Category Archives: air purifier

Considerations When Building a New Home

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Unfortunately, today’s topic comes about from a situation that probably could have been avoided. A colleague of mine had purchased an RO (reverse osmosis) system, but wanted us to wait to install it since she was moving.

Something about the way she said it lead me to believe she was moving into an already-built home, not waiting for the builder to complete a new project for her. Had I known, we could have very easily set up her RO system for installation in the basement and just run the lines to connect to the kitchen sink and to the refrigerator. We could have also worked with her granite installer to get them to pre-cut a hole for the RO’s separate faucet in her kitchen sink – typically at no additional charge…

That didn’t happen, so when she called to arrange the booking after taking possession, we now had to get the granite people out for a service call to make the faucet’s installation hole, and we now need to install the system and the storage tank under the sink, since the basement is finished and has a drywalled ceiling.

If it was a drop or “t-bar” style ceiling, we’d probably have been ok still, but there’s no way to run the plumbing connections through the drywall without damaging or probably removing a few sections – not something she was wanting to do on her BRAND NEW home….

When we test the water and find out what sort of treatment (if any) she’ll need for the whole-home, that is typically not too big a problem as connecting to the existing plumbing is quite straight forward. Only the drinking water system is causing problems. (It is a seperate system and uses its own plumbing connections.)

Too bad… But the lesson here is to always plan ahead. If you’re building a new home, it is SOOO easy to get your drinking water system installed during the construction phase and it can all be neatly tucked-away – even inside what will be finished ceilings and drywall. We can also more-easily run connections to second floor areas.

Quite often, people would like to have a drinking water faucet right in their ensuite, or upstairs bathrooms. If the master bedroom is upstairs and you get thirsty in the middle of the night, its a lot easier to just pop your glass under a nearby faucet rather than head downstairs….

It never hurts to ask – if you’re planning on building, or already in the construction phase, give us a call and see if there’s any shortcuts you can take for a seamless installation. This is a great time to quit the bottled water habit. You can get better quality, for WAY less money, and an almost endless supply right in your own home – all it takes is a little planning and it can be a perfect setup.

Green Home Award using Active Air Purification

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This is a great story – a story about turning a negative into a positive.

This home had some water damage that lead to a mold problem. After inspections and remediation, the home was treated with a Sanitization Protocol by a NORMI Trained Professional. Included in the package was an ActivTek “InDuct” purifier for each of the home’s heating and cooling zones.

This allowed the home to qualify for the NORMI Healthier Home Warranty – a warranty that ensures the home’s air quality will remain excellent, and that mold will not return. This is the only lifetime mold warranty I’ve ever heard of and one of the main reasons we chose to work with NORMI as our training and certifying partner.

The home undertook a drastic transformation and the end result was a safe and healthy home, free from odours and making things much easier for anyone with allergies. The active purifiers are the same brand we use and recommend for our clients – they are NORMI Approved, meaning that the National Organization of Remediators and Mold Inspectors has tested the product and found it to dramatically improve air quality, and in this case even surface sanitization (!) without having negative effect’s on the home’s occupants.

We have had great successes using these active air purification systems – they are a long way away from the old “ozone generator” technology. they use a system called “ActivePure” to produce a plasma that is circulated by the home’s furnace (or air conditioning) system.

Instead of working like a filter and needing to bring pollutants to a single area to attempt removal, the system ACTIVELY goes out and destroys bacteria, yeast and molds on surfaces and in the air. These systems work 24/7 to protect your home, while reducing odours and making things all-around more pleasant for the occupants.

Allergy relief, odour removal, mold prevention – these systems do a fantastic job of cleaning the air.

For more information on the NORMI Certificate of Sanitization program, or to locate a NORMI Trained Professional near you, please see www.normi.org.

For more information on how these systems can be deployed to help your air quality and even to do it in a measurable, objective way, contact Douglas Environmental Solutions – www.douglasenviro.ca