You might not give much thought into the air floating through your home, but did you know that dirty, dusty air can cause a lot of problems for you and your family? At Cates Heating and Cooling, we want all of our customers to know the health benefits of having clean air and how to ensure that the air in the home is clean.
IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF THE AIR IN YOUR HOME
When it comes to improving indoor air quality, there are a few different things that you can do. Keep in mind that it is impossible to eliminate all of the allergens, dust, and dirt in your home, but you can definitely take steps to make your air cleaner.
Here are a few recommendations from Cates Heating and Cooling for improving the quality of the air in your home:
- Keep Your Home Clean. Keeping your home clean helps reduce the amount of dust, dirt, dander, and other gunk that could accumulate in your home and air ducts. To get started, you should make sure to vacuum carpets and rugs at least once a week. Hard-surface flooring can also help eliminate some of the issues that you may notice. Be sure to keep your bedding and drapes clean as well. Lastly, clutter can trap dust, so try to keep your home clutter-free for cleaner air.
- Change Your Air Filters. Air filters are your first line of defense against the allergens and debris that could end up in your air. Filters should be changed at least once a month—even more often if someone in your home battles allergies or asthma. Electrostatic air filters may also benefit your home’s air quality. You can also have the air ducts in your home cleaned to remove trapped dust that has built up in the ducts.
- Leave Plants Outdoors. While many people love the look of indoor plants, they can both collect and promote the growth of mold. Plants are often touted as positive impacts on indoor air quality, because they produce oxygen, but they can cause more harm than good in a home with people who have allergies or asthma.
- Let Fresh Air In. Allowing fresh, outdoor air into your home can be extremely beneficial to the quality of the air in your home. Even during the winter months, you should allow outdoor air into your home for a brief period of time on occasion. You can also use the kitchen fans in your home to help remove cooking fumes that could cause problems in your house.
- Get an Air Purifier. Air purifiers are a great way to reduce the allergens in your home’s air. If you have tried other means to get the air in your home cleaner without success, an air purifier may be your best bet, especially if you have a pet. You can place air purifiers in well-trafficked areas of your home like the living room and bedrooms. Ionic purifiers are considered the best at ridding the air of dust and allergens. You may also want to get dehumidifiers in areas of your home that are damp to prevent mold growth. Bathrooms should be well-ventilated, and you should remove any mold or mildew that builds up right away.
IMPORTANCE OF CLEAN AIR IN THE HOME
Having clean air in your house is important for a number of reasons. The main reasons that you should strive to have clean air in your home involve the health of you and the other members of your family. Since you spend a lot of time in your home, you want to make sure that the air inside is as clean as it possibly can be. However, indoor air tends to be more polluted than outdoor air, which means that you could be breathing in all kinds of things that you don’t want in your body. In fact, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has stated that poor indoor air quality is one of the top environmental dangers in the U.S. They also have stated that indoor air contains about five times as many pollutants as outdoor air.
First, have you noticed that allergies are a big problem for you or someone else in your home? People with asthma might also notice an increase in flare-ups. These issues could be made worse by the dust and dirt that is being circulated through the air in your home. Allergens can build up in rooms and air ducts. Over time, these allergens can get circulated through the air in your home, especially if you have a faulty or clogged air filter. Allergy sufferers may notice watery, itchy eyes, as well as dizziness, sore throat, and stuffy nose.
Other common illnesses associated with poor indoor air quality include heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and cancer, which could be linked to radon and other pollutants in the air in your home.