What Are Indoor Air Quality Monitors?
Fires and pollutants significantly undermine the quality of air. Smoke is an environmental pollutant, and it can affect the quality of life for residents. Polluted air is a health hazard, too. For this reason, many people are now opting to use indoor air quality monitors.
Indoor air quality monitors are devices you can use to measure the air quality inside your home. Reports even show an increased demand for air quality monitors and air purifiers.
Indoor air quality monitors usually have different meters to assess various pollutants. They can indicate the oxygen content in your house and determine carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide levels.
Why Should You Monitor Indoor Air Quality?
Generally, the majority of people spend their days breathing indoor air as opposed to outdoor air. It could be in your office or any other place of work. Above all, we all have a home where we retire to after a long day.
Unfortunately, indoor air is often recycled and more likely to accumulate pollutants. These contaminants result in unsafe indoor air quality, which can lead to respiratory complications.
Common symptoms associated with contaminated air include dizziness, headache, fatigue, nose, throat and eye irritation. Long-term exposure can also result in chronic diseases such as cancer, pneumonia and asthma.
Who Needs an Indoor Air Quality Monitor?
An indoor air quality monitor can be useful to all groups of people. Everyone needs fresh and clean air. If you’re healthy, volatile compounds can cause complications or make your situation worse if you have an underlying condition already.
However, you must understand that the device will measure air quality but does nothing to fix the situation.
Most people prefer to invest in purifiers, although the air quality monitor is still useful. It gives you information on your home’s condition at a particular time so that you can see whether the cleanser is necessary.
We all live in environments prone to pollutants from human activities like trash and charcoal burning, factory and motor vehicle emissions. Such settings can be a cause of concern, especially for individuals with underlying breathing problems.
However, an IAQ monitor can reveal air pollution patterns, so you can know when to adjust your air purifiers. You can also take mitigating measures such as:
- Using gas instead of burning wood
- Always ensuring your boat and car engines are tuned properly
- Conserving energy at home and even at work
- Always consider using environment-friendly paints and cleaning products at home
- Avoiding burning dry leaves and other trash
- Avoiding the use of gas-powered garden equipment
- Always opening your home windows for the free flow of air
- Embracing automobiles that don’t use fossil fuels
Remember, being aware of the condition of your indoor air gives you peace of mind.
Methods of Assessing IAQ
There are two methods you can use to assess the quality. You can opt for the real-time measurement or the integrated sampling method.
In real-time measurement, you assess the air quality continuously. You will need a device specifically for real-time indoor air quality monitoring. The device will help you note the different pollution sources and their levels at any time of the day.
Integrated sampling, on the other hand, detects pollutants and their levels over a specific period, like eight hours. You get the total exposure levels of pollutants over that duration.
Causes of Poor Indoor Air Quality
Most indoor air contaminants result from both what people do or fail to do. Gas and particulates are the primary pollutants, and in most cases, result from burning activities.
The particulates can come from HVAC systems not correctly maintained, coal stoves, indoor fireplaces, cleaning chemicals and tobacco smoke.
These contaminants get amplified when the occupants fail to follow simple practices such as opening the windows for ventilation or poorly constructed homes. Faulty HVAC systems can also cause rooms to get too hot, which further amplifies the pollutants.
Conclusion
It’s possible to maintain your indoor air quality by just following some simple practices. For instance, you can opt for cooking methods that do not emit smoke and gases, such as electric cookers and hot plates.
Also, ensure your house has enough ventilation, and always leave windows open for air circulation.
BELOMAN can help you with matters on your HVAC systems. We provide high-quality HVAC services as well as upgrades to modern and energy-efficient systems in Belleville and the surrounding areas.
Contact us today for your indoor air quality, pest control, duct cleaning, financing options and plumbing needs.
