Here are reasons why your home may be making you ill

THE average person spends about 90 per cent of their day indoors, with 14 hours spent in their own home. However, the internal environment you are in can affect your mental and physical health.

Here, Paul Testa, director of Yorkshire’s HEM architects and a retrofitting expert for the Homebuilding & Renovating Show, has provided some insights.

Air quality: Having access to sufficient clean air is really important to our health, comfort and productivity. A key indicator is the level of carbon dioxide in the air. As this level rises the less alert we feel, the less productive we are, we may get headaches and very high levels can induce serious symptoms.

To get good air quality, you need to change the air in your home once every three hours. This is akin to opening every window in the house for 10 minutes every hour, even in winter.

How do you know if your air quality is poor? A simple CO2 monitor is a great place to start. You want to keep concentrations under 800 parts per million if you can and ideally reach 400-600.

Relative Humidity: In an ideal world your home should have internal air with a relative humidity between 40-60 per cent. RH outside this band is much less comfortable and affects our perception of temperature and comfort.

Air that is too dry or too moist makes for a much better environment for the growth of things like dust mites and bed bugs. High humidity can also exacerbate issues such as condensation and mould. RH outside this zone was also noted to be better for the growth and transmittance of Covid

For most homes, high humidity, especially in the winter, is more of an issue than dry air.

Generally, the higher the air temperature inside compared to outside, the lower the internal relative humidity. Poor quality ventilation also leads to higher humidity levels.

So what to do about it? If you are ventilating more to improve your air quality, the next step is to ensure that the air temperature is high enough to keep humidity levels sensible. Keeping your home 18 degrees and above in the winter really helps with this.

Condensation and mould:

This is unsightly but, more importantly, it’s also very bad for our health. Prolonged exposure could cause respiratory illnesses, infections, allergies or asthma.

Damp and mould primarily affect the airways and lungs, but they can also affect the eyes and skin. The respiratory effects of damp and mould can cause serious illness and, in the most severe cases, death.

The tragic death of Awaab Ishak was the result of a severe respiratory condition due to prolonged exposure to mould in a home with inadequate ventilation. The presence of damp and mould can also affect your mental health.

Condensation occurs when the internal relative humidity is high and when there are cold surfaces, generally below 13 degrees, although condensation can form on any surface that falls below 17 degrees.

What to do about it? Better ventilation and air temperatures and also make sure that the surfaces of your house, walls, floor, ceilings, windows are as warm as they can be.

This involves insulation, which will also reduce energy bills.

For further advice and inspiration claim your free tickets to visit the Homebuilding & Renovating Show in Harrogate, November 3 to 5, via this link: www.homebuildingshow.co.uk/pr-generaloutlets