u/BNDTxGhost

I've been trying to figure this out in my house. We keep the place pretty clean. We have a kid, so I stay on top of the basics, weekly deep cleaning, vacuuming, washing bedding, and opening the windows to air everything out. For the first day or two after cleaning, the house feels fine. But after three days, the air starts feeling off again. I kept noticing a faint bad smell somewhere around the house. My son sneezes pretty often, so I figured I was missing something. We haven't bought any new furniture recently, so I didn't think it was off-gassing. Then I read a post about cooking fumes and how if they're not vented outside properly, they can affect indoor AQ and settle into fabrics, rugs, cabinets, and furniture. That sounded a lot like out house. If I had to describe it, it was kinda like onion smell mixed with old cooking odors.

I bought a Qingping air monitor and started checking VOC and PM2.5 levels. I know consumer sensors aren't perfect. but history data showed some pretty big spikes while cooking. The monitor also warned that the levels were slightly high, and they didn't drop quickly even an hour after cooking. About a month ago, I upgraded our range hood to Arspura P1 that vents outside. It has a PM2.5 monitor on the screen, and the number turns red when the air gets bad. The difference has been obvious, my separate air monitor now shows much lower VOC and PM2.5 levels after cooking.

I think cooking smells are one of the most overlooked signs of indoor air pollution. Mold is visible, humidity can be handled with a dehumidifier. But the smells, smoke, and grease particles from cooking spread through the house, disappear from the sight, and then settle into everything near the kitchen. For anyone dealing with random smells, sneezing, or air feels dirty again a few days after cooking, I'd check the kitchen ventilation. A proper out-door vented range hood helped us a lot. At the very least, clean the hood filters and exhaust outlet regularly, and also open the windows.