This content was created by Derek Cole. This content was uploaded by Derek Cole. This is a podcast episode titled "409. My Fragrance Stance" (published April 19, 2022) hosted by Derek Cole. The audio is a multi-speaker conversation (Derek Cole and another speaker) about indoor air quality and household fragrances. The hosts advise avoiding artificial scents—candles, plug-ins, sprays—because of chemical off-gassing and soot (including an example of candle soot entering ductwork and mimicking HVAC problems), recommend fragrance-free products or natural essential oils, and include calls-to-action to share the episode, rate/review, and visit simmons1hour.com.
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I'm Derek Cole, host of the Derek Cole Podcast, and we believe in taking the time to explain how things work for your air at home or your business.
Let's get into today's episode.
Please listen closely and maybe even take some notes so you can remember these insights of home comfort and energy savings and share this episode with three of your friends because we all need to share better ways to be more comfortable at home. Be sure to tag me or DM me on Instagram Derek Mcole so I can say hi. Thanks again for listening. And let's begin.
So today I'm going to talk about something very controversial.
Very controversial. I've tried to stay away from it.
Unless I've tried to stay away unless I'm asked directly about it. I mean, it's like, you know, telling some folks, you know, is it good or bad to drink Diet Coke? Should I drink Diet Coke?
Should I not drink Diet Coke?
Aspartame and sucralose and we're not getting into all that. But I am going to get into something that does affect your home, because that's what we're all about. We're about home comfort, energy savings, indoor air quality. So I'm, I'm not gonna be around a bush, I'm not gonna beat around the bush anymore and just simply talk about it. Should. I've gotten the question, should I have candles in my home? Our candles. Okay. In my house.
Well, pretty.
Pretty sensitive topic, but anything artificial as far as smells, odors, fragrance, perfumes, plugins, anything artificial like that in your home, off gases or has chemicals involved in it. Therefore, it is not good for you. It's not good for your indoor quality to have those things in your house. Now, look, I get it. People like different smells and they want the smells in their homes. Okay, that's fine. But you're asking me should I have candles or even, you know, a fragrance or a plug in or. It's chemicals. Chemicals are bad. So to have it in your house is not the best idea. I'm sorry, but it's not. It's chemicals. It's like cleaning chemicals or anything else. Anything with a fragrance has the chemical. Now, I'm not talking about all natural, like oils. And you have diffusers with that oil. I mean, that's natural stuff. Stuff like lavender and peppermint and natural oils that can be diffused throughout the homes. Yes, those are natural, but we're talking about the plugins, the fragrances, the stuff you spray around the house or even candles you light. They have Candles, chemicals involved in them, and that is not good for you. We had talk about candles one time. We had a homeowner told us that the new heat pump we installed was suiting up her home. So back up a little bit. Soot happens because of a flame, right? So you have to have fire to have soot. So when you have a straight electric heat pump, you don't have any fire, you have electricity. So for our heat pump we installed, to have a soothing problem from the heat pump would be impossible. So we had to see what was going on. Well, it turns out this homeowner had so many candles in their home and they lit so many candles, the soot from the flame of those candles was actually getting into the air vents. Of course everywhere else, but it was getting to the air vents. And it was a situation. When the air came on, it blew the stood out. So it would appear that the unit is causing a soot problem when in fact the soot is coming from the candles and it's coming into the duct system and blowing out when the air comes on. So again, I know it's sensitive, but anything artificial in nature is not good for your indoor air. It's just like anything else in the world. You know, if it be food they want you to eat. Natural ingredients, same thing you want natural products in your home. Unscented, fragrance free. There is a difference between unscented and fragrance free. You have to read that up to make sure it's not being masked. The fragrance is being masked by more chemicals. So you know, clean. Clean doesn't have a smell. There is no smell of clean. It's kind of like when you go look at a go look to buy fish. Okay?
It shouldn't smell fishy.
It should smoke like nothing. It should be fresh. It shouldn't have an odor to it at all. So clean is the same way. Clean doesn't have a smell. Well, you say, well, after a rainstorm it smells really good outside. Well, that's because of ozone. UV ozone after storm that makes it smell a nice fresh scent smell. But clean has a smell. Candles, if you can do without them, do without them. If you can do without plugins, do without plugins. Again, these are chemicals. These are off gassing in the air on your clothes. If it's on your clothes and you can smell it, then it's probably in your lungs to some capacity.
Right?
It's what I've, I've told homeowners, technicians before, you know, be a filter or buy a filter. So you have a choice I mean do you want that stuff in your home? Do you want the excess chemicals burning from candles or spraying through cleaning products or some kind of plug in scent happening? Do you want that? Do you want those chemicals your home for you to breathe? Would you take a Glade plug in, pour it out and drink the liquid? No, you would not. They do not want you to do that. I don't want you to that. You do not do that. So why would you breathe what you would not consume, Right? Think about that for a minute. Step back and think about that. Why would you drink what you would not breathe? Why would you not want to consume that, but you want to breathe it. So think about that. When you look at candles or fragrance or anything like that. Now I'm pretty myself, I'm pretty sensitive to smell. So most things I have from my personal hygiene are fragrance free body wash. The only thing with the fragrance is Master Shave. It has a little bit of smell to it. But I'm very sensitive because my, my clothes are washed and fragrance free and I have fragrance free dryer sheets and you know, I get kind of obsessive about it because I'm so sensitive to smells. Deodorant, same thing. Deodorant, unscented deodorant because I have that sensitive smell. So make a decision. I mean, you know, you're an adult, do what you want. But my professional opinion would be stay away from the candles, the fragrance, the chemicals. List of those things you can have in your house, in your life. I just think the better.
Okay. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Derek Cole Podcast. Tell some people about this episode. It's on each of us really to spread the better ways to be healthier and more comfortable in our homes and workspaces. I'm asking you to be the dealer of positive and life changing messages in your circle of influence. Take a screenshot right now and share the screenshot and the link to this episode with three of your friends today. Share on social media use the hashtag Healthy Home. That's Healthy Home. We are always giving away strength shoutouts prizes to our community. If you would like to help me personally then please rate and review on Apple Podcast. Give it some stars. Leave a review because that stuff actually does help and I read all the comments. So my last thought for today, please remember you deserve better air at home and greater comfort at home. Don't settle for being uncomfortable for your heating air every single month. We are so thankful for having you here in our community and be sure to go deeper with us at simmons1hour.com.
