Indoor Air Quality in Beaumont, TX

Why Is Indoor Air More Polluted Than Outdoor Air?

Here’s something that might surprise you: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that indoor air pollution levels in U.S. homes are often 2 to 5 times higher than those outdoors. Given that the average American spends around 90% of their time inside, this means many people are exposed to high levels of pollutants in sealed, poorly ventilated homes.

While energy-efficient homes are designed to reduce utility costs, a downside is that they trap more indoor pollutants. The increasing use of synthetic materials in construction, furnishings, personal care products, and household cleaners further worsens indoor air quality.

Symptoms of poor indoor air quality can include sore throats, congestion, sneezing, fatigue, headaches, and difficulty concentrating. Prolonged exposure to pollutants can lead to serious health conditions like heart disease, chronic respiratory illnesses, and even cancer. Let’s review some common indoor air pollution sources.

Household Products

Ironically, many products used to keep homes clean and smelling fresh are major contributors to indoor air pollution. Cleaning supplies, air fresheners, and candles release harmful chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are emitted as gasses from various solids and liquids. VOCs come from everyday products such as:

• Gasoline, fuels, solvents, and pesticides
• Paints, varnishes, and furniture polish
• Personal care items like deodorants and shampoos
• Cleaning products, air fresheners, and candles
• New cabinets, furniture, carpets, and rugs
• Craft products like adhesives and markers

In addition to VOCs, other items in your home contribute to poor indoor air quality including:

• Building Materials: Synthetic materials in construction such as those found in composite wood products, carpets, and vinyl, can release harmful chemicals like formaldehyde.
• Cooking and Combustion: Cooking also contributes to indoor pollution. For example, gas stoves and ovens release nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. High cooking temperatures can also cause countertops and cabinets to emit chemicals, further degrading the air quality in your home.
• Outdoor Pollutants: Outdoor pollutants can enter homes through windows, doors, and cracks in foundations. Diesel exhaust, chimney smoke, ozone, radon, and common allergens such as pollen and mold spores can also infiltrate and affect indoor air quality.
• Mold and Mildew: Homes with high humidity and poor ventilation are prone to mold growth which can develop in damp areas, including your ventilation system. Mold is especially harmful to those with respiratory issues such as asthma or allergies.

Whole House Solutions to Solve Indoor Air Quality Problems

To improve your home’s indoor air quality, both eliminating pollution sources and ensuring proper ventilation is essential. We provide professional installation of whole house systems that will seamlessly integrate with your existing HVAC system to clean all of the air that circulates throughout your home. Is high humidity the problem? We have systems that can regulate humidity levels. Here are the products we install.

• Air Purifiers: These use HEPA filters to remove mold, dander, viruses, allergens, and odors. We can help you choose the correct MERV rating for your HVAC system.
• Air Filtration Systems: Ideal for households with asthma or allergies, these are installed in your ductwork for comprehensive air cleaning.
• Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers: These systems tackle high or low humidity to balance indoor humidity levels to prevent discomfort and mold growth.
• ERV and HRV Systems: Energy and heat recovery ventilators bring fresh air into your home without raising utility costs.
• UV Germicidal Lights: These systems eliminate biological contaminants such as mold spores and bacteria without posing any safety risks to your family.

A common question from homeowners: Are UV germicidal lights safe?

It’s understandable to think that a system that relies on UV light might be harmful to you and your family members, especially since UV light is known to cause sunburn and skin cancer. However, the UV lights in UV germicidal light systems are installed by our team within your home’s ductwork or air handler.

As air moves through the system, it passes by the UV light, ensuring that homeowners are completely safe from exposure. You can rest assured that there is no risk of coming into contact with the UV light. In fact, these systems have been used in hospitals, clinics, and medical offices for decades.

Choose the Team That Is NATE-Certified

When selecting an indoor air quality system, it’s important to work with a team of professionals who hold certifications that guarantee their training and expertise are up-to-date. Our Service Technicians are NATE-certified so you can rest assured that we have the most up-to-date knowledge about IAQ systems.

NATE stands for North American Technician Excellence. NATE is the largest non-profit heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC-R) organization in the US. When you hire a company with NATE-certified technicians, know that you are working with a highly trained and experienced contractor.

