If you suffer from allergies or are simply concerned about your health and wellbeing, you are likely to have thought about air quality. Most of us have seen news reports about pollen levels and air quality levels in our area, but according to the EPA, our indoor air quality can be just as detrimental to our health.
Indoor Air Quality:
Our indoor air can be compromised by a number of pollutants. These can vary from smoke, pet dander, and dust to mold, radon and gases. While some of these pollutants can have a more significant impact on our health and wellbeing, even a minor allergen such as dust can compromise our indoor air quality.
Our indoor air quality can be compromised from outdoor pollutants entering the home, dirty filters allowing contaminants to flow freely through the system and building work or renovations adding dust and particles into the air. If your ductwork is not clean, the damp environment is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and mold spores that can enter into the air. These contaminants can be unpleasant for anyone, but particularly problematic for allergy sufferers and those with medical conditions such as bronchitis and asthma. 
Signs of Poor Indoor Air Quality:
If your indoor air is poor quality, it may not be immediately apparent. You may notice more dust and debris on furniture surfaces, but you may not connect any physical symptoms to the problem. Poor air quality can trigger headaches, tiredness, flu-like symptoms, irritability and dry eyes, nose or throat. All of these symptoms may have you feeling like you are just fighting off a cold or infection, but they could be traced back to compromised air quality.
Indoor Air Testing:
Indoor air quality testing can be performed to assess the levels of pollutants in the air inside your home or business premises. The test is quick to perform and can detect the invisible pollutants that may be lurking in your indoor air. This will enable you to work with your HVAC contractor to eliminate any pollution risk.
Since many common indoor pollutants can have serious if not fatal consequences, the value of indoor air testing cannot be understated. Having a professional HVAC specialist perform air quality testing could improve the health and wellbeing of you and your family. After testing your HVAC contractor will be able to help you to develop an action plan to boost the quality of your indoor air. This could include measures such as installing indoor air filtration systems, cleaning your ducts and servicing your HVAC system to eliminate the risk. Your HVAC technician can also advise you on basic DIY preventative maintenance such as cleaning vents and filters that could help to improve your air quality in the long term.
In many cases, installing good quality filters to your HVAC system will be sufficient to create cleaner, safer air. You are likely to notice an immediate improvement in your air quality and those cold-like symptoms you have been plagued with could disappear overnight.