Home IAQ Targets: PM2.5, TVOC, Ozone, Radon, CO, CO2, Formaldehyde, Temp & RH- with Jeffrey Siegel
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- Here's the lowdown on what we should be aiming for in home indoor air quality, from one of the top IAQ and HVAC researchers in North America, Dr. Jeffrey Siegel (civmin.utoront.... Not just the numbers (printed below for quick reference) but also the how/why/when/if and the nuances of detection.
TEMPERATURE: 65-80 Fahrenheit or 18-27 Celcius
HUMIDITY: 30-60% Relative Humidity (RH)
RADON (Rn): 4 picoCuries/Liter (pCi/L) or 148 Bequerel/meter3 (Bq/m3)
PARTICLES SMALLER THAN 2.5 MICRONS (PM2.5): under 12 or under 5 micrograms/meter3 (µg/m3)
CARBON MONOXIDE (CO): under 9 parts per million (ppm) healthy, Zero ppm ideal
CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2): No target, but watch for spikes over time
ODORS (TOTAL VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS OR TVOC): No target
FORMALDEHYDE (CH2O): under 7 parts per billion (ppb)
OZONE (O3): under 5 ppb, Zero ppb ideal
NITROGEN OXIDES (NOX): Zero ppb ideal
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How about go to monitors?
Just posted a vid about two of these, refresh our channel feed!
Great video. I can appreciate the qualitative instead of quantitative approach to CO2 and using it as a marker for other iaq concerns.
You're next on my list buddy. Let me know when you're ready with your dehu stuff!
I gotta get past first week of october
Looking at the data from my airgradient indoor and outdoor air quality monitors, my indoor pm2.5 # is averaging 0.2 while outdoors is 14.2. My indoor level mostly trends up if someone doesn't turn on the vent hood while cooking. It's helpful being able to compare indoors vs outdoors to see how my filters are performing. My ERV has a MERV 13 filter box for fresh air and my HVAC air handler has two four inch thick MERV 13 filters.
I mostly monitor CO2 levels to see how my ventilation is doing, turning up the ERV a little when it's about the same temperature inside as outside since natural infiltration is reduced.
Corbett, you are sharing great information that's back with research. I'm tired of people just giving opinion, which is almost like superstition. Good decision comes from good knowledge.
It would be interesting to see an optimal way to filter and monitor polluants.
I wish you the best for you and your family. Thank you and take care.
Thanks my friend
Co2 trends are VERY important. If your normal Co2 in your living space is less than 1000 and an "event" happens such as decreases in barometric pressure or super growth of a mold inside your ceiling or walls and the Co2 in now at a baseline of 2500 plus with the inside Co2 producers (humans and animals) are unchanged during those times then you HAVE a problem. The trends are important to let us know we have problem which warrant further inspection and testing. Co2 high enough to displace O2 is the problem as related to indoor air quality. Farmers use Co2 monitors over bales of hay to detect sharp rises which indicate mold growth.
Thank you! Great video! Once again it’s all about helping the family in their home solve their problems by inspecting and measuring as many performance and air parameters as possible to provide a good solution. It’s really about understanding the enclosure and how it is working with that family that’s there. I have seen no one size fits all approach so commonly used in each home. Every family I have worked for has different HVAC or enclosure problems so diagnosis is needed.
I’m just a dropout, but I’m going to disagree on CO2 targets for a few reasons:
1. It’s a marker of ventilation function- If you’re not hitting the bare minimum of ASHRAE62, your general indoor air quality is likely to be bad. This is the operating principle of eCO2 sensors.
2. CO2 as an indicator of %of rebreathed air and pathogen risk- lower is better.
3. I’m still not 100% convinced about the lack of cognitive impact, and even IF it has no direct cognitive impact the measured value does correlate to cognitive impact, so lower is better.
To be fair, Jeffrey is only speaking to the negative health effects of high CO2 levels in isolation. He also mentions that monitoring CO2 for sudden changes is very useful because it can be an indication of other things which could be of concern, as you’ve pointed out.
100% agree. Well said. if you have high C02 you you need better ventilation.
This is awesome
Makes me want to add a charcoal filter to my fresh air filter on my home to reduce ozone coming in
This is EXCELLENT practical information! So often the correct answer to scientific questions is “it depends”. Nice to see some targets identified.
Should have asked him about his use of "conservative" sooner
My house now:
TEMPERATURE: 71 Fahrenheit
HUMIDITY: 63% Relative Humidity (RH) (it was raining for the last 3 hours and my wife had the windows open)🙄
RADON (Rn): Not currently monitored, last measurement was 1 picoCuries/Liter (pCi/L)
PARTICLES SMALLER THAN 2.5 MICRONS (PM2.5): 6.4 micrograms/meter3 (µg/m3)
CARBON MONOXIDE (CO): 0 parts per million (ppm)
CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2): 580 ppm
ODORS (TOTAL VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS OR TVOC): 560 micrograms/meter3 (µg/m3)
FORMALDEHYDE (CH2O): not monitored, but I would guess it is on the high side based on construction age and materials.
OZONE (O3): 12 ppb (Outdoor is 16ppb)
NITROGEN OXIDES (NOX): not monitored. I suspect low as we have only the water heater that is gas operating and the electric stove is vented quite well with makeup air.
Good work keep it up
Would love some suggestions for how to monitor or measure formaldehyde. I have a couple good IAQ monitors, but it seems like anything for reliable /accurate formaldehyde measurement is expensive.
Lots of options out there, but yes it's a pro sensor option: www.google.com/search?q=formaldehyde+monitoring&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS830US830&oq=formaldehyde+monitor&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIICAUQABgWGB4yCAgGEAAYFhgeMggIBxAAGBYYHjIKCAgQABgPGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB7SAQgzMzkzajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Very interesting. Thank you for posting.
Thanks for watching
Is SO2 worth measuring?
Yes! I knew once he blew Corbett's mind about CO2 he would do the same about humidity. Living in a subtropical region (Atlanta) and keeping a home at 50% RH is so wasteful. If RH was harmful, Indonesia wouldn't be the 4th most populous country it would be uninhabitable. Even 80% is fine. Condensation and standing water are a problem, but water vapor is not. If it's about comfort, why would someone from Montana move to Florida and then use commercial levels of electricity to make their home as cool and dry as Montana? That would be nuts, just go where you're comfortable.
To be clear though, if you want your indoor air cooler than 80 you up the risk of condensation in those climes. 80% will grow plenty of mold without visible condensation FYI.
@@HomePerformance That's why cleanliness is so important. Mold, bacteria, or any microorganism needs food. Even if there is high humidity you won't get any growth if the home is clean. Even better if the home has no cavities such as a cmu wall with exterior insulation. Again, the tropics would be uninhabitable if humidity always resulted in mold growth.
Great video again Corbett. Any suggestions on radon monitors? I have tried a couple and they gave me entirely different readings . Thanks Chris
Watched a neighbour who was super aware of pollution, move from a 80 year old house, very few new building materials, to a new build. Still amazes me.
Why is that amazing? People move out of old houses all the time.
@@martinlutherkingjr.5582 Because the new house is off gassing like crazy. Old house was not thus safer.
@@douglaslindsaychapman5188 I see, how long does it take to off gas and what were the levels of the gases and what were they?
Thank you.