Flu Season & Indoor Air Quality – Chicago, IL

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

It’s that time of the year again. It’s cold outside and the flu is spreading like a wild fire. You’ve even had to take some days off work to recover from the flu indoors. However, you may be doing yourself more harm than good.

It’s in the air we breathe

Are you truly safe indoors? Can staying indoors help you avoid the flu? Can it help reduce symptoms or help you feel better?

The truth is that once the viruses that cause colds and the flu have made it into the home, the indoor air quality of the home is compromised. This is true even if you have a highly efficient HVAC system.

HVAC systems only recirculates air within the home. The filtration of air in these systems results in the removal of large particles. Microscopic organisms such as viruses and mold spores often make it through these filters.

Another problem with staying indoors is the fact that modern homes are built for greater efficiency. The air in the home is not vented to the outside. The air outdoors cannot enter the home. The air conditioning systems simply recirculate the air within the home. This means that we are inhaling stale air that is full of viruses.

Lastly, viruses aren’t only in the air we breathe. They are also on surfaces around the home. They can easily spread from one person to another when transferred from the contaminated surface.

A solution

The best way to deal with the flu this season is to ensure better indoor air quality. There’s no better way to do this than to let air from the outside into the home and let the stale air out of the home.

‘But it’s cold outside,’ you say. You don’t have to open the windows to let the stale air out and fresh air in. You can invest in a ventilation system that cycles the air in and out of your home. This type of system will ensure that your home continues to be energy efficient while maintaining a high level of indoor air quality.

These systems work by pumping stale air out of the home and bringing fresh air from the outside into the home. There are no filters to clean because filtration is not required. The cool air is heated as it is cycled into the home, thus ensuring that you remain comfortable.

 

 

Questions About Indoor Air Quality You Should Answer – Cleveland, OH

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

How is the quality of air in your home? Everyone would like to believe that the air they breathe in their homes is of high quality. However, research has shown that indoor air quality of most homes in the US falls far below the quality of air in the outdoors.

Our homes are full of pollutants. They are in the electronics we buy, the plastic packaging, the floors, the carpets, the sofa, the fabric of our curtains and practically anything that is produced commercially. There are also various pollutants around the home that aren’t in obvious places e.g. basement mold.

If you want to improve indoor air quality, you can start by answering the questions below:

  1. Do you have moisture problems in your basement?

Not many people realize that the state of their basement affects the quality of the air in their homes. This is the result of stack effect, which results in the rising of air from the basement into the rest of the home.

If you’re experiencing moisture problems in your basement, you’re also likely to have a mold or mildew infestation. You are also likely to be affected by microbial growth. Mold spores and bacteria can spread to the rest of the home in the air that rises from the basement into the rest of the home.

  1. Do you have rodents or insects in your home?

Yes, rodents and insects affect indoor air quality. Their fur and particles from their feces can easily spread in the air that circulates in your home. These particles are allergens that can cause or exacerbate allergic reactions. You may experience worsening of asthma symptoms or the development of various other respiratory conditions as a result of the presence of these allergens.

  1. Do members of your family experience frequent bouts of illnesses or allergies?

Many people write this off as a problem with immunity. However, it is most likely the presence of allergens and disease-causing organisms in the air you breathe in your home.

Addressing issues of air quality

It isn’t enough to invest in HEPA filters that will get rid of small particles. You need to ensure that you have fresh air circulating in your home. You can achieve this by investing in a ventilation system that circulates fresh air from the outdoors into your home. These systems ensure that you are not breathing in the same stale air. They get rid of allergens and gaseous toxins to ensure better air quality in your home.

 

Why Winter Makes Indoor Air Quality Worse

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

Why Winter Makes Indoor Air Quality Worse

Homes are built to be energy- (and therefore cost-) efficient by holding heat in during the winter time and keeping heat out during the summer. Winter weather prompts homeowners to tightly seal any cracks in insulation that could allow cold drafts into the home. This, in turn, also seals off the home from any fresh air and raises the concentrations of allergens, pollutants and chemical concentrations in the home.

