Several years ago a close friend of mine related a story about air quality that really stuck with me.
I’d never given indoor air quality much thought, which was ironic, because I’ve long been an ardent environmentalist and someone who has actually given a great deal of money to initiatives aimed at improving air quality. My friend told me how, over the Christmas holidays one year, numerous relatives staying in his home began to experience a stinging sensation in their eyes, a stubborn, hacking cough, and general fatigue. My friend believed, as did his family, that they were all sharing the same “bug,” and essentially passing it back and forth while they were confined in the same space over the holiday season. Only after his family members went home, and my friend continued to experience the same symptoms for an extended period of time, did he begin to investigate more thoroughly. The culprit, it turned out, wasn’t a virus, but a defective vent pipe, or flue, an important part of the furnace system responsible for expelling gases, particulate, and other byproducts of the combustion process. The vent pipe was cracked, and small amounts of gas and particulate were making their way into the house itself, irritating the eyes and throats of those inside the home and producing a sense of malaise and ill-health. My friend was so embarrassed about the incident that he didn’t actually tell his family members and let them go on believing that they’d all suffered the same bad cold. He was telling me the story to warn me however. Our health is directly connected to the quality of the air we breathe, and it’s vitally important to have a qualified HVAC technician test the indoor air quality of our homes on a regular basis.
furnace