When it comes to your home’s interior comfort, the quality of the air going through your vents plays an important role. Your home’s indoor air quality (IAQ) can affect everyone and everything in your home, and it’s one of those things that people don’t realize there’s a problem until they take a closer look at their system.
As your heater gets ready for the upcoming cold season, taking some time this autumn to check your ventilation system can help quickly improve your overall comfort level in no time.
How to Tell You Have IAQ Issues
One thing about IAQ issues that can make them difficult to differentiate from other causes is how they can bear striking similarities to different conditions. Knowing how to tell the differences between them can help you see when you need to call in the professionals to help improve your home’s interior comfort levels.
Cold or Flu-Like Symptoms
The trouble with IAQ issues is that you can have difficulty identifying a problem until the damage has been done. In some cases, poor air quality signs can be confused with cold or flu-like symptoms. Anything from coughing, sneezing, irritated eyes, and dizziness can fall into both categories and make it challenging to decide how to address them.
If you’re dealing with these symptoms for longer than a week or two, you may be able to rule out the common cold or flu as being the underlying cause of your issues. Paying attention to when you experience these symptoms can help determine if it’s an IAQ issue.
Sleep Issues
When people talk about having problems falling and staying asleep, one of the last things they attribute their troubles to is their home IAQ. However, if your home’s furnace pumps air pollutants through your ventilation system, it can significantly affect your overall sleep efficiency and quality. If you have noticed your sleep quality has suffered recently, checking your heating and ventilation systems can help you see drastic improvements.
Excessive Dust Buildup
The heat vents around your home can do more than just direct the warm air to every room — they can also spread dust particles. If you haven’t given your heating vents the attention they deserve in recent years, they could have accumulated an alarming amount of dust. When your furnace is on full blast, these particulates can spread throughout your home and bring IAQ down significantly. Take a minute to dust the vents and give your warm air a chance to breathe freely.
Unusual Hot and Cold Spots
If you encounter random spots throughout your home that run hot and cold throughout the year, it can signify that your IAQ is not where it should be. If one area of your house feels unusually hot or cold, your system isn’t running as efficiently as it could be. It may even be a matter of your furnace not being the right size for your home and not evenly heating it.
These areas may even have pockets of particulates and pollutants that haven’t been filtered out properly due to the improperly sized unit. Having a professional inspect your furnace to see if it’s the right size can significantly affect your home’s IAQ.
Contact Mister Sewer, Plumbing, & HVAC for Essential Furnace Repairs in Pittsburgh, PA
Regarding your home’s IAQ, you want to ensure you get the best in the Greater Pittsburgh area to help identify where you need the most improvement. The Mister Sewer, Plumbing and HVAC team can help improve your house’s interior comfort quickly and efficiently. Contact our team to schedule your next furnace maintenance service today!