Add Stack Effect…It gets Worse!

indoor air qualityThe same force that causes hot air balloons to rise in to the sky is present in all of our homes. This “stack effect” draws air up from the lowest levels through floors, doors, windows, and up from the basement and/or crawlspace commonly called “chimney effect”. This stack effect or chimney effect is very powerful during the winter heating season actively introducing basement/crawlspace air up into the living environment contaminating the quality of indoor air.

40% of the air we breathe in the living spaces was once basement/crawlspace air!

Effects of Poor Indoor Air Quality

Immediate effects of poor indoor air quality can show up after just a single exposure and include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and itchy eyes, nose, and throat. Asthma and chemical sensitivities can also be aggravated by exposure to indoor pollution. Allergic responses to pollutants in the air can last for months on end as the air quality continues to worsen. Chronic sensitivities may also build up after repeated exposures.

Although it remains uncertain what levels or periods of exposure are necessary to bring on serious health effects from indoor air pollution, long-term effects of indoor air pollution include respiratory disease, heart disease, and cancer.

Improving Indoor Air Quality

The EPA recognizes two basic strategies to improve indoor air quality: source control and ventilation improvements.

Improving indoor air quality through source control involves removing the sources of pollution. Gas emissions, like those from a poorly maintained stove, for instance, can be adjusted in order to lower their emissions; asbestos can be sealed or enclosed. Often, source control is a more cost-conscious way to remedy poor air quality, however source control is not always possible or practical.

Increased ventilation is an easy and effective way to control poor indoor air by bringing fresh indoor air into circulation. Especially because most heating systems do not bring fresh air into the home. Whole home ventilation systems not only create a path of escape for the myriad of pollutants trapped inside our homes, but also make room for better air to be introduced. Solution by dilution. Increase the amount of fresh air entering the building envelope is an effective way to improve the quality of indoor air

You can easily check to see if your home might have ventilation problems. Condensation on walls or windows, stuffy air, moldy areas, or dirty heating or cooling equipment are all indicators. Odors (which are most notable upon entering the home from outdoors) are also an indication of poor ventilation.

When performing many home improvement or hobbies, it’s especially important to be aware of the need for proper ventilation. Without ventilation, pollutants such those emitted during painting, welding, sanding, or even cooking, can add toxic elements into your home environment.

To learn more about the benefits of ventilation click here: https://ezbreathe.com/about/why-ez-breathe/

What National Indoor Air Quality Month means to you…

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

Basement Ventilation: The Foundation Link to Healthy Home

Human beings breathe – inhale and exhale – 10,000 to 70,000 times every day just to sustain life. Not really surprising, but, we don’t really pay that much attention to the air we are breathing. We as North American’s spend countless hours and billions of dollars deciding on the food we eat, beverages we drink, the lotions we put on our skin and the effects they have on our health and well-being. However, when was the last time you heard someone actually discussing the quality of the air they breathe?

If we are inhaling air into our lungs 10,000 to 70,000 times a day, doesn’t it make sense to at least consider the quality of air we breathe?

indoor air quality

So, let’s take a moment to consider what IS in the air we breathe. How is the air I am breathing effecting my home and health?

What is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?

Term to describe “the physical and chemical characteristics of air inside buildings including airborne constituents with special concerns for the impact on occupant health and comfort” Airborne constituents include:

Temperature – Humidity – VOCs – Allergens – Particle Counts – Bacteria – Building Materials – Type of Construction – Exchange Rates – Occupants – HVAC – Insulation – etc.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, tells us that “The air in the average American home is a minimum of 5 times (and can be as much as 100 times) more polluted than outdoor air.” There are quite a few reasons for this…from the off gassing of toxins we use in building our homes such as glues, epoxies, resins, varnishes, upholstery, carpets, paint fumes, formaldehyde, and other VOCs to the type of foundations our homes are built on, basements and crawlspaces, add in our quest for insulation and energy efficient upgrades to the mix and we’ve got quite a toxic cocktail of indoor air quality!

For homes with basements, indoor toxins are greater than for those homes without basements. Unfinished and finished basements both create risks for toxic exposure throughout the whole home. A recent study indicated that foundation walls, due to their porous nature absorb 10-15 gallons of water vapor per day, which is responsible for up to 80% of the home’s indoor moisture, and can accelerate the growth of bacteria, mold and mildew as well as attract bugs, spiders and pests.

