Cold temperatures during the winter season impose specific challenges for Dayton area homes that are winterized or tightly sealed. Read on to learn how winter IAQ may impact your home lifestyle, as well as practical measures you can take to improve indoor air quality.
IAQ in Winter
One of the biggest challenges homeowners face is the fact that IAQ in the average home is more polluted than even typical city air. During periods of moderate and nice outdoor weather, it’s simple to open the windows and let in some fresh air.
However, during cold weather, free uncontrolled ventilation is not practical. A host of contaminants, including pathogens, allergens, VOCs (volatile organic compounds), mold and odors, can become trapped inside tightly sealed homes.
Control, Ventilation and Capture
To maintain good IAQ in the winter, it’s necessary to adopt a strategy that focuses on control, capture and ventilation, regarding the three IAQ elements.
Contaminants: A good quality air filter is one of the simplest tools to use to combat, control and capture contaminants. Filters help remove germs and particulates from the home, allowing for greater energy savings. For superior contaminant control and capture, consider an air-purification system that combines multiple IAQ tools, such as UV technology and high-efficiency filtration.
Temperature: Indoor temperatures are affected by factors specific to each home. Zoning systems are powerful comfort and energy-saving add-on equipment that direct conditioned air to occupied zones according to your program.
Humidity: Winter air tends to be quite dry. A whole-house humidifier helps manage humidity, which improves IAQ, comfort and inhibits infections and viruses. Energy-recovery ventilators (ERVs) use a heat-exchange core to pre-condition fresh air, so you’re not using excessive energy for home heating. Moreover, ERVs may be used in any weather to boost IAQ all year long.
To learn more about promoting good IAQ during the winter for your Ohio home, contact the HVAC exerpts at Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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