Tag Archives: ventilation

3 Ways to Manage Your Home’s Humidity in Cool Weather

It isn’t uncommon for Mobile, AL homeowners to struggle with managing indoor humidity levels, even during cooler weather. As we approach the winter season, the concern is usually about dry indoor air, but regions such as ours with mild winters, can still see problems with indoor high moisture levels at this time of the year.

Manage Everyday Activities

Regular tasks like cooking, cleaning, showering, and washing clothes are some of the biggest contributors to indoor moisture. By keeping an eye on how and when your family performs these activities, you can get a better handle on indoor moisture. The goal is to keep indoor humidity levels between 30 and 50 percent.

Be sure to use kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room vents that transfer exhaust outdoors instead of allowing that moisture to remain in your home. Having an exhaust system that vents hot, moist air properly can do wonders for your home’s humidity and improve indoor air quality.

Encourage Ventilation

Fortunately at this time of the year, we can take advantage of the pleasant temperatures outdoors. Stale, humid air can become a breeding ground for dust mites, mold, and other allergens that thrive in moist conditions. Open windows and doors to help bring fresh air into your home. Keep your home’s indoor air moving with a combination of the HVAC system, ceiling fans, exhaust fans, and natural airflow. Make sure the HVAC air filters you use are advanced enough to capture allergens.

Use a Dehumidifier

During the spring and summer, most Mobile homeowners run their air conditioners to lower indoor temperatures as well as humidity levels. When the temperatures drop in fall and winter, however, using the air conditioner in this way is not always an option. A dehumidifier provides efficient filtration, reduces humidity, controls mold, and improves the indoor air quality. This unit works with the HVAC system to pull excess moisture from the air. You can use it to manage humidity levels in any climate and to tackle humidity issues throughout your entire home.

Do you constantly struggle to maintain a healthy humidity level in your home? Call the indoor air quality experts at Keith Air Conditioning, Inc. at 251-476-3610 to learn about the best solutions for your home.

3 Reasons High Humidity Is Bad for Your Health

A major contributor to poor indoor air quality, high humidity is bad for your health in more ways than you might expect. Here are three reasons you should keep humidity levels in check in your Mobile, Alabama home.

Dust Mites Thrive

Dust mites can’t live in just any environment. To thrive, these pests require high humidity levels and plenty of dust. Excess moisture in the air, dusty conditions, and carpet that isn’t vacuumed regularly provide the perfect setting for dust mites.

The best way to keep sneeze-inducing dust mites out is to keep the house clean and the humidity level low. Dust surfaces in your home with a damp cloth at least once a week, and follow up with a thorough mopping or vacuuming session. Be sure to vacuum upholstery, textiles, and other fabrics where dust mites often live.

Airborne Chemicals Flourish

A number of household items, from paint to carpet to furniture, produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Breathing in large amounts of these dangerous airborne chemicals is never a good idea, but high humidity can actually cause VOCs to off-gas and become airborne more quickly.

Keeping VOCs in check is a two-step process. Maintain a reasonable level of humidity in your home, and increase ventilation with stand-alone fans or a ventilator that works with your HVAC system.

Mold Grows

You should try to keep indoor humidity under 60 percent — between 30 and 50 percent if possible. If the humidity is consistently higher than recommended levels, excess moisture can foster mold growth, which leads to variety of problems from health issues to structural damage in your home. For many people, inhaling mold can trigger allergic reactions like sneezing, rashes, and runny noses.

Though mold remediation will remove this allergen from your home, it’s much easier to prevent mold growth from the start. Investing in a whole-home dehumidifier is an effective option. These devices pull excess moisture from the air and reduce humidity before it becomes a big problem.

Is your home’s humidity out of control? Call Keith Air Conditioning, Inc. today at 251-476-3610 to speak with our indoor air quality experts.

Allergy Season in Mobile Benefits From Indoor Air Cleaners

Allergy symptoms are far from being an outdoor problem. In most cases, outdoor air is actually cleaner than indoor air. You’re 1,000 times more likely to inhale indoor pollutants than outdoor emissions. If allergy season is effecting you inside your home, an air cleaner can help improve your indoor air quality.