We can all agree that it is important to control water leaks and water entry, from the basement into the rest of the house. Additionally, controlling mold is important as this toxin, will place your family at significant health risk. The humidity and condensation in the basement is what most often creates a mold risk.

indoor air qualityAdding the “Stack Effect” (the movement of air into and out of home) to this dynamic exaggerates the introduction of toxins from the basement into the home.

The rising warm air draws air in through either open doors, windows, or other openings and up from basement.

Actively drawing dirty basement air into the living environment above is detrimental to providing a healthy indoor environment.

For homes with crawlspaces, indoor toxins are greater than for those homes without crawlspaces. The average home built on a crawlspace has 80 square inches of air communication between the crawlspace and the living environment creating higher risks for toxic exposure throughout the whole home. Much like basements, these spaces are also built into the earth and surrounded by soil on all four sides and oftentimes have dirt floors as well. The water in the soil makes its way into these spaces in its vapor form (humidity) due to the laws of physics, ‘Wet Moves to Dry’. A recent study indicated that crawlspaces, due to their porous nature absorb up to 20 gallons of water vapor per day, which again, is responsible for up to 80% of the home’s indoor moisture. This process contributes to the acceleration of foundation decay, bacteria growth, mold and mildew as well as attracts bugs, spiders and pests.

indoor air qualityOnce again, adding the “Stack Effect” (the movement of air into and out of home) to this dynamic exaggerates the introduction of toxins from the crawlspace into the home.

The rising warm air draws air in through either open doors, windows, or other openings and up from crawlspace.

Actively drawing dirty crawlspace air into the living environment above makes indoor air quality even worse.

Crawlspace Vents? Many crawlspaces were initially built with passive vents to the outside to allow the crawlspace to be “vented”. These passive vents are dependent on the wind and weather to be effective. Building code across North America are now changing as passive vents to the outside, are actually contributing to a dirty crawlspace by introducing more moisture into an already damp space.

“From a psychrometric standpoint, venting a crawl space to remove moisture works only when the outside air is dryer than the crawl space air.” – RLC Engineering, LLC., The Fallacies of Venting Crawl Spaces

Whether it be a basement foundation, crawlspace foundation or a combination of the two, they are contaminant sources contributing the poor indoor air quality in the home. Add to that a whole host of other pollutants that we build our homes with, clean our homes with and bring into our homes on a daily basis. The reality is that every day our families are breathing basement and/or crawlspace air that has been mixed with contaminated house air.

Most recent stat coming from the National Center for Healthy Housing tells us “40% of the air we breathe in our living spaces is air that was once below grade and has risen up from the basement/crawlspace.”

One of the more obvious symptoms of this growing epidemic of poor indoor air quality is the substantial rise in allergies and asthma in recent generations.  According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America we have seen “a 700% increase in people suffering from asthma and allergies in the past 20 years, leading to a staggering 50% of North American’s reporting allergy symptoms”. A fairly recent condition labeled “Sick Home Syndrome”, may be to blame.

How EZ Breathe Ventilation can help…

The good news is homeowners can do something to combat this growing health concern. Even better news is that it does not include major home renovations or serious lifestyle changes…by simply increasing the home’s air exchanges YOU can make a difference.

Helping to reduce the natural stack effect (tendency for basement/crawlspace air to rise up into the living space) YOU can improve your indoor quality. This will also provide a path of escape for the bad air to exit which will further prevent polluted indoor air from accumulating to unhealthy levels and entering the living environment. By exhausting that bad air out and increasing air exchanges you can dramatically improve the indoor air quality…and the health of the occupants!

indoor air qualityIt’s really a very simply solution to a complex problem. By increasing the ventilation rates in the home sourced at the lowest part of the foundation, you will see a reduction in indoor allergens, humidity levels, trapped gasses and pollutants, as well as all of those nasty chemicals we introduce into our indoor environment every day.

