Cleaning basement air
Last week we thoroughly vacuumed our unfinished basement and cleaned all of the walls and dust around the ceilings. I have now set up make-shift office and have been down here working for several hours and I notice all sorts of allergy-type symptoms (sore throat, sneezing, etc.). I have noticed that when I come back upstairs the air seems cleaner although I cannot exactly tell what it is. I figured it may be humidity so I just purchased a small Acu-rite hygrometer and it gives 48% humidity and 70 degrees F, which seems to be just right. Further, I have an Ionic Breeze here which supposedly picks up allergens in the air as well as dust. Everything appears to be very clean, but the air has a particularly musty feel and I seem to be reacting to it. Aside from humidity, is there anything else I can check? We have central A/C running through the air ducts and even though they are not open to the basement it stays very cool down here. I am not sure if is relevant? Would installing a few fans in different parts of the basement do anything other than push the air around? Would it be more effective to keep a window open with a fan? I am look for any ideas. Thanks, Jeff You have a couple of issues that can cause issues. 1st your Ionic Breeze produces ozone. Ozone is a pollutant. It can cause the exact symptoms you were talking about. Look up ozone on EPA website. 2nd If the air is musty you have mold in the basement some were and it should be cleaned up. 3rd I would open some vents in the basement so you have some filtered air entering the basement. Thank you airman for the fast reply. I put fan in one of the small basement windows close to where I am currently sitting. It has two fans - one for fresh air and one for exhaust - and it's working pretty well in the immediate area. Is it possible that whatever this is might just need to air out after last week's cleaning? Regarding the possibility of mold - how would I find it? The basement looks relatively clean for a basement and the walls do not appear to have mold on them. What else would I look for? Regarding the ionic breeze, I know that ozone smell, but this seems to be something else. I turned it off anyway. And if I were to add a vent to the ducts, is it a simple procedure? Is there a recommended tool to cut into the existing duct and install a new vent? Mold could be so light that it is very hard to see. I would find a chemical like foster 40-80 to spray every thing down. Then turn your fan on to push the air out of the basement. This will take the airborne mold and push it outside. Snips would be the best option for cutting a hole in sheet metal. Have you tried a dehumidifier? If you're running conditioned air through uninsulated ducts in an unconditioned space, that can cause condensation on the ducts or nearby surfaces, encouraging mold growth. Similar to what happens when you've got condensation on a cold water pipe in a warmer area. A hardware store hygrometer will give you a reasonable instantaneous ballpark figure, but I wouldn't bank on anything that's not calibrated and recording. Things can change a lot at night and when the A/C is not running. I used to use a cheapo hygrometer on a desk in a data center, and it was often off by 15-25% compared to the Liebert HVAC unit and the chart recorder on the wall.
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