Continued NATE certification requires additional training and continuing education. This means that our Service Technicians stay current of HVAC technology and possess a demonstrated knowledge of today’s HVAC and IAQ systems.

Why Else Should You Choose Us for Indoor Air Quality Services?

In addition to being NATE-certified, rest assured that we have been a trusted name in the HVAC industry since 1981. That’s more than four decades of trustworthy service to homeowners in the Golden Triangle region of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana.

Not only do we provide indoor air quality expertise, but we pair it with pride in our work, strict attention to every detail, and customer satisfaction that exceeds your expectations. No matter what your indoor air quality problem is, we won’t rest until we find a solution that you will be happy with.

Why Portable IAQ Products Aren’t Enough

If you’re convinced that your home’s indoor air quality needs some help, it may be tempting to opt for portable air filters or humidifiers. You may already have portable devices in your home that aren’t really helping tackle your home’s poor air quality. That’s because portable devices have limitations that hinder their efficacy.

• Limited coverage area: Portable air quality devices are designed for small spaces such as bedrooms or offices. To improve air quality throughout your entire home, you’d need multiple units, which can get costly—especially with the ongoing expense of replacement filters for each one.
• Noise: Even models marketed as "whisper quiet" still produce noticeable noise, particularly when they are on higher settings. This can be disruptive if you’re working from home or trying to sleep. Whole house systems operate silently so you won’t even notice them.
• Expensive filters: While portable units themselves may seem affordable, the replacement filters can be pricey. When you factor in the cost of additional filters, and the hassle of continuously buying and replacing them, that initial purchase price doesn’t seem so cheap. This is something you won’t have to worry about with a whole-house system.
• Limited pollutant removal: Most portable devices aren’t capable of filtering out larger particles, gasses, or volatile organic compounds (VOCs), meaning they address only certain pollutants. Our team can work with you to recommend a system that will eliminate the pollutants that you are concerned about.

The shortcomings of portable IAQ devices are apparent. By contrast, whole-house systems offer more comprehensive coverage and are much more effective.

Do My Existing HVAC Systems Clean & Dehumidify Air?

Many homeowners assume their furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to cleaning and dehumidifying their home’s air. Unfortunately, these systems play a minor role in keeping your home’s air comfortable. Let’s go over what your existing HVAC systems do to help your home comfort in ways that aren’t related to temperature.

How HVAC Systems Clean Air

Many people think that the purpose of the air filter in their HVAC system is to clean the air in their homes. This is the filter that homeowners should replace or clean every 1–3 months. However, that’s not the main purpose of this filter. The air filter in your HVAC system is meant to keep the system’s internal parts free and clear of dust and debris. Not only does this help the system run better, but it also maximizes airflow.

When it comes to air quality, most HVAC systems have a basic air filter that helps capture larger particles, such as dust, pet dander, and pollen, as air circulates through the system. This can improve the quality of the air you breathe to some degree. However, standard filters only target large contaminants, meaning smaller particles like allergens, bacteria, and mold spores often pass through.

To get the best out of your HVAC system, regular filter replacement is essential. Dirty filters not only reduce the system’s ability to clean the air but can also restrict airflow and reduce efficiency. Despite this, even with consistent filter changes, HVAC systems alone can only provide a limited amount of air cleaning.

How Air Conditioners Dehumidify

It is true that central air conditioners, heat pumps, and ductless mini splits provide some dehumidification as a byproduct of cooling. When warm air passes over the cold evaporator coils, moisture condenses and is removed from the air, which helps lower indoor humidity levels to a small degree.

However, the amount of dehumidification that an air conditioning system provides is often not enough to maintain comfortable humidity levels, especially in Beaumont, TX. While air conditioners do reduce moisture, their primary purpose isn’t dehumidification. Homeowners might notice that their air conditioning systems aren’t adequately addressing humidity, leading to sticky, uncomfortable air even when the overall temperature of their homes is cool.

Why HVAC Systems Aren’t Enough for Air Quality and Humidity Control

Both heating and air conditioning systems are essential for keeping your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, but they don’t fully address indoor air quality. To achieve better air quality and humidity control, homeowners can rely on the installation of whole-house systems.

When installed by our team of professional Service Technicians, these add-ons provide the extra layer of protection needed to keep your home’s air clean and its humidity level balanced, resulting in better year-round comfort in Beaumont, TX.