Signs of Indoor Allergies

Before you can effectively treat your symptoms, it’s important to make sure they’re coming from indoor allergies. Indoor allergy symptoms include irritated eyes and nasal drainage, among others, and lingering symptoms can last for several weeks.

If you have yellow or green nasal drainage and your symptoms last less than two weeks, you’re probably dealing with a cold and not allergies.

Adjusting Your Environment

If you’re not careful, your home could provide allergy triggers with the ideal environment. Dust mites prefer rooms that are 70 degrees or warmer and with a humidity above 40 percent. Running your air conditioner during the spring and summer can help you maintain the proper comfort levels. A programmable thermostat makes it easier to monitor and maintain low humidity and moderate temperatures.

Installing an Air Cleaner

Air cleaners are available as standalone units, but one of the easiest and more efficient ways to incorporate an air cleaner into your home is to add HEPA filters for your HVAC system. A high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter captures at least 99.97 percent of the particles that pass through it, provided they’re at least 0.3 microns in diameter.

Be sure to talk to your HVAC professional for help exploring the right filtration options for your home’s heating and cooling system. HEPA filtration can block airflow in some HVAC systems that don’t have the capacity to handle their density.

Learn more about filtration and air cleaner options available from the HVAC experts at Keith Air Conditioning, Inc. or contact us today at 251-476-3610 to schedule an appointment!

Home Ventilation and Clean Air Health Benefits

The quality of the air in your home can have a significant effect on your overall comfort and health. Poor indoor air quality can cause respiratory issues, even in those who aren’t allergic to dust, pollen or mold. Allergy sufferers can have their misery increased substantially when indoor air is contaminated with particulates and allergens. Here are a few ways to keep your indoor air cleaner and some of the benefits that attic ventilation, air purification and air cleaning can provide.

Source of Home Ventilation and Air Cleaning

Whole-house ventilators: Whole-house ventilation systems, which are commonly installed in the attic, provide airflow that helps keep your indoor air fresh and clean. They get rid of stale indoor air while bringing in fresh, clean air from the outdoors. Energy recovery ventilators use outgoing air to either heat or cool incoming air, recycling heating and cooling you’ve already paid for and reducing stress on your HVAC system.
HVAC air filters: Air filters in your home heating and cooling equipment help capture particulates and remove them from your indoor air. High-efficiency filters with higher minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) ratings remove even more contaminants. Air filters should be checked at least monthly and changed when they get dirty.
Air cleaners: Air cleaning systems are installed within the airflow of your HVAC system and add an extra layer of high-quality filtration to the air moving through your heating and cooling equipment.

Health Benefits of Ventilation and Air Cleaning

There are several benefits to these indoor air solutions, including:

Fewer allergy and asthma attacks
Reduced effects of particulate exposure, including less coughing and sneezing, less eye irritation and less nasal congestion
Decreased chance of germs, bacteria and viruses being spread throughout your home, reducing likelihood of colds and flu
Less dust on indoor surfaces such as shelves
Easier breathing and a more comfortable, physically pleasant indoor environment

Learn more about attic ventilation and other home ventilation techniques from the pros at Keith Air Conditioning, Inc. or give us a call today at 251-476-3610 to schedule an appointment!

Humidifiers Are Key To Better Indoor Air Quality

A healthy home requires clean, fresh indoor air. For Mobile homeowners, this involves more than just changing the HVAC filters regularly and installing an air purifier.

Humidifiers also play a key role in creating high-quality indoor air. Maintaining optimal humidity levels has a beneficial effect on health and can reduce annual heating costs.

You can easily measure indoor humidity with a hygrometer. Also called a humidity meter, this inexpensive gadget can tell you exactly what your indoor humidity level is. You can purchase a hygrometer at any drug store or a supercenter like Walmart. A healthy humidity level should between 35 and 50 percent, but for those living along the Gulf Coast, winter humidity levels are often as low as 5-15 percent.

