Boosting Indoor Air Quality: Solutions for Poor IAQ in Burbank, CA

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is frequently worse than outdoor air quality due to stagnant indoor air, which does not refresh as often. Improving the air you breathe is essential for maintaining health and can significantly alleviate breathing issues and enhance comfort during allergy season. In this guide, we will explore solutions for some of the most common indoor air quality problems you may encounter in the Burbank area.

Improve Your Ventilation

Indoor air quality is influenced by more than just allergens. Activities such as painting, heating with kerosene heaters, or sanding can significantly decrease it. In these cases, solutions like air scrubbers and purifiers can help.

Additionally, increasing the volume of fresh air in an enclosed space by opening doors or windows can also be effective.
One limitation of many HVAC systems is that they recirculate indoor air, which means they do not introduce fresh air into your home. While some systems can remove allergens like dust and dander, improving ventilation helps refresh the air. Opening doors and windows to bring in fresh air or using window fans can enhance ventilation in your living space.
While these methods may also introduce some allergens, they will effectively remove lingering chemicals from your indoor environment, improving overall air quality. However, on days with allergy alerts or poor air quality warnings, it is advisable to keep windows and doors closed.

Maintaining indoor ventilation can involve opening windows and doorways and cleaning the vents. Throughout the year, the vents in your home, which circulate air through your HVAC system, can accumulate dust and debris.

This buildup forces your HVAC system to work harder, leading to increased wear and operational costs. It also circulates dust and debris throughout your home. To address this issue, schedule a duct cleaning service for your home’s vents at least once a year to ensure that air flows freely. We recommend doing this during the spring, along with other HVAC maintenance tasks.

Use HEPA Air Filters or UV Lights

Filtration systems are another method for improving the air quality in your living space. If you have a household member with severe allergies, you can install a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system that removes 99.97% of airborne pollutants. This filter style effectively removes smaller particles, meaning that most viruses, mold, bacteria, germs, dust, pollen, and allergens are no longer in the air.

Removing these particles may result in less severe allergy symptoms during the spring and summer. Additionally, asthma sufferers can breathe easier since these irritants are no longer present. When you breathe freely, you tend to sleep better, which improves your overall comfort level.

Some newer systems incorporate ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light has a shorter wavelength than standard light and damages the DNA of biological airborne allergens like mold, mildew, and bacteria. This also works on the proteins in the skin fragments found in pet dander and dust.

Since these proteins, which cause allergies, break down under this light, UV rays effectively neutralize them as allergens. For non-biological irritants, such as odor molecules, germicidal UV lights also break these down into their constituent elements, eliminating the smell.

Adding Whole-Home Purification or Air Scrubbing Systems

At Air Max HVAC, we understand that Burbank and the surrounding areas can experience tough allergy seasons due to tree pollen, grass, and mold. Additionally, pets and store-bought cleaning products contribute to your home’s contaminated air. This includes pet dander and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Even beyond these indoor allergens, various outdoor-specific allergens can find their way into your home, which is why we recommend air purification or scrubbing.

With air purification, we will incorporate a dedicated whole-house unit into your HVAC system that filters all the air passing through your home. Many of these units use either UV light or HEPA technologies to remove or kill most airborne allergens and pollutants. While these need to filter particles greater than 0.3 microns in size, this range accounts for many allergens and pollutants that cause reactions.

Air scrubbers, on the other hand, integrate into the ducts of your HVAC system similarly to whole-home purifiers. The primary difference is that these scrubbers use negative ions to weigh down particles in the air and on surfaces. They also employ at least three types of filters to help keep your system free of allergens and pollutants. Additionally, ionization effectively kills mold, mildew, and bacteria.

With these purification and scrubbing technologies, your indoor air quality will significantly improve. Since these systems remove particles before they can settle on HVAC air filters, system motors require less effort to push air through dirty filters. This will save the system from wear and tear, lengthen its lifespan, and reduce energy bills.

Add a Whole-Home Power Humidifier System

Humidity is one aspect of indoor air quality that significantly affects how you breathe. For this reason, a whole-home power humidifier is a great addition to your HVAC system. Ideally, indoor humidity levels should be between 30% and 50%. This way, microorganisms that flourish in moist environments over 60% humidity, such as mold, bacteria, and mildew, cannot take hold.

On the other hand, maintaining humidity levels above 30% helps prevent the air from becoming too dry. When the air is drier, skin can crack, contributing to indoor dust levels, and mucus has a harder time forming, inhibiting the protection it provides for the respiratory system. Additionally, when the air is below 30% humidity, your eyes may become irritated, making you more susceptible to colds and flu.

With a whole-home power humidifier, which our HVAC technicians can install inside your system, you can set a desired humidity level to improve indoor air quality. The 30% to 50% range also feels comfortable for most people.

Another humidifier system is a whole-home bypass humidifier, which works with your HVAC system to add moisture to dry indoor air, thereby improving comfort and air quality. They help prevent dry skin, allergies, and respiratory issues while also protecting wood furniture from cracking. These energy-efficient systems provide consistent humidity levels throughout your home, contributing to a healthier living environment. Both whole-home power humidifiers and whole-home bypass humidifiers can help achieve your goal of controlling humidity levels.

Consider Adding Smart Technology

Smart technology is a great addition to any HVAC system. It allows you to easily adjust the temperature and humidity levels of your home and sends alerts to your phone or mobile device when air quality changes. This enables you to stay on top of new pollutants and allergens that enter your home and take care of them quickly.

Improve Your Air Quality Today

Improving indoor air quality is imperative for well-being. Here in Burbank, CA, we experience several allergens and pollutants that can negatively affect individuals with asthma or severe allergies. The quality of the air you breathe is as important to us as it is to you. Our company offers the installation, repair, and maintenance of furnaces, heat pumps, air conditioners, and mini-split AC units, as well as indoor air quality services.

Ready to breathe cleaner air? At Air Max HVAC, we offer professional installation of air purification systems and upgrades to your existing filtration system. Don’t wait—contact us today to enhance the air quality in your space!