Indoor Air Quality is a major concern to many of our friends at Green with Envy Home Store. As the winter is still rolling into many of our areas, we start to close up our homes and feel the effects of poor air quality. It is time to check the pre-filters on your Austin Air units and replace them if they are dirty or dark brown in color. These are really inexpensive to replace and will help the performance of your air cleaner. Most pre-filters last 12 to 18 months in a normal residential environment. Please call us if you are not sure if your filter needs changing and we will help with the process.
Some Facts about Healthier Indoor Air
*A 2010 report showed that allergists consider indoor air filtration to be part of a comprehensive strategy to improve respiratory health.
*Air Cleaner with HEPA filters have been shown to improve symptoms of Asthma
* A recent study in American Journal of Public Health showed that in poor designed energy efficient homes up to 90% of exposure to fine particulate matter came from indoor sources. Besides particles and VOCs, the indoor air contained flame-retardants, pesticides, toxic metals and other pollutants.
Houseplants to the Rescue?
For more than 30 years, Bill Wolverton of NASA has investigated the use of plants in enclosed environments of space missions. For maximum benefit, multiple species of houseplants would be needed to remove toxic materials in a particular area. Many houseplants vary in the types of chemicals they are able to remove from the environment and efficiency with which they do their work. However, some houseplants can actually contaminate the home due to pesticides use, the choice of media the plant is grown and the dreaded plastic pot in which many of our plants are delivered. Wolverton completed an assessment of 50 houseplants by four criteria: 1) removal of chemical vapors, 2) ease of growth and maintenance, 3) resistance to insect infestation, and 4) transpiration rates. Wolverton stated that studies suggest houseplants are most effective in removing VOCs in energy efficient, nonventilated buildings; in highly ventilated buildings, the rapid exchange of inside and outside air makes the benefits of houseplants mostly limited to their psychological and aesthetic values.
Top !0 Houseplant Air Cleaners
1 Areca palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens)
2 Lady palm (Rhapis excels)
3 Bamboo palm(Chamaedorea erumpens)
4 Rubber plant (Ficus elastic)
5 Dracaena (Dracaena decremensis)
6 English ivy (Hedera helix)
7 Dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii)
8 Ficus (Ficus macleilandii)
9 Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)
10 Peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii)