We spend about 80% of our life in our homes or offices and one third of our lives in bedrooms. While we drink 2-3 litres and eat 1-2 kgs we breathe about 11000 litres of air per day. We see what we eat and drink but do not see the air we breathe. We make sure we eat and drink healthy food but we do very little to improve the air that surrounds us. Did you know? Fresh air is important for our comfort, well-being and performance.
Recently, the increased use of insulation without proper ventilation is creating more mould issues in our buildings. This is affecting building quality and more importantly human health. When ventilation is used, up to 50% of heating energy can be lost while being pushed into the building. Ventilation time for ideal air quality can be balanced to reduce the loss of heating energy.
Start actively improving the quality of the air you breath. The Twinguard helps you improve your indoor air quality to create a healthy environment for you and your family.
In order to evaluate your air quality three measurements are taken. Temperature, relative humidity and air purity (Total Volatile Organic Compounds, TVOC).
These three values are combined in our overall air quality value. The quality of the air in your rooms is indicated by 1-3 leafs, while 3 leafs represent perfect air quality.
Our thermal comfort is determined by room temperature and humidity. Room temperatures feel lower than they actually are if the humidity is low. On the other hand room temperatures feel higher if the humidity is high. Both situations need to be considered when finding our thermal comfort.
Relative humidity is expressed as a percentage of the maximum amount of water moisture the air can "hold" at the given temperature. Room temperature is defined as a comfortable indoor temperature, depending on the room, season and personal preferences.
Air purity is measured via a special Bosch sensor. In contrast to single CO2 measurements, the sensor “smells” additional impurities. Sources for air impurities can be caused by humans (e.g. breathing, sweating), human activities (e.g. cooking, cleaning) and from objects (e.g. new furniture, paintings, carpet, etc.)
There are around 300 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that the Twinguard can measure. For example, the Bosch air quality sensor can sense gases such as carbon monoxides, alcohols, ammonia and formaldehyde. These are summarized into one TVOC value. This TVOC value is then calculated into a CO2-related (CO2 equivalent) value in parts per million (ppm).
Ideal air quality and climate affects our well-being at home. Certain temperature, humidity and air purity ranges improve the way we feel in our different rooms.
The Twinguard helps you to establish and keep these “perfect ranges” for all values by indicating them in the app.
The time spent in our different rooms varies. For example, more time is spent in our bedrooms than kitchens and our activities vary by the room we are in. Some examples: People tend to sleep better, if the temperature is not too high in the bedroom.
Therefore recommendations for temperatures and humidity levels are different for each room.
Recommended ranges for room temperatures are between 16-26 °C, depending on the room.
The relative humidity should be kept between 30-70 %
Air purity values should be kept below 1000 ppm. Normal outside air has a value of 400ppm.
Perfect ranges are also used to determine your overall indoor air quality for each room (1-3 leafs). Stay within the perfect ranges and make sure you keep a great air mix, indicated by 3 leafs.
Air Quality notifications offer an easy way to monitor and improve your indoor air quality. Switch on notifications individually for each room and sensor data type, and the Twinguard app will notify you, as soon as the value(s) inside a room leave(s) the perfect range. On the Air Quality history screen of each room, simply press the bell icon in the header to activate or deactivate the notifications.
The air quality leafs provide a “one glance” summary of your air quality. Thermal comfort, air purity and other relevant aspects are taken into account. To keep the mould risk low, Bosch developed a special algorithm that also takes a scientifically proven method of mould risk reduction into account.
Air quality affects both humans and homes. Maintaining high levels of air quality improves our well-being and performance. In addition, it helps preserve the house's structural quality.
Having bad indoor air quality over a long period of time, might especially cause problems.
The "sick building syndrome" (SBS) is used to describe situations in which building occupants experience acute health and discomfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building, but no specific illness or cause can be identified. The complaints may be localized in a particular room or zone, or may be widespread throughout the building. Some of the causes of SBS are inadequate ventilation or chemical contaminants from indoor sources. This may cause headaches and dizziness, tiredness, loss of concentration, eye problems or dry skin.