Create a fresher, cleaner, drier indoor air environment naturally, without expensive air filters, air cleaners, scrubbers, etc. When you increase ventilation there is no need for any harmful air fresheners, sprays, plug-ins, candles, chemical masking agents or fragrances. These synthetic compounds do nothing to improve the air quality and oftentimes add dangerous chemicals further polluting an already compromised air quality.

 

If we need to breath up to 70,000 times per day just to sustain us, it’s probably a good idea to be sure that the air we are inhaling is the healthiest it can be to support us in being the healthiest we can be!

To Learn more about how the EZ Breathe Ventilation System and CrawlSpace Conditioner System can:

  • Improve indoor Air Quality
  • Reduce allergens
  • Monitor humidity levels
  • Remove pollutants
  • Reverse natural stack effect
  • Prevent Ice damming
  • Protect your home and health
  • Create a healthy and happy home!

Visit us at www.ezbreathe.com or call us at 1.866.8227328

What National Indoor Air Quality Month Means to You?

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

National Indoor Air Quality Month

State of Indoor Air Quality The US Environmental Protection Agency states “The air quality in the average American home is a minimum of 3-5 times more polluted than outdoor air and can be as much as 100 times more polluted than outdoor air” This indoor air quality problem stems from many variables including the tighter, more energy efficient building materials and upgrades, our homes no longer “breathe” in the way the older homes did, resulting in a more stagnant, stale air quality coupled with the increased amount of chemicals in our modern homes, lifestyles, furnishings, cleaning products, beauty products, off-gassing, etc. We have created quite the toxic indoor air cocktail complete with high allergens and irritants.

The US EPA ranks indoor air quality as the #1 environmental health problem reporting “6 out of every 10 homes and buildings are sick, meaning they are hazardous to your health to occupy as a result of airborne pollutants.”

The consequences of poor indoor air quality are often times life altering in many ways, for example Medical Director of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, E. Neil Schachter said “If you live in a home with chronically poor air quality, you can experience frequent headaches, long lasting colds and bronchitis as well as chronic asthma.”

Human beings breathe – inhale and exhale – 10,000 to 70,000 times every day just to sustain life. Not really surprising, but what is surprising is how very little attention we pay to the quality of the air we are breathing so often every day. Especially when compared to the countless hours and billions of dollars we spend considering the food we eat, beverages we drink, the lotions we put on our skin and the effects they have on our health and well-being. The time has come for us to recognize the quality of air is having a direct impact on our health and happiness.

With over 60% of the American population reporting some allergy symptoms it’s no wonder that we have seen “Perennial (year-long) allergens are 10- to 100-fold higher indoors than outside” reports William J. Calhoun, MD, chair department of medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch

What does all of this mean?

indoor air qualitySick Home Syndrome by definition is when a person suffers “acute, adverse health effects that can be linked to spending time within a specific structure and are not caused by an illness.” For example, do you get headaches only when you are at home? Do you start to feel better once outside? Or do you regularly stay up at night suffering with a cough and scratchy throat that keeps you from getting a good night’s sleep, only to feel better once you get outside? These are just a few of the symptoms of “Sick Home Syndrome”, others include:

allergies, asthma, sinus and respiratory infections, itchy, dry skin, fatigue, sneezing, coughing, insomnia, scratch throat, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, the list goes on and on.

The good news is that we can help homeowners do something to combat this growing health concern. Even better news is that it does not include major home renovations or serious lifestyle changes…by simply increasing the home’s air exchanges YOU can make a difference.

indoor air qualityHelping to reduce the natural stack effect (tendency for basement/crawlspace air to rise up into the living space) you can improve indoor quality. This will also provide a path of escape for the bad air to exit which will further prevent polluted indoor air from accumulating to unhealthy levels and entering the living environment. By exhausting that bad air out and increasing air exchanges you can dramatically improve the indoor air quality…and the health of the occupants!

It’s really a very simple solution to a complex problem. By increasing the ventilation rates in the home sourced at the lowest part of the foundation, you will see a reduction in indoor allergens, humidity levels, trapped gasses and pollutants, as well as all of those nasty chemicals we introduce into our indoor environment every day.

indoor air qualityCreate a fresher, cleaner, drier indoor air environment naturally, without expensive air filters, air cleaners, scrubbers, etc. When you increase ventilation there is no need for any harmful air fresheners, sprays, plug-ins, candles, chemical masking agents or fragrances. These synthetic compounds do nothing to improve the air quality and oftentimes add dangerous chemicals further polluting an already compromised air quality.

