7 Tips Improve Indoor Air Quality for a Healthy Home
A home with good quality air gives you comfort, and it improves your health. However, the quality of indoor air tends to be poor in the winter season due to the reduced flow of air outside. It means that allergens and pollutants remain trapped inside since windows are rarely opened. Stale air indoors can cause different health issues. Therefore, you need to take necessary measures to ensure that you breathe quality air indoors. Here are 7 tips that can help improve the quality of air in your home.
1. Improve Ventilation
The easiest method of improving indoor air quality is to ensure that your home has sufficient ventilation. For instance, you can open the windows and doors to allow fresh air to circulate inside your home. Shading is another method that can help control the quality of air inside your house. Maintaining a green environment outside will also reduce the airborne pollutants that come from different sources.
2. Invest in Air Purifier And Air Filters
It is essential to invest in an air purifier in your home since it helps to sieve pollutants like mold, dust, allergens, and bacteria. When using a purifier, it improves the quality of air by removing the pollutants in the atmosphere. An air purifier can remove the following pollutants from the air: fibers, bacteria, pet dander, dust mites, pollen, fungus, mold, ash, tobacco smoke, and other microorganisms. Similarly, air filters also function the same way, and they are designed to trap pollutants in the air. An air filter helps to keep the HVAC system dust-free to promote the flow of clean air inside your home. Do not forget to change your filters since they can pollute the air if they are clogged with pollutants.
3. Vacuum The Carpets
Allergens and pollutants usually gather on stuffy surfaces like carpets, upholstery, rugs, and curtains. It is essential to vacuum these surfaces at least twice a week, and you should also wash your curtains and bed linen regularly. When you have vacuumed all areas, you can use a microfiber to wipe the surface so that it can pick up any remaining particles. You also need to change the vacuum filter regularly. It is important to place the door mates in strategic places, but not inside the house.
4. Minimize Chemical Use In Your Home
You should reduce the use of chemicals indoors since these can affect the quality of air that you breathe. Different products such as paints, cleaners, building materials as well as furniture contain chemicals that can pollute the air. Before using these products, you should carefully read the instructions or use them in well-ventilated areas. Alternatively, consider non-toxic cleaning products that contain natural ingredients like soda, vinegar, essential oils, or citrus. These solutions are safer, and they do not pollute the air.
5. Maintain The Heating And Cooling Systems
It is crucial to maintain your cooling and heating system in good working condition to promote quality air filtration and circulation. These units contain refrigerants and other gases that can be harmful if they leak. The bad part about these gases is that they are odorless, but they are toxic, and they cause different symptoms such as fatigue and can even lead to death. Thus, regular maintenance of fireplaces, heating, and cooling systems will help prevent leakages of harmful gases. Also, avoid using generators or running your car in enclosed areas. You can opt for a generator like a Duromax generator which is great when it comes to maintain the air quality as it is a hybrid generator. Your home should have a device that detects gas to ensure safety.
6. Maintain A Healthy Level Of Moisture Indoors
A high level of moisture inside your house can cause mold and dust mites, which pollutes the air. It is important to keep humidity indoors below 50% to control the allergens that are caused by moisture. You can use an air conditioner during the hot season to keep the level of humidity low, or you can open windows when cooking or running a hot shower. Additionally, fix any leaky plumbing to avoid high humidity inside your home.
7. Avoid Smoking Indoors
Cigarette smoke is probably the greatest contributor to indoor air pollution. Secondhand smoke greatly affects nonsmokers, given that cigarette smoke consists of about 4 000 harmful chemicals according to different studies. These chemicals can cause diseases such as cancer, asthma, heart attacks, respiratory infections, as well as infant death syndrome. As you can see, cigarette smoke affects everyone indoors, so you must make your home a free smoking zone to maintain quality air.
High-quality air in your home brings many benefits, including improved health and comfort. However, pollutants are often trapped inside the house, especially during cooler months. All the same, there are different measures that you can take to improve the quality of air for a healthy home.