quality Archives - Affordable Plumbing, Heating & Air

Keep Indoor Air Quality Safe for the Holidays

Easy Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality

The holiday season just so happens to correlate with the flu season. This is because temperatures start to drop, causing immune systems to weaken. At the same time, cooler weather sends more people indoors with each other, making diseases easier to spread. With holiday gatherings being the norm, this is the perfect recipe for a rough season.

One of the best things owners can do to protect their families during the holidays is to ensure the air quality in their homes is as high as possible. Living in a home with high dust and allergens can compromise lung immunity and make people more susceptible to illness. By following simple advice, homeowners can clean up the air in their homes for the holidays and ensure everyone stays healthy.

Install New Air Filters

The air filter is the first defense against poor indoor air quality in every home. Each air conditioner or heater has an air filter designed to pull dust and allergens out of the air. This removes pollutants from the air inside the home and keeps them from collecting inside ductwork, where they become a breeding ground for pathogens or mold.

AC filters should be replaced at least every three months. More frequent air filter replacements will be a good idea in homes with high levels of dust or confounding factors like pets. By keeping clean air filters in service, everyone in the home can breathe a little easier during the holidays.

Get the Evaporator Coil Cleaned

The evaporator coil is a vital part of any air conditioning system. During summer, the evaporator coil cools the air before distributing it around the home. When the furnace is turned on, all the air still flows across the evaporator coil. How does this affect indoor air quality? The evaporator coil collects moisture and dust missed by the air filters. The combination of moisture and dust encourages mold growth. As the heater cycles in the winter, mold spores are picked up and distributed around the home.

To fight this nasty situation, homeowners are encouraged to have the evaporator coils cleaned every year. By scheduling professional coil cleaning, homeowners protect their indoor air and ensure their system runs efficiently.

Schedule an Indoor Air Quality Assessment

One of the big obstacles to high-quality indoor air is that most homeowners have no idea about the air quality in their homes. Allowing a professional to perform an indoor air quality assessment can clear up some confusion regarding air quality.

During an indoor air quality assessment, professionals will get accurate measurements of different types of contaminants in indoor air. This may include things like:

Particulate levels
Carbon monoxide
VOCs
Radon

Once owners know what they're up against, they can formulate a plan to clean up their air. Professionals may recommend UV air sanitizers or higher-quality air filters. Either way, owners can breathe easily knowing they have acted to protect their family and guests during the holiday.

About Affordable Plumbing, Heating & Air

Affordable Plumbing, Heating, and air can help every home clean up their air in time for the holidays. With UV air sanitizer installation service and a membership program, they handle indoor air quality from start to finish. Call today for HVAC service in Fairhope, AL.

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Improve Your Health By Improving Indoor Air Quality

What Is Indoor Air Quality?

Not too long ago, “indoor air quality” was a non-existent phrase. At least the concept was fairly unimportant because people spent more time outside getting fresh air. However, as people spend more time indoors in winter, the air inside the home tends to pick up massive amounts of pollutants as it continuously recirculates. This means that people are constantly being exposed to low-quality air.

Breathing air that has the wrong humidity levels, as well as a high load of pollutants, can have serious health effects on those who are constantly exposed to it. Fortunately, there are things that owners can do to protect their air quality now so they don’t have to suffer through the winter. Here are a few expert tips to improve indoor air quality.

Health Effects of Poor Indoor Air Quality

When it comes to thinking about indoor air quality, fish make a great example. Understanding the effects that changes within the water have on the quality of life for a fish is easy. Dirty water means unhealthy fish. Why do people expect anything different regarding their health, considering they spend hours per day breathing in air that is laden with allergens and pollutants?

The air in the home is a reservoir for everything from aerosols to residual cooking oil. Breathing in these pollutants routinely causes problems like:

Dizziness
Headaches
Irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat
Worsening allergies
Chronic sinus infections
Allergy attacks or COPD complications

Air Filter Replacement and Maintenance

To avoid the worst consequences of low-quality indoor air, all it takes is a few changes in habit. The most important step in improving indoor air quality is to change air filters every three months. This step alone will drastically reduce the amount of allergens and dust in the air. For extra protection, owners can invest in better filters that target certain pollutants like dust mites or odors.