The overall air quality is calculated from the three different values the Twinguard measures. Please determine which of your air quality values are outside the perfect range and find out reasons, implications and measures for them individually.
The ideal room temperature and humidity level is different for everyone. High temperature can cause decreased concentration, while low temperature negatively affects our mood. Our personal ideal temperature changes based on the season (e.g. summer vs. winter) Did you also know? Different light colors change your impression of the temperature.
Low room temperature usually means the walls in your rooms are also cold. This cool temperature combined with moisture from other rooms (bathroom or kitchen) may lead to condensation on the walls.
Keeping the air conditioning running during the warmer months will increase your energy costs!
Health directly affetcs our well-being. This is why you always have to consider that high temperature and humidity will make you sweat and feel hot and uncomfortable.
Remember: your chosen room temperature directly affects your power consumption. If you lower your room temperature by 1°C, it will save you energy up to 7%.
Maintaining a proper humidity level is essential for your well-being and that of the home. Extreme fluctuations cause adverse effects to both. Low humidity may cause respiratory problems and damage to wooden doors, windows and furniture. On the other hand, high humidity will result in moulds that serve as a breeding ground for bacteria, resulting in poor health and a damaged home.
The Twinguard measures “relative humidity” values. Relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air compared to what the air can "hold" at a certain temperature. When the air can't "hold" all the moisture, it condenses as dew. At low temperatures the air “holds” less moisture. This means that if the air is cooling down, then the relative humidity will increase, leading to condensation.
The unit of relative humidity is measured as a percentage. At 100% the air “holds” the maximum amount of moisture for the given temperature.
The lower the humidity, the more dust (particles) are in the air, because there is no water vapour to bind the dust. These dust particles support noxious particles such as bacteria, viruses and microorganisms that are absorbed by the body with every breath you take. Due to the insufficient self-cleaning of the mucosa, you can be infected by influenza. Further side effects of low indoor humidity are dehydrated (eye) mycosa, throat and nose irritation, or cracked skin.
Low indoor humidity can cause effects of dehydration and deformation of wooden-items such as pianos, parquet floors and oil paintings.
Please consider: high humidity can have negative effects in two ways: it damages our homes and affects our health as well.
If the air contains too much water vapour, it tends to build mould. This can be caused by poor ventilation or bad heating behaviour. But even if you do it right, you might not be immune to it due to structural defects. Especially with organic materials such as plaster, dust or wallpapers mould can be spread through heat and water. Mould appears particularly where warm air meets the cold outer wall. This is where condensation water forms. These damp walls now provide a perfect environment for mould.
As a consequence, mould gets into the respiratory system and can cause allergies and asthma. In addition, high humidity will damage your electronic devices.
Did you know that these physical conditions might cause mould growth?
Proper ventilation is important to keep air purity high and VOCs low. Each room requires different levels of ventilation. In general, if one person is home the room air should be completely refreshed around every two hours. If more people are home the room air should be refreshed more often.
High VOCs do not necessarily indicate dangerous fumes are present, it can also be caused by coffee aromas, perfumes or similar. Keep an eye though on constant high VOC values over a long period of time. This might indicate that a piece of furniture in your room is releasing unhealthy fumes.
As a result of the improved insulation of our buildings, you have to take care of proper ventilation, because fresh, unused air is desirable. As you breathe, cook, clean or generate other scents, the air becomes polluted. Typically we stop noticing bad odors when we stay in a room for an extended time. The Twinguard will support you (as an electronic nose) in this case, by providinging a reliable reference.
VOCs in buildings can cause mood disorders (Sick-Building-Syndrome) or serious health issues. Possible symptoms of affected persons may be irritation of eyes and mucosa, dry mucosas, skin rashes, headaches, exhaustion, disturbance of memory and powers of concentration, or even severe disturbance of the perceptions of taste and smell. Even small amounts can cause serious health problems, especially among children and allergy sufferers.
Some VOCs have a very low odor threshold and can therefore be perceived even in low concentrations. Unwanted scents are an obvious condition that significantly affects indoor air quality. But be careful, not every vapor can be perceived olfactorily – if it doesn’t smell, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not critical.