Improving the quality of air in your home directly impacts your quality of life. If you suffer from allergies or asthma, it’s especially important to improve indoor air quality to minimize your symptoms. Keep reading to learn how to improve the air quality in your home.
Use an Air Purifier
One of the easiest ways to improve indoor air quality is to use an air purifier. You have numerous options to choose from, including portable air purifiers as well as ones that are connected directly to your HVAC system. An air purifier connected to the heating and cooling system comes with the advantage of providing whole-home air filtration.
If you opt for a portable air purifier, it’s important to place it in the room where you spend the most time. You can buy more than one portable air purifier and place them in the most commonly used spaces throughout the home. Air purifiers don’t completely eliminate airborne allergens, but they do remove enough to lessen allergy and asthma symptoms.
Change the HVAC Filter
Another simple way to improve indoor air quality is to change the HVAC filter on a regular basis. If you use a reusable filter, you’ll want to clean it at least once a month. In homes where there are indoor pets, it’s best to check the filter once every 15 to 20 days. If you notice pet dander clogging the filter, either clean it or replace it. Pet dander quickly clogs air filters and hinders their ability to keep the air clean. A dirty filter also puts extra wear and tear on the HVAC system, which minimizes its efficiency, leads to costly repairs and increases your heating and cooling bills.
Clean Your Home
It may not be the most glamorous tip, and probably one that doesn’t make you jump for joy, but cleaning your home regularly is one of the best ways to improve indoor air quality. Ideally, you should dust and vacuum at least once a week. Don’t forget to dust the baseboards along with your ceiling fans. Also, since dust collects on the walls, you’ll want to wipe them down at least once a month.
When you’re cleaning, make sure to use cleaning supplies that don’t have harmful toxins in them. Those supplies will release volatile organic compounds into the air that are bad for your health.
Invest in a Humidifier/Dehumidifier
Your home’s humidity level plays a large role in its indoor air quality. It’s best to keep humidity levels between 30 to 50 percent, reports WebMD. This helps keep your allergens under control. During the summertime, you’ll likely need a humidifier to take moisture out of the air. Once the colder months roll around, the air gets dry, so you’ll need a humidifier to put moisture back into the air.
Choose Fragrances Carefully
There’s nothing better than walking into a home that smells good. Just be careful with the fragrances you use. Some of them have harmful toxins and chemicals in them that pollute the air. With this in mind, make sure you’re using naturally-scented products to make your home smell good. The same applies to your laundry detergent. You can get the kitchen smelling good by using sliced lemons and baking soda to clean.