How can you improve your health by improving indoor air quality?

Indoor air quality under the magnifying glass.

What lowers air quality indoors?

We spend more than 80% of our time in enclosed spaces**: at home, at the office, at school or even on transport. These are places where air quality deteriorates continually, without us even realising it.

Our homes are more exposed to this problem post-pandemic, with many more of us working from home. Our various activities impact the ambient air more and more.

Breathing

On average, an adult breathes 15,000 litres of air every day via 26,000 breaths, and the air you exhale is moisture-laden, affecting the surrounding air.

Personal hygiene

Your daily ablutions (brushing your teeth, showering, etc.) generate the evaporation of 10 to 20 litres of water in your home, each day. This other source of moisture can turn into mould.

Cooking

Additional water evaporation, ambient cooking fumes carrying fat and even trace quantities of carbon monoxide induced by the combustion of food all reduce air quality in your home… Even with an efficient extractor hood.

Fragrancing 

You may use sprays of all kinds, scented candles, incense, etc. to eliminate bad smells. Synthetic fragrances disperse harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds) into the air.

Cleaning

Regular cleaning is normal in any home. The products used, more often chemical than natural, also impact indoor air quality with their allergenic, irritant and even corrosive substances, which not only affect our health, but also the environment.

And even cuddling our pets

Although our pets make us feel great, they naturally carry dust mites and allergenic particles which are constantly dispersed in the air.

These are just some of the factors that lower the air quality in your home.

The consequences of polluted indoor air

Indoor air quality in your home is not to be taken lightly. It can have repercussions, some significant, on you and the members of your household. These include disturbed sleep, low morale, frequent headaches, respiratory tract irritation, intoxication, allergies, etc. And while you may not feel those effects right now, there may be medium/long term effects for your health and that of your family.

The solution: air renewal

Improving air quality in your home will improve your quality of life, and you don’t have to stop cooking, let the dog live outside or throw away all your furniture! A simple solution is to renew the air in your home each day.

For a healthy home, the World Health Organization recommends airing your entire home for 10 minutes, at least twice a day. While many of us may have adopted the habit of doing this, we need to remember that this action is necessary every day, in all seasons, to ensure you are always breathing clean and healthy air.

Adapt airing to your activities

Depending on what you do at home (painting, DIY, cooking, drying laundry, showering, etc.), adapt your ventilation, before and after certain activities that affect air quality due to chemicals they use, the moisture generated, etc.

Obstacles to home ventilation

Perhaps you don't open your windows every day, or not for long enough? You are not alone. Airing the home isn’t a habit yet for all of us, and this is usually due to specific obstacles:

• A lack of time
• Simply remembering to do it
• Your children or pets’ safety (especially if don’t live on the ground floor)
• Fear of intrusion when the windows are open
• Letting the heat out when it’s cold outside (in winter)

So how can you make sure that your home is well ventilated every day, while taking these different factors into account?

At Somfy, we offer you solutions for secure and autonomous aeration, thanks to motorised windows connected to TaHoma® that can even be combined to a compatible indoor air quality sensor.

Somfy solutions to improve indoor air quality

Your air quality is our priority

Improving air quality in homes has become a major public health concern. Here at Somfy, indoor air quality has been our priority for several years now. We are constantly innovating to help you make sure you have healthy air in your home, while making it easier to ventilate.

We offer solutions, from the simplest to the most connected, that can make the air in your home healthier and fresher.

Firstly, you can connect your TaHoma switch to a compatible air quality sensor, such as the Smart Indoor Air Quality Monitor and the Smart Home Weather Station by Netatmo or Open’R by Netsecur. These sensors take several measurements of the temperature, CO2 level and humidity to determine air quality and, when necessary, send a notification directly to your TaHoma app to let you know exactly when you need to air your home. As it measures the air quality within your home, it also tells you when the air is renewed.

Secondly, you can enjoy Somfy or Velux motorised windows to make the entire aeration process automated and more secure.

At Somfy, we offer the Sliding® air io, a solution for the simple motorisation of existing sliding windows and patio doors. Its performance is more than proven, with fluid movement, soft stop, anti-pinch detection, premium acoustics, manual opening in the event of a power cut, etc. It also allows you to remotely check the position of your window (open, closed, tilt and turn) if you had to leave in a hurry and can’t remember.

Another major advantage of our connected motor is that it allows you to partially open your windows and patio doors just a few centimetres so you can ventilate with peace of mind. They are automatically blocked as a security measure. More than that, it also includes our IntelliTAG® intrusion detector that analyses window vibrations and sends a real-time notification to the TaHoma smartphone app in the event of an attempted break-in.

Combine this Somfy first-class security or a Velux motorised window with one of the air quality sensors mentioned above and the air in your home will be safely renewed without you doing a thing. The sensor will detect when the CO2 levels are too high, open your windows the right amount to let in fresh air without comprising security, and then close them again when the air has been refreshed. For more peace of mind, you receive a notification on your TaHoma app to let you know that it is opened and properly closed.

The TaHoma switch smart control: a complete and intelligent ecosystem to control all your home equipment centrally and more

With the TaHoma switch smart home solution, you can centralise all your home equipment from Somfy (smart windows, roller shutters, alarm, sensors, etc.) and compatible major home brands. You can control them more simply and conveniently from your smartphone (via the TaHoma application) or by voice, whether individually or in groups, and even remotely. With TaHoma switch, you have a whole connected ecosystem available to look after your well-being and comfort.

*Source: Environmental Protection Agency (Sept. 2013)
**Source: French Environment and Energy Management Agency