Living in Florida means that you depend upon your air conditioner to keep you comfortable throughout most of the year. If you think that keeping your home cool when temperatures soar is the only factor to consider when it comes to your overall comfort, however, think again! There is also the quality of the air that fills your home and which surrounds you day and night to consider. Unfortunately, a lot of homeowners fail to realize that their indoor air quality is not really at the level it ought to be.

When your home is too warm, the effect is pretty obvious. The symptoms of low indoor air quality in Miami, FL may not be quite as obvious, though, and the fact that there are so many potential problems that can develop only exacerbates the situation. In this post, we are going to discuss some of the more common IAQ problems that people in our area encounter — as well as offer some solutions for such problems, of course.

The Problem – High Humidity Levels

High humidity levels are common here in Florida, and can make the already considerable heat in the region feel truly unbearable. We may not be able to control the amount of humidity in the air outside, but we certainly can in your home. Because humid air retains heat so well and can make it difficult for our sweat to evaporate, it can really strain an air conditioner while making it more difficult for our bodies to cool down.

The Solution – Whole-House Dehumidification

With a whole-house dehumidifier, you are not going to have to wheel a portable unit around the house, nor do you have to empty its catch bucket throughout the day. Instead, a whole-house dehumidifier integrates directly into your home’s HVAC system. It will work in conjunction with your air conditioner – or independently, as needed – to remove humidity from the air passing through it. This reduces the risk of problems including wood rot and biological pollutant growth.

The Problem – Airborne and/or Biological Pollutants

It does not matter how clean you keep your home. You are not going to be able to remove all of the pollutants from your living space. Even if you dust and vacuum regularly, some pollutants will remain. This is especially true for those of us with pets and other such factors to consider. Some of those pollutants are going to go airborne, and that can really affect indoor air quality. Biological pollutants are another consideration, including mold spores, viruses, and bacteria that can negatively affect your health.

The Solution – Air Filtration Systems, Air Cleaners, and UV Air Purifiers

You may not need to use all of these systems in your home, but it is good to know your options. The most basic way to remove pollutants from the air in your home is with an air filtration system. An air filter with an appropriate MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) can work in conjunction with your HVAC system to remove pollutants that attempt to pass through its filtering media. Electronic air purifiers or cleaners will ionize particles in the air as it passes through an ionization chamber. These pollutants are then trapped on oppositely charged plates, which are removed for easy cleaning by the homeowner.

Because biological pollutants are living entities that can reproduce, simply trapping them in a filter or on collector plates really isn’t enough. They must be destroyed to effectively fight the problems that they pose. Using a UV air purifier, which utilizes ultraviolet light in order to kill these pollutants as they pass through the system, is a simple and effective way in which to do so.

Let One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating® of Miami help you to breathe air of a higher quality in your home.