If we need to breathe up to 70,000 times per day just to sustain us, it’s probably a good idea to be sure that the air we are inhaling is the healthiest it can be to support us in being the healthiest we can be!

 

To Learn more about how the EZ Breathe Ventilation System and CrawlSpace Conditioner System can:

  • Improve indoor Air Quality
  • Reduce allergens
  • Monitor humidity levels
  • Remove pollutants
  • Reverse natural stack effect
  • Prevent Ice damming
  • Protect your home and health
  • Create a healthy and happy home!

Visit us at www.ezbreathe.com or call us at 1.866.8227328

Basement Ventilation: The Foundation Link to Healthy Home

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

Basement Ventilation

Human beings breathe – inhale and exhale – 10,000 to 70,000 times every day just to sustain life. Not really surprising, but, we don’t really pay that much attention to the air we are breathing. We as North American’s spend countless hours and billions of dollars deciding on the food we eat, beverages we drink, the lotions we put on our skin and the effects they have on our health and well-being. However, when was the last time you heard someone actually discussing the quality of the air they breathe?

basement ventilation

If we are inhaling air into our lungs 10,000 to 70,000 times a day, doesn’t it make sense to at least consider the quality of air we breathe?

So, let’s take a moment to consider what IS in the air we breathe. How is the air I am breathing effecting my home and health?

What is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)? Term to describe “the physical and chemical characteristics of air inside buildings including airborne constituents with special concerns for the impact on occupant health and comfort” Airborne constituents include:

Temperature – Humidity – VOCs – Allergens – Particle Counts – Bacteria – Building Materials – Type of Construction – Exchange Rates – Occupants – HVAC – Insulation – etc.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, tells us that “The air in the average American home is a minimum of 5 times (and can be as much as 100 times) more polluted than outdoor air.” There are quite a few reasons for this…from the off gassing of toxins we use in building our homes such as glues, epoxies, resins, varnishes, upholstery, carpets, paint fumes, formaldehyde, and other VOCs to the type of foundations our homes are built on, basements and crawlspaces, add in our quest for insulation and energy efficient upgrades to the mix and we’ve got quite a toxic cocktail of indoor air quality!

For homes with basements, indoor toxins are greater than for those homes without basements. Unfinished and finished basements both create risks for toxic exposure throughout the whole home. A recent study indicated that foundation walls, due to their porous nature absorb 10-15 gallons of water vapor per day, which is responsible for up to 80% of the home’s indoor moisture, and can accelerate the growth of bacteria, mold and mildew as well as attract bugs, spiders and pests.

basement ventilation

We can all agree that it is important to control water leaks and water entry, from the basement into the rest of the house. Additionally, controlling mold is important as this toxin, will place your family at significant health risk. The humidity and condensation in the basement is what most often creates a mold risk.

Adding the “Stack Effect” (the movement of air into and out of home) to this dynamic exaggerates the introduction of toxins from the basement into the home.

The rising warm air draws air in through either open doors, windows, or other openings and up from basement.

“Stack Effect in homes with Basements”

Actively drawing dirty basement air into the living environment above is detrimental to providing a healthy indoor environment.

For homes with crawlspaces, indoor toxins are greater than for those homes without crawlspaces. The average home built on a crawlspace has 80 square inches of air communication between the crawlspace and the living environment creating higher risks for toxic exposure throughout the whole home. Much like basements, these spaces are also built into the earth and surrounded by soil on all four sides and oftentimes have dirt floors as well. The water in the soil makes its way into these spaces in its vapor form (humidity) due to the laws of physics, ‘Wet Moves to Dry’. A recent study indicated that crawlspaces, due to their porous nature absorb up to 20 gallons of water vapor per day, which again, is responsible for up to 80% of the home’s indoor moisture. This process contributes to the acceleration of foundation decay, bacteria growth, mold and mildew as well as attracts bugs, spiders and pests.

basement ventilation

Once again, adding the “Stack Effect” (the movement of air into and out of home) to this dynamic exaggerates the introduction of toxins from the crawlspace into the home.

