Testing the Air Quality in your Home

Testing the Air Quality in your HomeThere are a lot of factors that may cause the air quality in your home to change. This is why you must always check the air quality in your home if you want to guarantee the safety and health of your family. The higher the amount of indoor contaminants is the higher will be your family exposed to health dangers. Air pollutants in your home can come from harmful gases in the air. Harmful gases like radon and carbon monoxide are also very dangerous. Here are some ways on how you can test the air quality in your home. Air pollutants can also come from mold growths. Mold and mildew can grow in any place. They may from grow from your furniture, wet carpets, inside your heating and cooling systems and other building materials.

For Carbon Monoxide

This is a dangerous, odorless, and colorless gas that’s usually produced from the combustion of fuel in some of your household devices like stoves, water heaters, furnaces, and fireplaces. Carbon monoxide can easily get into your lungs and affects the transportation of oxygen in your body. Prolonged exposure can result to death which is why you need to install a carbon monoxide detector to detect the presence of carbon monoxide in your home. This device works just like a smoke detector, it will sound as an alarm once the carbon monoxide level rises.

For Radon

Radon is pretty much the same with carbon monoxide except that this gas rises naturally from the ground and enters your home through cracks in your floor, walls and drainage systems. Radon is believed to be as the major cause of lung cancer. To detect radon in your home, you can get a radon detection kit.

For Biological Pollutants

Examples of biological pollutants include the likes of viruses, bacteria, mold, mildew, and pollen. Mold and mildew grows in areas with a damp condition because of high humidity. They often occur when there’s a water pipe leak or in areas that are in constant condensation. Checking and inspecting your home thoroughly is the best way to detect biological pollutants in your home. When biological pollutants are found, you must clean the area all throughout with the use of a compatible cleaning solution.

Air Conditioner Installation

Air Conditioner InstallationIf you feel like your home is getting uncomfortable because of the high temperature during summer, then it’s the right time for you to consider an air conditioner installation. Or if you have an existing AC unit that has been going for more than 10 years and is now showing some signs of inevitable breakdown, then you should replace it with a new one.

When it comes to purchasing a new air conditioner, taking some time before buying one and doing some research can make a huge difference on how you’ll become satisfied with your unit. When you talk about air conditioner installation, the best time for it is during summers when the temperature is usually hot. When you feel like the temperature is already beyond the average, an AC unit will help you feel comfortable again. The safety of you and your family should be your priority and an AC unit will be able to provide you the necessary cool temperature during hot summers. However, it is during summers when most AC units are costly. AC manufacturers take advantage of the demand of the AC unit during summers that’s why they increase the prices of their units. You will have to pay more slightly during summers when you buy a new AC unit. But if you want to get an AC unit for a lower price, you may want to purchase one before summer begins. This way you’ll be able to avoid the summer rush and higher prices. In addition, you also need to choose a high efficiency air conditioner if you want to save on your energy bills. And if you already happen to have an existing unit, you have to let a technician see it so you can see if it’s still performing with high efficiency. You must never underestimate the importance of air conditioner installation. You may think that it’s not one of the most necessary appliances in your home, but you actually need it. Summers are hotter now than ever before due to global warming effects, and the only reliable option to provide a cool temperature for your home is from an air conditioner.

Take some time to research about the energy-efficient AC units so you can save on your energy bills later on. AC units are known to consume a lot of energy so it’s best if you can pick an efficient one for your home.

 

Choosing a Portable AC

Choosing A Portable ACPeople buy portable air conditioners because they are easy to move around. Portable air conditioners works the same with the built-in air conditioners you can find in buildings and houses. They will suck all the warm and humid air in the room and will then cool it and blow it back again to the room.

When choosing a portable AC, you need to know what you should look out for when you are in the market for one. Here are some important tips to help you figure out what you should look for a portable AC.

Remote control

Your portable AC must have a reliable remote control. You don’t have to go to your unit just to adjust the temperature in the room. With the use of a handy remote control, you can easily adjust the room temperature while you’re far away. You can also set timers and automatic modes for your portable AC so you don’t have the trouble of switching on or off your unit.

Power cord

Extension cords are really not recommended for portable ACs. This will void the manufacturer’s warranty once you use them with your unit. But, because portable ACs are power hungry, you need to use power cords to reduce the risk of overheating or fire. Make sure that the placement of your unit is relatively near to a power socket because there are some units that have short cords.

