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Are you continually waking up with a scratchy throat, stuffy nose and puffy eyes? The air quality inside your house might be to blame.

If your home's indoor air quality is less than ideal, it can have dangerous short-term and long-term effects on your health. Poor indoor air quality is typically a combination of environmental, hygienic and climate-related causes. Fortunately, improving your home's air quality is affordable and straightforward when you understand the reasons for poor indoor air quality.

When people think of air quality, they usually think of the air outdoors but the air inside can also become very polluted - especially during the warmer months. Things like dust and allergens, mold, chemicals used in conventional cleaners, and more can compromise indoor air quality. Luckily, there are steps you can take to improve indoor air quality in your home this summer!

Are you wondering if it’s time to replace your commercial boiler and thinking about replacing your boiler pipes along with the unit? Building owners and facility managers often choose boilers because they are extremely energy efficient when compared to other types of heating, and the boilers can be multi-functional, also providing reliable hot water to the residents and employees of your building. Of course, there’s a good chance that your boiler’s plumbing pipes were installed at the same time as your current boiler system. The good news is that you can determine if it’s time to replace the entire system, including the pipes, or just the boiler unit.

The number one source of humidifier leaks is the homeowner not changing the water panel inside the unit.

If the panel gets plugged up with hard water deposits, the water can’t travel through the surface space of the panel like it’s supposed to. Instead, it begins to cascade—not down the pad, but on the outside of the unit. You may see water coming out of the cabinet.

Many view home heating from a pretty straight-forward standpoint. If they are comfortable, their thermostat is set correctly. If they are not comfortable, the thermostat is set too low or too high. Of course, when multiple family members are involved, this can create quite a challenging situation that is often resolved by the person who pays the utility bills. There is, however, another major factor in the comfort of your home. It is humidity.

We have repeatedly talked about the importance of keeping your HVAC system air filters clean to keep your HVAC unit operating properly. We have even discussed how critical airflow is in heating your home safely and comfortably. There is another aspect of airflow that will also greatly impact how your heating system operates. That is the proper installation of an air filter.

There are more choices than ever when choosing a furnace air filter for your home. How do you know what is the best furnace filter for you?

If you find yourself having to set your thermostat at unusually high or low temperatures just to stay comfortable, your problem may be poor air flow. Poor air flow may be caused by too much friction in your HVAC system or too much turbulence. One of the most significant causes of friction in an HVAC system is the air filter.

Many homeowners don't fully appreciate the importance of airflow when it comes to the performance of their HVAC system and ultimately, the comfort of each room in your home. The fact is, if you have one room or many rooms that are less comfortable than others, it is quite possible it is an issue with airflow. Free airflow is disturbed by two basic forces friction and turbulence. What are some of the causes of poor or restrictive airflow in a home and how can it be improved? What is the #1 way to improve airflow in your home?

To find out the #1 way to improve to improve airflow, we will first discuss 5 causes of poor airflow. At Althoff, our goal is always to get to the root of the problem first then provide solutions to improve comfort, function and performance of your equipment.

If you feel something isn't quite right about the air quality in your home, determining the best route back to optimal functionality can be a complicated process. While it's true that weather and climate have a significant impact on indoor air quality, there are numerous other factors you need to consider.

Even when the solution seems obvious, it is important to do your research before installing any indoor air treatments like a humidifier in your home.