Did you know that the human nose is estimated to be able to detect thousands of distinct smells? It's pretty fascinating, but when you consider it, there are many, many smells you don’t want to be able to detect. Like, when you spent the evening frying some fish on the stove, and when you wake up in the morning the stink is still there. Or perhaps when you finally find your teenager’s lost dirty sock, hidden underneath the couch cushions… yuck!
So how can you get rid of these unwanted home odors? You’ve seen the commercials, where a magical air freshener spray or plug in air freshener somehow magically eliminates the stinky bubbles emanating from the dirty laundry and finished dinner plates. However, what many homeowners in the Duncan and Fort Sill area do not realize is that using other chemicals to cover up unwanted odors can actually decrease the health of your indoor air! Here is what the Oklahoma indoor air quality experts at Pippin Brothers want you to know about the best way to purify your indoor air, without sacrificing your health.
How Does a Home Get Smelly?
The source of these smells isn’t always a mystery. Unwanted odors can come from many everyday sources, like:
Refrigerators
Garbage disposals
Dishwashers
Dirty laundry
Toilets
However, there are many other sources of persistent smells that you may not be able to pinpoint right away, like:
Excess moisture (mildewy smells)
Mold
Carpet, or sub-floors
Dirty ductwork
Tiny air holes throughout your home
Don’t Cover Up the Smell — Remove It!
According to poison.org, “Air fresheners release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air.” These VOCs, especially when combined with other indoor air contaminants like pet dander and dust, can have an impact on your overall respiratory health, allergy symptoms, and affect those in your home with underlying health issues. So, by using a wall plugin air freshener or spray, you may be reducing how much of the bad smell you smell, but only because you are diluting the concentration of those smelly particles with other, better smelling, harmful chemicals. You wouldn't think about drinking the liquid in the plugins or spray cans, so does it make sense to breathe them?
The key to reducing the smells in your home is to actively remove them from your indoor air through better ventilation and filtration.
Removing Odors and Indoor Air Pollution
At Pippin, we are not interested in just the band aid fixes. In order to properly ventilate your home, we need to look at the entire home as a system. Firstly, we need to stop the outside sources of contaminants from being able to infiltrate your home. This is done by air sealing and duct cleaning your home. Then, we can begin to determine (through air testing and monitoring) if your home is in need of any humidity control, or if the bathroom fans and oven range hoods should be replaced and most importantly, vented outside.
From there, we can install a number of filtration or purification measures in-line with your HVAC system. Whole home air filters can remove up to 99% of all household dust and allergens, and will need to be replaced at least every 90 days. And, you can utilize the power of UV germicidal lamps to disrupt and destroy the DNA of any viruses, bacteria, or other harmful contaminants that pass through your central ductwork. Lastly, you can leverage ions that break down harmful airborne pollutants with an Ionizer to freshen the air and cleanse all surfaces. All of these whole-home air purification measures will:
Reduce dust in the home
Increase the health of your indoor air
Remove odors
No two homes are exactly alike, and the same goes for whole-home air purifiers. If you are wondering how clean your home air is, how to tell if your ducts need cleaning, or you are just tired of buying cleaning product after cleaning product to try and remove the unwanted odors from your home, get in touch with the indoor air quality consultants that Stephens County homeowners depend on.