.

To learn more about IAQ effects on your health, contact us at CCAC. We’re Corpus Christi’s trusted source for quality HVAC solutions.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about your HVAC system, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 361-678-2495.