7 Easy Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality
Believe it or not many of our homes have worse indoor air quality than the outdoor areas surrounding our home. There are a number of sources that contribute to poor indoor air quality like appliances, pets, carpet, radon gas, insects, moisture, smoke, and other sources. Some of these sources can cause serious health problems, while others are simply smelly or uncomfortable annoyances.
Below are seven easy ways you can improve your indoor air quality today.
1. Your air conditioning system is one of the best ways to improve indoor air quality in your home. Simply ensuring that your AC system is working properly and running efficiently will not only circulate and clean the air in your home, but remove moisture as well. Reducing the moisture in your home limits the chances of mold and bacteria forming on surfaces.
2. Ensure that all vents in your bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, and other rooms that require exterior venting are connected directly outdoors. If they are networked or vent to spaces between walls or floors then they are merely transferring poor air back into your home. Venting moist air between walls and floors can also lead to mold growth.
3. If your home has a furnace, air conditioner, or other appliance with a venting system and ductwork ensure, make sure they aren’t located in areas of the house like a garage that contain contaminants. If so, they may be drawing contaminants into your home and blowing them throughout the venting system.
4. It seems like common sense, but you should always store toxic or volatile substances like paints, cleaners, solvents, and pesticides in an area of the house that’s not commonly used. It’s also important to ensure this area isn’t near the venting system so vapors or odors aren’t drawn into the system and dispersed into your house.
5. Items like candles, cigarettes, indoor BBQs, space heaters, and other combustible appliances should be seldomly used or eliminated from your home as they can spread dust, carbon, and other matter through the air.
6. Windows are an important part of keeping the air in your home clean. During seasons of high pollen and where outdoor contaminants are abundant, properly working and well-sealed windows are essential to preventing contamination inside your home. Windows are also useful for venting when cleaning products and other strong contaminants are being used inside the home.
7. Change your air filter often. Whether you keep your house spotless or not your furnace and air conditioner circulate lots of air through your system’s air filter where it constantly picks up contaminants. A clogged air filter will reduce the effectiveness and efficiency of your system.
Air Conditioning & Heating: Indoor Air Quality
Overall, you can easily begin to improve the indoor air quality of your home by simply ensuring your air conditioning and heating systems are running properly and well maintained with regular tune-ups. If you’re unsure if your system is operating properly getting a company like Point Bay Energy Heating and Cooling to evaluate your system is a good place to start. Eliminating other easily traceable sources of contamination is an easy second step that can also drastically improve your home’s indoor air quality.