Very few heads turn when you bring up the subject of indoor air quality — or even its sexy acronym, IAQ. But just drop ‘Legionnaire’s disease’ at your next party and watch them run for the doors!
The water-borne bacteria that killed a handful of New Yorkers and some residents of Cleveland has been traced to cooling towers— those big, nuclear-looking behemoths that stand outside or on the rooftops of hotels or office buildings.
Granted, it’s unlikely you’ll contract Legionnaire’s unless you are extraordinarily unlucky. But it is the same principle that applies to IAQ (and now we’ve got your attention) so let’s draw the connection. First,
Legionnaire’s is always around, and it’s not always fatal. It’s found in up to 70% of three-story apartment buildings in New York, yet only a handful of people have contracted the disease.
Second— and here we come to the point— who designs an HVAC system with Legionnaire’s disease in mind? Nobody, that’s who. While contractors use terms such as ventilation, fitration, particulate, oxidation . . . the technology is fairly basic. You need a system to dilute the air inside the home, and you need to control heat and humidity. All the rest is bells ’n whistles. Some systems are better at humidity control than others. Some have extra germ-killing properties. But the basics are still . . . basic.
What you, as a homeowner, can do to protect yourself and your family, is making sure the system operates as it was designed to do.
According to one expert, Jeffrey May, whose area of expertise is indoor air, the biggest source of IAQ problems is contaminated heating and cooling equipment— mostly AC systems. Water or moisture build-up and dust allow microbes to grow on the oil and in the drain pan. If filters aren’t changed regularly, May said, the coil, pan and other parts become contaminated because of the constant moisture. « The resulting mold and bacteria will be blown all over the house, » he says cheerfully.
One big tip-off is odor, the ‘dirty sock syndrome’. But there are other clues: areas that are too warm or too cold, leaks, mugginess, allergies . . . Before a homeowner agrees to buy an add-on or improvement for his or her system, the contractor should offer a coherent explanation of what’s going on.
It’s important for the homeowner to understand his or her role in maintaining the system, too. If said homeowner doesn’t have a regular maintenance schedule, maybe it would be a good idea to explain why this is a good idea. Not just to increase profits for your local HVAC company, but to improve the quality of air inside the home.
There, we said it again. Maintenance is key!