The rising warm air draws air in through either open doors, windows, or other openings and up from crawlspace.

Actively drawing dirty crawlspace air into the living environment above makes indoor air quality even worse.

Crawlspace Vents? Many crawlspaces were initially built with passive vents to the outside to allow the crawlspace to be “vented”. These passive vents are dependent on the wind and weather to be effective. Building code across North America are now changing as passive vents to the outside, are actually contributing to a dirty crawlspace by introducing more moisture into an already damp space.

“From a psychometric standpoint, venting a crawl space to remove moisture works only when the outside air is dryer than the crawl space air.” – RLC Engineering, LLC., The Fallacies of Venting Crawl Spaces

Whether it be a basement foundation, crawlspace foundation or a combination of the two, they are contaminant sources contributing the poor indoor air quality in the home. Add to that a whole host of other pollutants that we build our homes with, clean our homes with and bring into our homes on a daily basis. The reality is that every day our families are breathing basement and/or crawlspace air that has been mixed with contaminated house air.

Most recent stat coming from the National Center for Healthy Housing tells us “40% of the air we breathe in our living spaces is air that was once below grade and has risen up from the basement/crawlspace.”

One of the more obvious symptoms of this growing epidemic of poor indoor air quality is the substantial rise in allergies and asthma in recent generations.  According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America we have seen “a 700% increase in people suffering from asthma and allergies in the past 20 years, leading to a staggering 50% of North American’s reporting allergy symptoms”. A fairly recent condition labeled “Sick Home Syndrome”, may be to blame.

How EZ Breathe Ventilation can help…

The good news is homeowners can do something to combat this growing health concern. Even better news is that it does not include major home renovations or serious lifestyle changes…by simply increasing the home’s air exchanges YOU can make a difference.

Helping to reduce the natural stack effect (tendency for basement/crawlspace air to rise up into the living space) YOU can improve your indoor quality. This will also provide a path of escape for the bad air to exit which will further prevent polluted indoor air from accumulating to unhealthy levels and entering the living environment. By exhausting that bad air out and increasing air exchanges you can dramatically improve the indoor air quality…and the health of the occupants!

basement ventilation

It’s really a very simply solution to a complex problem. By increasing the ventilation rates in the home sourced at the lowest part of the foundation, you will see a reduction in indoor allergens, humidity levels, trapped gasses and pollutants, as well as all of those nasty chemicals we introduce into our indoor environment every day.

Create a fresher, cleaner, drier indoor air environment naturally, without expensive air filters, air cleaners, scrubbers, etc. When you increase basement ventilation there is no need for any harmful air fresheners, sprays, plug-ins, candles, chemical masking agents or fragrances. These synthetic compounds do nothing to improve the air quality and oftentimes add dangerous chemicals further polluting an already compromised air quality.

If we need to breath up to 70,000 times per day just to sustain us, it’s probably a good idea to be sure that the air we are inhaling is the healthiest it can be to support us in being the healthiest we can be!

To Learn more about how the EZ Breathe Ventilation System And CrawlSpace Conditioner System can:

  • Improve indoor Air Quality
  • Reduce allergens
  • Monitor humidity levels
  • Remove pollutants
  • Reverse natural stack effect
  • Prevent Ice damming
  • Protect your home and health
  • Create a healthy and happy home!

Contact us at www.ezbreathe.com or call us at 1.866.8227328

Popular Science Radio with EZ Breathe

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

Popular Science Radio with EZ Breathe Popular Science Radio with Alan Taylor and EZ Breathe with Erika Lacroix

The stuffy air in your house could be killing you! Find out how EZ Breathe can help you breathe easy with their home ventilation system.

 

Breathe Easy – Six out of every ten homes are hazardous to live in due to airborne pollutants. EZ Breathe President, Erika Lecroix, has made it her mission to improve the indoor air quality in homes all across America, and is here to tell us how!

For related information on the EZ Breathe Ventilation System, click here.

