Comfort Plus Heating & Air Conditioning Vancouver BC Heating Systems, Air Control, Heat Pumps, Air Conditioners, Solar Energy, Furnaces, Fireplaces, Indoor Air Quality Systems.

I.A.Q. is the acronym for Indoor air quality.

In the U.S. the Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the air in the average home or workplace is anywhere from 10 to 100 times more polluted than the outside air.

Sources of indoor air pollution are categorized as either biological or chemical. Biological pollutants originate from living things or are themselves living things, and can be either gases or particles. Chemical pollutants can also be either gasses or particles.

Some common biological pollutants may be dust mites, pet dander, bacteria, pollen, mould, fungi, and viruses. While some common chemical pollutants may be cleaning agents, adhesives, oil and gas appliances, paint, radon, air fresheners, etc.

Long term exposure to these pollutants may cause things like allergy attacks, respiratory problems such as asthma and COPD, and people with compromised immune systems, the very young and the elderly are most at risk.

If you have a furnace you may have a whole house air cleaner installed in the return air ductwork of your furnace. Keep in mind that not all air cleaners are created equal and it is a good idea to do a bit of homework on the types of air cleaners on the market.

At Comfort Plus, we recommend the Lennox PureAir, as well as the Lennox Healthy Climate air cleaners. The big benefit of the Lennox air cleaners is they do not produce ozone like the electronic air cleaners manufactured and sold by other companies. While ozone is beneficial up in the stratosphere where it protects the earth from harmful UV rays, at ground level it is a pollutant. Ozone is a known lung irritant and Health Canada has a published warning regarding ozone generators that were sold as air cleaners.

High humidity in your home is not a pollutant in itself, but it provides the ideal conditions for biological pollutants to grow and thrive. Besides allowing fungi and mould to grow, it also causes a great deal of damage to the home.

Should an air quality test reveal the presence of black mould, then you home would have to go through a mould abatement procedure, similar to an asbestos abatement, as black mould is toxic. This is a huge expense and a complete disruption of day to day life in your home. The toll this takes effects not only on your bank account, but the effects on your family’s health could be ongoing and devastating.

We are not trying to be alarmist, but excessive humidity, especially if it leads to mould is a major concern and as a homeowner you should be well aware of it.

The best way to control humidity is by extracting it from the source. Always use your range hood when cooking and your bath fans when bathing or showering, at minimum. Keep in mind when you are exhausting air from your home, this air should be replaced, or your home may go into negative pressure. When air leaves without being replaced this may result in doors to the home being harder to open, and to slam shut when you are closing them, but the big danger is when you have natural venting gas appliances. Your hot water tank, your furnace, or your fireplace may start dumping CO into your home as a direct result of negative pressure.

In order to minimize the chance of a negative pressure situation you must replace the air being exhausted. In mild climates this may be accomplished by keeping a window slightly open in the area where the fan is running. In colder climates, or just during cold winter months this is not recommended as your heating system will have to work harder, and it would create quite a draft in your home, so the solution is to install an ERV or HRV system into your home.

An HRV is a heat recovery ventilator, and it continuously exhausts a small amount of air from the home and brings the same amount of fresh air into the house. The heat from the outgoing air is used to warm the incoming air via the heat exchange core. These units run continuously and are controlled by a de-humidistat. When the humidity in the air exceeds the setting on the de-humidistat, the HRV goes into high speed to quickly exhaust the humid air and bring the humidity level down to the set point.

An ERV or an energy recovery ventilator works just like an HRV, but is better suited to running year round as it works well with air conditioning. The HRV is better suited to northern climates where they do not need to run any cooling, while an ERV is better suited to climates where you would run heating in the winter, but also have a need to run cooling in the summer.

Your Comfort Plus home comfort consultant will be happy to help you choose the right IAQ system to fit your home and budget.