10 Applicable Indoor Air Quality Solutions
The winter marks mean more time spent inside your home. This means less fresh air and more susceptibility to germs since air indoors often contains more pollutants than the air outside. Yes, this means even in your own home. No worries. There are several easy steps you can take to improve the quality of air inside your home:
1. Wipe Down Walls Regularly
Dust, germs, and other pollutants literally cling to walls and are fanned into the air with every breeze. Choose a disinfecting cleaning product that is safe for your walls and wipe them down thoroughly at least once a week.
2. Buy One Or More Air Purifiers
Air purifiers clean and disinfect the air and are especially good for allergy sufferers. They can be moved from room to room or you can buy more than one and keep them in bedrooms and other rooms of the house that are regularly occupied. Make sure to check their fill levels and filters frequently.
3. Keep Floors Clean
Just imagine the amount of dirt, germs, and other nastiness you can’t see that gets tracked onto your floors every day. It swirls up into the air and gets breathed in by everyone in your home. Sweep and mop floors regularly to avoid this, and remember to clean brooms and mops in between uses.
4. Change Air Filters Frequently
The standard rule for the air filters in your HVAC system is to check them once a month and change them as needed, but no less than once every 90 days. However, if you want to keep the air in your home really clean, replace them monthly. Make it a point to wipe down the outside of your furnace whenever you change the air filter to keep away excess dust and allergens.
5. Have Your HVAC System Professionally Cleaned And Inspected
Once a year, schedule a full inspection and thorough cleaning of your entire HVAC system by a trained professional. The best time to have this done is prior to turning on your system for the season, when it will be used the most. This will not only ensure that tour system is in good working order, you can be sure that the ducts and pipes that carry the air into your home are clean through and through.
6. Clean Air Vents And Ducts
Speaking of the air coming into your home via air ducts, keep the gratings that cover them wiped down. Dust that collects on these coverings and will be picked up and dispersed throughout your home by the incoming air. It can be convenient to wipe them down, or remove them and immerse them in water to clean them, at the same time you are cleaning your walls.
7. Keep Pets And Their Areas Clean
Pet dander and hair can get everywhere. Even for people who aren’t allergic to our four-legged fur babies, a ton of hair and dander in the air can aggravate the sinuses and cause sneezing, congestion, and discomfort. This is especially bad for people who have any type of allergies. Keep the areas your pet frequents extra clean. Clean hair with a lint roller, vacuum often, wash bedding, and brush and bathe your pets. They will appreciate it as much as your humans do.
8. Help Clean Air To Circulate
Place portable fans throughout your home to help keep fresh air circulating. Use ceiling fans, setting them on Reverse during the winter months so that they will disperse heat throughout the room without cooling it down. Fans placed in bedrooms on a low setting have been shown to aid in more restful sleep.
9. Use Exhaust Fans When Cooking
Grease and other materials can get into the air when you cook. Exhaust fans have always been handy to draw away air from the stove area, but now they have been designed to go a step further to clean and purify the air as well. Remember to clean your exhaust fan frequently to avoid a buildup of sicky grease and residue, where all kinds of unhealthy things can thrive.
10. Limit The Use Of Perfumes And Aerosol Spray
The last thing you want is to be confined indoors with someone who wears too much perfume or after shave. These fill the air with chemicals that can linger in the air for a long time, during which you will be breathing them in to your lungs. The same is true of aerosol sprays and most cleaning products. Read the labels and choose products that are chemical-free. You, your family, even your pets will benefit from it. Some of the chemicals found in many of these products have been found to be carcinogens, among other harmful effects. Do your whole family a favor and eliminate these types of products from your home.