The second habit to get into is to use professional HVAC maintenance. Experts recommend HVAC maintenance twice yearly, once in the spring, and once in the fall. This protects air quality by ensuring the system stays efficient to remove dust and allow it to better control humidity.

Air Cleaners and Filtration Systems

If changing a few habits isn’t enough to completely alleviate the symptoms of low-quality indoor air, owners can still take some steps. Installing air purifiers and UV air sanitizers can greatly improve indoor air quality for those who suffer during the winter. These devices target different contaminants that contribute to poor health. Air purifiers work hard to reduce the amount of pollen and dust particles in the air, while UV air sanitizers use powerful UV rays to destroy VOCs and pathogens. Both options can easily be installed in line with existing HVAC equipment and are controlled by one central thermostat. By installing one of these devices in a home or business, owners can rest assured they are constantly living in pure air, supporting their health.

About Affordable Plumbing, Heating & Air

Affordable Plumbing, Heating & Air offers affordable indoor air quality solutions. Their memberships automatically handle HVAC maintenance and protect other vital systems in the home. Call today for prompt HVAC service in Fairhope, AL.

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Top 3 Previously Unknown Quality Traits of a Good Plumber

Pointers for Finding the Right Plumber to Hire

With the strict regulation on plumbing systems and its importance to your daily routine, it’s crucial that you hire a licensed plumber for your home. Having the right plumber at your home means the repair work gets done correctly, while also limiting the risk of major emergencies. For instance, an unlicensed or poorly trained plumber may show up and start carrying out repairs incorrectly, making your home susceptible to contaminated water or leaking pipes.

So how do you find the right licensed plumber? This article will be covering some of the important characteristics of a quality plumbing contractor and service company.

Always Opt for Licensed Experts

Every plumber that you look for must have a license. Also, their compliance record must be clean. Carry out due diligence by checking for complaints against them. Alongside the licensing requirement, check that the plumber you may hire has several years of experience. Otherwise, they may not know the specifics of your home’s plumbing system.

Proper licensing assures you that the prospective plumber has all or most of the certifications needed. In some cases, like with backflow testing, without a certification, your plumber will not be able to properly register your device with the city. Additionally, if they are not licensed or compliant, you cannot lodge complaints about shoddy work. This can put your home at further risk of damage with no way of regaining losses.

Punctuality and Promptness Helps Limit Damage

When you specify the time to a plumbing contractor, you would want them to show up as agreed. Having set your expectations, you must not accept any excuse for lateness. Plumbing companies that value time should factor-in such eventualities by arriving at least 10 or 20 minutes earlier.

Time is of the essence in emergencies, such as a pipe burst. As you’re waiting for a plumber to arrive, your home can suffer from extensive damage or worse, flood. Punctuality is not only about convenience, but also safety. Check reviews and always opt for plumbers that offer appointment windows - this always helps you schedule your day and ensure you get help when you need it most.

A Good Plumber is Prepared

A prepared plumber not only arrives on time but also comes with the right plumbing tools. It would be embarrassing for the team to show up with tools for fitting a kitchen sink when you told them it was the bathroom drainage pipe.

Unpreparedness means that the plumber will not fix the problem on time. They must now call their office and ask for the correct parts or tools. Once again, if you’re dealing with an emergency plumbing situation, a missing part can be the difference between a few hundred dollars in repair costs and a few thousand.

Choosing a plumbing contractor is always a challenge. If you keep the factors above in mind, you can do a better job of hiring the right contractor to ensure a long-term fix to your problems.

Call a Local Expert

Affordable Plumbing, Heating & Air commenced its operations in Fairhope in 1996. The company offers prompt service and skilled personnel. It also has a 24-hour response for emergencies with a courtesy call half an hour before arrival at your house.