metis

[Metis]

living in a new housing development when I first moved in my asthma was ok but things changed.I now find my congested all of the time in the house tight chest . No rugs all hardwood floors and use 3 purifiers. Have allergies and was diagnosed with asthma this year.Have puffers and breath easy for asthma. Would like to know if anyone has had a problem like this and any recommendations thank you

[runcyclexcski]

How new is the place? Any evidence of excessive humidity? I lived in an apt which had hidden leaks under the floors.

[Metis in reply to runcyclexcski]

Thanks

[Photog24]

I live in an old house that has plenty of ‘ventilation’ 😅 New houses are so airtight, it can create other issues. I would try opening some windows to let your house ‘breathe’ and hopefully help you too.

[Metis in reply to Photog24]

Thanks

[runcyclexcski in reply to Photog24]

If the OP has allergies to pollen and is triggered by pollution (smoke, NO, ozone, fertilizer smell), I think a breathing house is more of an issue. I personally would never live in an old house, with unknown reservoirs of rotting wood, mould, dust, leaks accumulated over the years, and who knows-what materials that were considered "just fine" 100 years ago. Not mentioning single-pane windows (which were standard in the past) with their constant condensation cycles and mould in next to the frames. I get a tight chest within minutes of entering an old house, and I can smell it in the air.

I prefer newer houses b.c. one can control the routes where the air comes from. One can do forced ventilation through a series of HEPA and carbon filters, and recover the heat and humidity, if needed. This way the place is positively pressurised at all times, and outdoor pollution cannot get in. The forced ventilation should provide sufficient air exchanges to force out the off-gassing materials and give the occupant fresh air to breathe (about 0.5 air exchange per hour or higher). Running recirculating filters indoors (which the OP does) then deals with local sources of dust, if any. Humidity indoors can be controlled with an AC. Having a small place helps, to save on energy powering all the machines. I run about 300W worth of motors at all times, plus a small AC in the summer heat (about 3 months a year).

[Metis in reply to runcyclexcski]

thanks

[Poobah]

If you Google "asthma friendly home checklist" there's information from various medical institutions that may prove helpful in making your new home more asthma friendly.

[runcyclexcski]

It also could be that you are catching the "trailing edge" of all the paint that was used to build and paint the place. One can rent air-movers (basically giant blowers) which help remove the excess of solvents from the walls/floor, leave them on for 2-3 weeks, and open the windows. This is what I did in my new laboratory, made a big difference. Then i had to make sure that forced air ventilation worked (it was not).

One can check how good the ventilation is with CO2 meters, these are very cheap. If the CO2 indoors is above say 900 ppm, then the ventilation is an issue and all the volatile compounds have no place to go. For reference, outdoor CO2 is 400 (and rising slowly). I worked in places where indoor CO2 was easily above 1200, and I had to teach poor students in these sealed boxes.

There are also "VOC" meters for organic gases, but those that are cheap (plenty of them on amazon) show misleading numbers, and those that show reliable numbers are not cheap (several K, sold at professional HVAC places).

Finally, if you are freshly diagnosed, allergies for outdoor pollen can also be an issue.

Overall, these issues take time to tease out. I hope your inhalers help you breathe in the mean time.

If you remain triggered by paint in the walls and the floors despite all the measures, there is always the "nuclear option" -- cover the walls with metal foil (aluminum tape). Takes about a weekend per room, and earns you a reputation of being a "5G enthusiast". I had to do it in one of my instrument rooms at my work place once.

[Patk1]

If yr chest goes tight,u should use Yr salbutamol.have u tried antihistamines over the counter eg loratidine?