Smoke from wildfires in the Western states drifted east over the summer, lowering air quality, and often enveloping the Missouri sky in haze.
As a Ballwin resident, you can’t control particles from wildfire smoke in the atmosphere outdoors, but you can improve the air you breathe at home.
You can mitigate smoke and other forms of outdoor pollution that invade your home by way of open windows, doors, cracks, and vents with a variety of indoor air quality (IAQ) products.
Chesterfield Services can help you choose an indoor air quality system that enhances your comfort and safeguards your health. We’re a full-service heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) company with expertise in plumbing, electrical service, appliance repair, and indoor air quality.
Contaminants in Your Home
Outdoor pollution, such as smoke, isn’t the only source of poor indoor air quality in your Ballwin home. The Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) identifies indoor air pollution as particulate matter or gas.
Particulate matter consists of solids and liquid droplets that vary in size. Some particles are small enough to be inhaled and can cause sinus problems, burning eyes, bronchitis, and respiratory illnesses. Dust, fumes and smoke, viruses, pollen, dust mites, pet dander, bacteria, mold, are a few examples.
The EPA notes that hundreds of gaseous pollutants also have been found indoors. Sources include tobacco smoke, gas stoves, exhaust from attached garages, laser printers, paints, building materials, furniture, adhesives, caulks, cleaners, craft materials, pesticides, and other chemicals.
If the thought of inhaling dust mite droppings makes you want to move—maybe to an open-air tent in the Mark Twin National Forest—don’t be too hasty.
Remember that Chesterfield Services has your back when it comes to HVAC installation, repair, replacement, and maintenance. We want to improve your life through indoor air quality technology, and we can recommend a system that suits your specific needs.
Air Quality Solutions
If the air in your home air is too dry, consider installing a whole-house humidifier. Attached to your HVAC system, it adds moisture to your home and boosts the indoor humidity level. Extremely low humidity can lead to sinus problems—even nosebleeds—dry skin, an increase in shocks from static electricity, and cracks in wood furniture and floors.
A whole-house dehumidifier works in conjunction with your HVAC system to remove moisture from the air and lower the humidity level. Too much humidity can encourage the growth of mold, attract insects, such as centipedes, damage the structure of your Ballwin home, and trigger respiratory illnesses.
Chesterfield Services offers several kinds of air purification systems.
The iWave air purifier works in conjunction with your air conditioning system to reduce airborne particles such as dander, pollen, smoke, and dust, while also killing mold, and viruses. The iWave generates ions that break down pollutants into harmless substances, such as oxygen.
Air Scrubber by Aerus, placed inside of ductwork, produces ions and hydro peroxides that destroy odors, dust, pet dander, other pollutants from the air and from surfaces. It also prevents dust from building up in your HVAC system.
We also carry PremierOne’s polarized media air cleaner, which creates a polarized electric field to snag pollutants on a disposable media pad. PremierOne’s UV Germicidal Air Purifiers use an ultraviolet light placed inside your HVAC system’s ductwork, to kill germs and control allergens.
Which system is right for your Ballwin home? Our trained professionals at Chesterfield Services can point you in the right direction.
Remove the sources of pollution
Whichever system you choose, these simple steps will help improve your whole-house indoor air quality strategy:
- Change filters and air cleaners according to the manufacturer’s directions.
- Have Chesterfield Services seal leaks in your ductwork.
- Keep home humidity between 30 and 50 percent.
- Bring fresh air into your house.
- Vacuum and dust regularly.
- Drain dehumidifiers daily and clean the reservoir. Clean refrigerator drip pans regularly.