People in the northern parts of Europe spend about 90% of their time indoors. A large part of that time is spent at home. But the rest of that time is also mostly spent in different indoor environments – at school, at work, in the car, on the train, in the store, at the restaurant or maybe at the gym.
Did you know that indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than outdoor air? Spending time in environments with bad indoor air can lead to health problems such as headaches, asthma and allergies and poor sleep. But how can we know if the air is good or bad?
When it comes to water or food it’s much easier. We can both see and smell whether it is good or bad.
In addition, many of us are quite aware of our health and what we choose to eat and drink.
But we can’t see air. Is that why we rarely think about indoor air? Thanks to digitization and sensor technology, we can now measure various parameters in the indoor air and with the help of the collected data, we can both visualize the air and find out what the air quality is like!
Some simple ways to check
If you do not want to buy an indoor climate-/air quality monitor, there are some simple ways to check if the air exchange and ventilation is insufficient:
- Do you have water vapour and condensation on the inside of your windows, especially when it is cold outside?
- Do you have water vapour and condensation on the bathroom mirror that stays on for more than half an hour after you shower?
- Are there small black dots on the ceiling or walls in the bathroom? This is probably a sign that the humid air is not removed by the ventilation.
- If the smell of food is spread in the house, it may be that the ventilation goes in the wrong direction. The air must be ventilated out of the kitchen via the kitchen fan.
- Also keep in mind that it is important that the duct for the kitchen fan is separated from the other ventilation ducts.
Craving a monitor?
If you are interested in knowing more about your indoor climate, there are many different types of monitors and air quality meters on the market. Search for “measure air quality at home” on the internet (or air quality sensors, air quality monitors) and lots of exciting products will appear.
Or pay us a visit at Hetch during the H22 City Expo and we can showcase both the AirBird and several other monitors.
