The things you find out in the garage, part 3: it’s not the makings of good indoor air

We’ve talked about the bad venting set up for this furnace and water heater and also about what it sits on in past posts. I’m not quite done with indoor air quality, and I’d like to draw your attention to another area of the duct work that is right out in the open.
While we look at this system in the garage, you can see that there was an attempt to insulate and to seal the duct work. The un-faced fiberglass wrapped around most of the duct work is stained in a number of places. This would be from the garage air being drawn into the system every time it runs. The mystery regarding duct tape is why we call it that, since it doesn’t seal ducts and It was on parts of this system.
Keep in mind that all of the observations were just from the garage, the area of the home you may walk through every day. Never mind what we found in the attic.
The happy ending to this story is that this homeowner was given a list of solutions to the problems we found. With a new system, measures were taken in the home as well that will mean lower energy bills, better comfort, and most important of all a healthier and safer home.

Thanks,
Jason

Retrofit For Health? Why Yes!

Hard to breathe? One of our advisors after working in an attic!

Remodeling and home improvement is done for many reasons but health doesn’t usually come to mind first, but maybe it should. This is Asthma awareness month , indoor air quality and health seems a fitting subject.

It may not be clear why some suffer from Asthma, but reducing triggers can sure help make it more manageable. It just so happens that some of those triggers are the same concerns we have in everyone’s home.   Dust, mold, by products from combustion, and chemicals stored in the home can all cause problems.

We’ve talked about it in the past and improving the indoor environment may help you keep the outdoors out since that can be a trigger too.

Breathe easy in an efficient, safer and more comfortable home, your home. Click here for more information.

Thanks,

Jason

Asthma? Indoors is not Always a Safe Haven!

June is upon us and in some parts of the country we are opening windows in others, closing them up.  Asthma awareness month, the month of May, is over but I feel it’s a subject always worth talking about.

We forget how important our indoor air is.  The EPA graphic above, points out a number of triggers for those that suffer from Asthma, so many of them trapped in our indoor environments we consider safe.

Outdoor air pollution is the problem that comes to mind, but inside we can build up excessive dust from a lack of air sealing in a home, unhealthy by-products from unvented combustion appliances, mold from crawlspaces and basements as well as chemical triggers from the stuff under the sink.

Allergens and irritants build up in a home when we don’t have the right kind of airflow, we need fresh air and we need to know where it comes from.  Breathing easy comes from taking care of the fundamentals we consider when we assess a home:  IAQ, combustion safety, and controlling the airways.

Thanks,

Jason

image from http://epa.gov/asthma/triggers.html