Ventilation is Key – The most important tool in your arsenal in your fight against hazardous indoor air is ventilation! Erika Lecroix explains how EZ Breathe’s stand alone unit provides an escape for all the nasty stuff in your building at the lowest level.

EZ Breathe on WGN Radio Frank Fontana Show

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

EZ Breathe on WGN Radio Frank Fontana Show

EZ Breathe on WGN Radio

Erika Lacroix explained how EZ Breathe can help us breathe easier in our homes and make us healthier in the process on the Frank Fontana show on WGN Radio.

Listen to the interview at http://wgnradio.com/2016/02/07/frank-fontana-show-2-7-16-a-clean-home-a-healthy-marriage-and-the-lisa-app/ (Erika’s interview begins at the 28 minute mark)

Click here for more information on why you should choose the EZ Breathe Ventilation System for your home.

Kitchen As A Pollution Hazard

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

Kitchen As A Pollution Hazard- EZ Breathe

Kitchen As A Pollution Hazard

By midmorning, the smell of hot peanut oil dissipated and inside the tightly sealed laboratory known as Building 51F, a pink hamburger sizzled in a pan over a raging gas flame. Overhead, fans whirred, whisking caustic smoke up through a metallic esophagus of ductwork.

Woody Delp, 49, a longhaired engineer in glasses — the Willie Nelson of HVAC — supervised the green bean and hamburger experiments. He sat at a computer inside a kitchen simulator, rows upon rows of numeric data appearing on his screen, ticking off the constituents of the plume sucked up the flue. A seared hamburger patty, as he sees it, is just a reliable source for indoor pollution.

“I can claim Alice Waters’ influenced the recipe,” he said. “It’s all fresh and local.”

But Dr. Delp and his colleagues aren’t really interested in testing recipes. They are scientists at the Energy Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the morning’s experiment concerned another kitchen conundrum, a fight against physics: how to remove harmful contaminants caused by cooking.

Find out why installing the EZ Breathe Ventilation System is beneficial to your home.

Simply put, cooking is an act of controlled combustion — you set oil, fat, and carbohydrates on fire. As a health hazard, incinerating hamburgers and green beans may pale in comparison with lighting wood or coal fires indoors, the leading environmental cause of death and disability around the world. Yet frying, grilling or toasting foods with gas and electric appliances creates particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and volatile organic compounds. (Acrolein, which most cooks recognize as the smell of burnt fats or oils, was used in grenades in World War I because it causes irritation to the lungs and eyes.)

Emissions of nitrogen dioxide in homes with gas stoves exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of clean air in an estimated 55 percent to 70 percent of those homes, according to one model; a quarter of them have air quality worse than the worst recorded smog (nitrogen dioxide) event in London. Cooking represents one of the single largest contributors, generating particulate matter (formally known as PM2.5) at concentrations four times greater than major haze events in Beijing.

“Because we’re used to the smell, we don’t think of it as an issue,” said Jennifer M. Logue, 32, an air quality engineer at the Berkeley Lab. “When you live in a small building, you cook a lot and don’t use your range hood, which may not be very effective anyway, then you’re probably going to have a problem with pollutants from cooking.”

Recently Dr. Logue estimated the long-term health effects expected from hundreds of chemicals found in average homes. Her 2012 study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, used a common epidemiological metric known as disability-adjusted life-year to show that the population-wide health impact of indoor pollutants is on a par with that of car accidents, and greater than that of traditional concerns like secondhand smoke or radon.

“It’s well over violence,” she said. “It’s not a small risk.”

Federal policy and financing tends to focus on research outdoors — air quality, drinking water, wastewater, hazardous waste sites and soil contamination. “We haven’t had that regulatory driver for the indoor environment, and yet the indoor environment is probably the most important environment in terms of human health,” said Richard L. Corsi, an engineer and professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

“If you look at just the dose of toxic chemicals we take into our bodies during our lifetime that are of environmental origin, it’s dominated by the air that we breathe and the surfaces that we touch indoors,” Dr. Corsi said.