Because humid air feels warmer than dry air, adding moisture to your living space in winter will give you greater indoor comfort, and you’ll also pay less for heat. When moisture evaporates, air feels colder. During the winter, it’s natural to turn up the thermostat when this happens, thereby increasing energy usage and jacking up utility bills. When you add moisture to the air instead, you’ll feel warmer at a lower temperature, and your energy costs will decrease as a result.

What Does Humidity Have to do With Indoor Air Quality?

Low humidity levels mean dry air. Dry air can be responsible for a variety of physical symptoms such as:

Sore throat
Itchy, flaking skin
Cracked, dry lips and hands
Dry nasal passages
Sinus problems and sinusitis

How Does Indoor Humidity Improve Air Quality?

Many airborne pollutants such as dust mites thrive in a dry environment. When you add moisture to the air, it gives these contaminants less space in which to circulate.

How Do Indoor Humidity Levels Affect Health?

There are a variety of health benefits that come with proper humidity levels. Here are just a few:

Sinuses stay healthier, especially for those with sinusitis and congestion
Reduces the potential for nosebleeds
Helps those suffering from colds and asthma by lubricating nasal passages
Can eliminate snoring caused by a dry throat
Helps skin to stay moisturized and reduces dryness on hands and lips
Helps nose hairs to trap bacteria and viruses that cause colds and flu
Reduces nasal, throat and bronchial irritation
Helps to clear up laryngitis
Helps those with respiratory problems to breathe easier

Besides keeping your Mobile, AL, home comfortable in winter, reducing energy usage and delivering a variety of health benefits, humidifiers also reduce static electricity and can keep wood surfaces from shrinking, swelling and cracking. To learn more about healthier indoor air, contact the Mobile, AL, air quality experts at Keith Air Conditioning. They’ve been helping homeowners to have greater indoor comfort since 1964, and their air quality testing service can tell you everything you need to know about the state of your indoor air.

Healthy Home Ventilation Tips

When it comes to indoor air quality and circulation, residents of Mobile and the surrounding region have more than their share of challenges. Year-round high humidity levels make warm indoor temperatures feel even more uncomfortable and provide the ideal breeding ground dust mites, mold and mildew. With the oppressively humid warm-weather season on Alabama’s Gulf Coast fast approaching, it’s time to take steps to ensure that your home has proper ventilation without exacerbating respiratory issues like asthma and allergies.

Why Home Ventilation Matters

With people spending up to 90 percent of their time indoors at home and work, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a closer look at indoor air quality. Studies have shown that stale air inside homes is often more polluted than outdoor air in large, industrial cities. For those suffering from cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, lack of air circulation can have devastating health consequences, but a poorly ventilated home can impact otherwise healthy people too. Physical symptoms to watch for include:

Nasal congestion, sneezing or post nasal drip
Itchy, red or watery eyes
Soar throats or mouth breathing at night
Coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath

Keeping Allergens at Bay

Opening windows to allow the air to circulate offers some relief in poorly ventilated spaces but lets common allergens in Mobile like ragweed, pollen and animal dander entry into your home. To avoid exposure to allergens, Dr. Druhan Howell of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine recommends the following simple strategies:

Close windows at night whenever local pollen levels are high.
Minimize exercise between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. when pollen is typically emitted.
Keep damp environments like bathrooms and kitchens scrupulously clean.
Ensure that humidity levels in your home are properly managed.

HVAC Ventilation Solutions for a Healthy Home

From air purifiers to germ-killing ultraviolet lights, the professionals at Keith Air Conditioning, Inc. offer a wide array of indoor air quality solutions that can lower indoor humidity levels and improve air circulation, including:

Using energy captured from outgoing air to precondition incoming air, energy recovery ventilators allow you to enjoy fresh air without sending energy bills soaring.
Sealing and insulating ductwork in central HVAC systems prevents pollutants and allergens from entering your home through leaks, cracks and loose connections.
An air quality analysis of your home by a skilled HVAC technician lets you know which product or service will best meet your needs.

Serving Mobile and the surrounding communities since 1964, Keith Air Conditioning professionals are experts at ventilation and resolving your air circulation problems. To learn more about how to make your home a healthier place to inhabit, please contact us today.