Common Indoor Air Quality Myths | Chicago, IL

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

Indoor Air Quality | Chicago, IL

We spend a good deal of our lives indoors. It, therefore, makes sense to be concerned about indoor air quality. Sadly, many people believe myths about the air they breathe while indoors. These myths prevent them from taking the steps necessary to improve the quality of the air they breathe and therefore comprise their health.

If you believe the myths below, it’s time you made a change to improve the indoor air quality of your home and thus safeguard your household’s health.

  1. The air inside your home is cleaner than the air outside

The air in your home is actually more polluted than that outdoors. There are various pollutants within homes including air fresheners, aerosols, detergents, electronics, cleaning agents, refrigerators, dust mites, mold and much more. Efficient buildings are built to minimize the exchange of air indoors with the outdoors. You’re breathing stale polluted air while you’re indoors.

You can improve the quality of air in your home by investing in a ventilation system that circulates air into the home from the outdoors. This will prevent the buildup of pollutants in the home.

Indoor Air Quality | Chicago, IL

  1. Indoor air quality isn’t a big deal

The quality of the air you breathe can contribute to the development of health issues including asthma, congested sinuses, nausea, fatigue, headaches, allergies and other respiratory issues.

Taking the steps to improve the quality of air you breathe will cost much less than a lifetime of medications and treatments due to poor health. It is well worth investing your time and money in.

  1. A high-quality filter will ensure better air quality

Air filters in HVAC systems only help to reduce particulates in the air. Even the finest filters cannot get rid of gases that pollute the air such as radon gas. Investing in and changing your air filters regularly will only protect you from particulates such as dust and mold spores.

The best way to improve air quality in the home is to ventilate the home. This will remove stale air with pollutants and allow in fresh air from the outdoors. Ventilation takes care of all forms of pollution including particulates, gases and moisture.

  1. Improving indoor air quality is expensive

You can improve air quality in your home without breaking the bank. There are simple steps you can take right now such as ventilating your home and eliminating pollutants to improve air quality. You should however consider long term measures such as investing in a whole-home ventilation system for long term improvements and peace of mind.

Written by Andre & Erika Lacroix

We are a 2nd generation family owned and operated business that has been working in homes with basements and crawl spaces for over 40 years.  We have been waterproofing and sealing about 500 foundations a month during that time as the largest Waterproofing contractor in the Midwest with 15 locations servicing 8 states.

20 years ago we would seal a foundation and recommend a standard dehumidifier to address the additional water vapor (humidity in the air) inherently found in below grade environments, such as basements and crawlspaces.  Back then, dehumidifiers were the industry standard to help with this problem. However, many of our customers were looking to us as the “foundation expert”, asking…

“What else do you have? I really am not getting results with this messy, expensive dehumidifier. My foundation is dry, walls are dry, floor is dry, so why does it still smell and feel like a basement?” 

We needed to find something better. Our company’s core values include offering world class customer service to every customer, every time.   So, we challenged our Research and Development department to find a real solution for our customers to combat not only the moisture, but also the odors, pollutants and unhealthy environment our customers were concerned about. We found, tested and installed a ventilation product for a period of three years. We private labeled that product as the EZ Breathe Ventilation System. The feedback in those first three years from our customers, as well as our installation crews, did not live up to the standard of quality to be included in our waterproofing process that offered a life time warranty. Once again, we needed something better.

We valued not only the results, but what we were learning from our customers. So, we went back to the drawing board, took matters into our own hands and made quality improvements to that first generation ventilation unit.

Our own EZ Breathe Ventilation System was born…reengineered, redesigned and much improved! We quickly learned that our crews were thrilled with the quality improvements, ease of operation and installation, but more importantly, our waterproofing customers loved the new, improved EZ Breathe unit as well.

Their feedback told us the air in their basements and crawlspaces felt better, but their entire home was benefiting from their EZ Breathe as well. We received countless letters thanking us because their whole house felt different, less odors, fresher air upstairs too, family members were feeling better, needing less allergy medicine, husbands were no longer snoring, children were no longer coughing as much, the home and it’s family were living healthier lives!

It was time for us to move beyond simply offering this innovative technology to just our waterproofing customers. Our passion and commitment to helping people improve their indoor air environments is what drove us to incorporate EZ Breathe Ventilation Systems as an independent company in 2003. We strongly believe that homeowners everywhere deserve a healthy indoor air quality.

We have spent the last 20 years dedicated to learning about the relationship between our home and our health; indoor air quality, the home as a system, building science and how it relates to indoor air quality as well as the challenges our modern day practices pose to the quality of air we breathe in our homes.