On/off timers

A portable AC unit won’t be called portable if it doesn’t have automatic on/off timers. These timers are extremely useful especially if you don’t want to use your unit frequently. These timers can also help you regulate the room temperature especially at night. You won’t have to sleep in a very cold room at night because you forgot to turn off your unit.

Operating modes

Your portable AC must have a lot of operating modes you can choose from. It must have an automatic mode, fan mode, cool mode, heat mode, or dry mode.

Noise

You need to know that portable ACs are known to be loud and distracting especially at night. You should take note of the noise it produces before you buy one.

Window kit

Your unit must have a window kit which includes filler panels that will fill in the gaps in your open window. This will also allow the hot air to be directed outside with the use of an exhaust hose.

Home Maintenance: Why Is it Needed

Home Maintenance: Why Is it NeededA home is a symbol of success. If someone truly owns a home it could only mean that the person who owns it is also successful. But did you also know that even a luxurious and elegant home that you spent thousands or millions of dollars with just to complete can turn into a big ugly mess if you don’t know how to maintain it. Every home whether it’s big or small needs regular proper maintenance if you want to preserve its elegance, style, design and most importantly if you want it to last long.

Home maintenance should be part of your daily routine. You can’t afford to own a home if you don’t know how to maintain it in the first place. It’s just like owning a car. A car needs regular maintenance for it to run smoothly and if you don’t know how to maintain your car, it’s most likely that your car will end up severely damaged because of your constant use. A home with no proper maintenance will surely end up in costly repairs.

So if you don’t want to spend another thousand of dollars for your home repairs, you may as well start considering to do some regular maintenance for your home. Home maintenance will help save you from spending a lot of your hard-earned money just for repairs.

A well-maintained home also guarantees the safety of the people living in it. It also reduces bad impression you can get from your neighbors, friends, relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances because of your inability to preserved and maintain the beauty of your home.

Here are some reasons to help you convince why home maintenance is important for every household out there.

  • You get to receive good impressions for your home from your friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, and acquaintances. You will also take pride in having to own a beautiful and well-maintained home.
  • You can protect the value of one of your most important investments which is your home.
  • You can guarantee the safety of your family and reduce any health risks.
  • You can improve the look of your home. You can also make it look better than it was first completed.
  • You won’t have to trouble yourself into using such faulty appliances, components and equipment all the time.
  • You can boost your home’s selling value if the time comes that you are going to sell it.
  • You can help reduce your utility bills.
  • You can make your home more durable so that it can last you for a lifetime.

If you want a home that will last, you should know how to maintain it. Home maintenance can be done by anyone in your household if you can just have the time for it.

Air Conditioning Health Issues

Air Conditioning Health IssuesAir conditioners are the people’s solution for the constant rise of temperature over the recent years. Most homes nowadays now have an air conditioning unit, which gives them cool temperature even in the hottest of days. However, only a few people realize that being exposed to an air conditioned environment 24/7 can actually cause more harm than good.

You may think that walking into a room with a cool temperature is a big relief since you no longer have to suffer from the scorching sun. What most people don’t know is that air conditioners can bring harm to your body most especially to your skin.

Even though an air conditioned environment has a cool temperature, the air is considerably dry. Air conditioners will suck all the moisture inside a room and if you stay in that room, the moisture from your skin will also be sucked in. This causes the skin to be dry especially if you stay in an air conditioned room for several hours. And when the skin becomes dry, it will eventually become itchy. It’s even worse for those people who have naturally dry skin because their skin will become flaky once they stay in an air conditioned room for several hours.

Air conditioners will suck all the moisture from the indoor air and if it no longer gets moisture from the indoor air, it will eventually suck the moisture from your skin. And if you are constantly exposed to an air conditioned environment, your skin will eventually become dry, flaky and itchy. If your skin has run out of moisture, it will no longer be elastic. The skin will even become more prone to creases and wrinkles. Air conditioners can help in developing wrinkles over your body which is bad news since nobody would want to look old than their actual age just because of the number of wrinkles they have in their skin.

Stepping out into the heat of the sun from an air conditioned room or car so suddenly and walking into an air conditioned room while you just walk under the heat of the sun is not a good thing to do. This is very taxing to the body and may lead to other problems as well like headaches and flu.

As good as they maybe but air conditioning units can also bring harmful effects to your body. So you have to make sure that you stay in air conditioned areas all the time. Your home’s air conditioning unit should only be used during hot days. You also have to make sure that you limit the number of hours you are staying in an air-conditioned room. Not only that you can protect yourself from the harmful effects of an air conditioner, you also get to reduce your utility bills since you no longer have to use your air conditioning unit that much.