Air quality affects many things in your home, including the health of your family and how well your HVAC system runs. Indoor air quality tends to suffer over the winter, partly because of less natural ventilation through open windows. Use these 11 practical tips to improve your home’s indoor air quality this winter and reap all the benefits of cleaner air.
1. Keep Your Air Filter Clean
The HVAC air filter is the first line of air quality control in most homes. When neglected, the filter will clog and reduce the airflow through the system. Not only does this reduce your heating efficiency, but it also reduces the amount of air moving through the filter. This leads to increased airborne contaminants because the air isn’t moving through the filter to remove them.
To keep the filter working as efficiently as possible, check it every month. Depending on the filter’s construction and your air quality, you can expect to replace the smaller 1- and 2-inch filters every 30 to 90 days. Larger filters may last longer, but they are easy to neglect when you don’t check them regularly. You can extend your filter’s life and improve its filtering efficiency by gently vacuuming off the loose dust from the intake side when you check it.
2. Manage Humidity Effectively
Aside from keeping your filter passing air effectively, humidity is the next most important piece to managing air quality. When the air is too dry, airborne contaminants also dry out and become lighter, allowing them to stay in the air longer. However, if it’s too humid, your home becomes an environment where contaminants can develop from spores that may grow in dark areas of your home.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends a relative humidity level of 30% to 50% indoors. The outside humidity level around Milwaukie is usually fairly high. You may need to use a dehumidifier to help keep your home’s humidity within the ideal range.
3. Maintain a Regular Cleaning Routine
Once airborne contaminants fall from the air, the only way to be certain they stay out of your air is to physically remove them. Therefore, keeping to a regular cleaning schedule helps improve your home’s air quality. Dusting, sweeping, mopping and vacuuming are especially important when you want to improve your air quality.
4. Be Mindful of Contaminants You’re Adding
Since you spend more time inside during the cool months, you may want to make your living space as cozy as possible. This often means using additional cleaners and air fresheners to help your home smell welcoming. However, these products often contain contaminants that can irritate your respiratory system, not to mention making your air filter sticky. Whenever possible, use natural products like dried cinnamon and other spices or essential oils instead of plug-in, gel or aerosol air fresheners. It’s best to dispense natural cleaning products through a pump sprayer and avoid aerosolized products.
5. Maximize Household Ventilation
Ventilation helps move stagnant inside air out and bring in fresh outside air, which is critical for improving indoor air quality over the winter. Start by maximizing the use of the ventilation fans most homes have, including the bathroom vent fans and the kitchen’s stove hood fan. You may also want to consider adding mechanical attic ventilation, such as an energy recovery ventilator (ERV). Besides improving ventilation, ERVs minimize thermal energy loss by preheating the incoming cool air with the heat from the outbound warm air.
6. Get Regular HVAC Maintenance
HVAC maintenance is essential for keeping your system running efficiently and improving air quality. A technician performs a deep cleaning of the system, removing contaminants that could re-enter the air. Additionally, maintenance helps maintain the system’s efficiency by ensuring that it circulates the proper amount of air and passes it through the air filter.
7. Keep Pets Well-Groomed
While pets are certainly part of the family, they can significantly degrade indoor air quality with their hair, dander and dirt or dust they track in. If you have furry pets, keep them well-groomed with regular baths and brushing or combing sessions.
8. Clean Out the Fireplace
Fireplaces are a blessing and a chalCarbonege, especially when it comes to your air quality. If your fireplace burns wood, clean it out regularly to prevent too much ash from building up. Ash is notoriously light and can easily get picked back up into your air with the slightest movement over it. Additionally, keep your chimney clean so that the fire drafts properly to keep smoke and soot venting outside instead of invading your home’s air.
9. Wait for New Furniture, Flooring or Paint
While you may find holiday or year-end sales on flooring or new furniture, they can also degrade your home’s air quality. Furniture, carpet, natural and synthetic flooring and even paint release gaseous contaminants into the air, especially volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These include compounds like formaldehyde, benzene, ethyCarbonee glycol and many more. If at all possible, wait to bring in new furniture, replace flooring or repaint your home until you can better ventilate your home during warmer weather.
10. Consider Adding Extra Air Filtration or Air Purification
If your indoor air quality still needs improvement, you may want to use additional air purification technology. This may start with a simple air filter and can become as complex as a scrubber, UV light purifier, or ionizer. These devices range from small room-size models to larger devices installed as part of your HVAC system. An experienced air quality specialist can help you evaluate your indoor air quality and recommend the best solutions for your home.
11. Tend to HVAC Repairs Quickly
Finally, tend to HVAC system problems quickly. These problems may simply reduce the system’s airflow so that the filter isn’t working as well. However, they may include problems that directly affect your home’s air quality, like a cracked heat exchanger. Maintenance is the best way to catch problems before you may even perceive there’s an issue. Your maintenance technician will extensively test your system, looking for indications of any component that’s losing its efficiency. Additionally, the technician will perform a physical inspection that includes the heat exchanger.
For more than 20 years, property owners around Milwaukie, OR have trusted Carbone Home Services to keep their homes comfortable and safe. Our expert team provides indoor air quality solutions, AC and heating maintenance, repair and installation, and residential plumbing services, including plumbing repairs, water heater services, faucet and fixture installation, kitchen plumbing installation and repair, gas line installation, sump pump services, repiping, drain and sewer inspection, cleaning and repair, rooter services, trenchless sewer lines and excavating. Our electrical services include panel installation and upgrades, surge protection, outlet and switch installation, lighting installation, EV charger installation, whole house rewiring, smart thermostat installation and setup and generator installation and repair.
Call Carbone Home Services schedule a consultation with one of our expert indoor air quality specialists to explore the best options to improve your home’s air quality.
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