Poor indoor air quality in homes, businesses and institutions has the potential to cause illness especially in the elderly and those with weakened respiratory systems. Weir Bros. Heating and Cooling knows the importance of good indoor air quality and therefore partners with IAQ industry leaders such as Lifebreath and Venmar to ensure their customers receive the best systems available in the marketplace today
Indoor Air Quality Testing in Windsor, ON
As a society today, we spend much more time indoors than we once did. Given the propensity towards tighter building construction, research has shown that exposure to air pollution can be up to 100 times higher indoors than outdoors due to tightly sealed homes and the lack of outdoor air.
Indoor air quality is more of a concern today than in the past, as homes are being built to higher efficiency standards which significantly reduces air leakage. Also, due to rising utility costs, many homeowners are weatherizing their existing homes with better insulation, sealing cracks, weather-stripping, upgraded windows and high quality doors due to increasing energy costs. While this tighter building envelope helps the pocketbook due to lower utility bills, the tighter the home, the more that indoor air quality suffers because not enough of the stale air is allowed to exit the home and not enough fresh air is allowed into the home. Indoor pollutants build up and moisture is trapped, which can encourage the growth of mildew and molds. The effects of poor indoor air quality is particularly evident in the winter months when people stay inside for greater periods of time and windows are seldom opened to allow for fresh air to enter the home.
One method of improving the indoor air quality is to remove the stale indoor air and replace it with outdoor air by way of a mechanical ventilation system coupled with effective air filtration. Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV’s) have become a standard installation in many newly constructed homes. The use of an HRV mechanically introduces fresh air into the home while at the same time pushes stale air from the home. The use of an HRV allows a home to be built with very little air leakage because the homeowner is always assured of ample fresh air coming into the home. For more information on Indoor Air Quality and how to maintain good indoor air quality, please see these additional consumer tips from HRAI:
What you need to know about indoor air quality and ventilation
Consumers Guide: Indoor Air Quality tips