The Berkeley Lab’s research is driven, in part, by renewed efforts to tighten building envelopes and save on energy costs. Airtight buildings keep outdoors out, but they also trap contaminants. Efforts to mask odors — incense, candles, and air fresheners — exacerbate the hazard. After all, indoor combustion creates more pollutants that linger in tightly sealed spaces; and, formaldehyde, for example, is formed when ozone reacts with gases, especially scenting agents, plug-in air fresheners and cleaners.

Since people aren’t likely to stop cooking, the lab aims to come up with science-based ventilation standards. “People don’t need to radically change their lifestyles,” Dr. Logue said. “We need to change the building codes so that everyone gets a venting range hood.”

Current ventilation standards — the V in HVAC — represent a best engineering judgment. There’s never been much science involved in determining how well range hoods and other ventilation systems should work in terms of human health. Existing metrics for performance, most notably the Energy Star rating, measure energy use, not the impact of the appliance on human health.

And while it’s difficult to rid a home of the semi-volatile organic compounds that leak out of, say, a couch over a long period of time, volatile compounds from fire and water vapor can be removed with an effective kitchen fan. “A lot of homes don’t have that,” said Brett Singer, the lab’s director. “Secondly, a lot of the ones that do, people don’t use them, and thirdly, even if they have it and even if they use it, a lot of them don’t work very well.”

When they tested seven different commercially available range hood designs, Dr. Singer and Dr. Delp found that the airflow and the amount of burner exhaust and cooking contaminants whisked away — the so-called “capture efficiency” — varied from 15 percent to 98 percent. (Dr. Singer refers to recirculating hoods, only somewhat jokingly, as “forehead greasers.”)

Inside the kitchen simulator, fresh air whooshed through the room — an exchange rate of about 12 times per hour, nearly 40 times the amount circulating in an average home. But the experiments hadn’t generated much appetite. One lab assistant, Omsri Bharat, passed on the burgers because she is a vegetarian, and the other, Marcella Barrios, a science teacher, admitted to having packed a lunch.

Dr. Singer is optimistic that new scientific standards might even change habits inside actual homes. “We want people to cook,” he said. “The health of America will probably get better. We just want to make sure all those pollutants, vapors and moisture from cooking get vented outside.”

Peter Andrey Smith
The New York Times
07/22/2013

“Why Is My Basement/Crawlspace Damp?”

Posted by Andre & Erika Lacroix on

“Why Is My Basement/Crawlspace Damp?”

"Why Is My Basement/Crawlspace Damp?"- EZ BreatheWe at EZ Breathe get this question regularly. We also get this statement often: “Well that is just the way basements are, and the way they smell.” Of course this is timely in much of the country right now… snow is melting, or has melted. Rain is falling…and more water in the soil outside our homes leads to….

When we are talking about DAMP, let’s be clear, we don’t mean WET. If you have liquid water that trickles across your floor at times, or even pools or floods your basement/crawlspace, that is WET, and it needs EZ Breathe, and some other work. Between EZ Breathe and our extensive family of distributors, we can help you solve WET basement problems.

When we are talking about DAMP, we are talking about air borne moisture, “feels damp”, condensation on cold surfaces, usually accompanied by musty odors.

For more related information about the crawl space conditioner system, click here.

Why is your basement or crawlspace damp? Very simple, even in the absence of liquid water entering your home through the foundation, research has documented “as much as 15 gallons per day of water vapor entering a basement space via vapor transmission through unsealed walls, floors, cracks, and openings and by evaporation from wet surfaces.” (Powell and Rogers, Kansas State University, “Dry Basements and Crawlspaces”.)

And that water vapor can wreak havoc in our homes! What can it cause/exacerbate?
– Mold
– Structural issues
– Bugs, spiders, etc.
– Health issues

How do we handle water vapor in the rest of our homes?
– In the bathrooms, we vent it to the outside
– In the kitchen, we vent it to the outside
– Our clothes dryer? Yep, vent to the outside

Has anyone ever told you to put a dehumidifier in each of your bathrooms, in your kitchen, and behind your dryer?
So you see, it is simple, a great way to handle excess water vapor in our homes is venting it to the outside…and that is what EZ Breathe has been doing for over 12 years!

Thanks,
Tim Chapin, HHS, CRMI
EZ Breathe Ventilation
866-822-7328