Maintenance Homeowners Can Do To Improve Indoor Air Quality
With a central heating and air conditioning system and other household fans, they don’t bring fresh air into your home. They circulate what is already there and do not outsource for fresh air. Other than opening windows and doors, what other ways are there to bring fresher, cleaner air inside our homes? There are ways to make your home feel fresh and less stuffy, but ultimately the only way to really eliminate stuffiness is improving your IAQ. There’s ventilation in bathrooms and kitchens, but we offer other ways to improve the quality of the atmosphere in your residence.
Ventilation
Ventilation is crucial to keeping air from getting stagnant and refreshing the interior of your home. Try to simply open doors and windows when possible. It can even help you cool off with a quick breeze on those warm and windy days. Being in West Texas, we do often have lots of air pollution and unpleasant smells. To lessen the amount coming into your home, we recommend doing it either early in morning. Later in the evening when the sun goes down is also a great time to open up your home too. Turning on vents in bathrooms and kitchens help get rid of humidity as well as stuffiness.
Polarized Media Filters
Most air filters only trap some of the larger pieces of pollutants. These polarized media filters create a electromagnetic field that will trap and neutralize 97% of pollutants. That means 97% of dirt, dust, mold spores, and other VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) get eliminated. Hospitals use these technologies to lessen the bacteria and germs that are there to help stop the spread of viruses.
Clean Ducts
Having a clean HVAC system and good filters, means that pollutants are eliminated before they even get to see your ducting system. Over time ducts get dusty inside and it’s scary to think that the air we breathe is being passed through yucky ducts. While other companies recommend getting them cleaned, we do not. From our professional experience we’ve noticed that cleaning ducts can be more harmful than good. Flexible ductwork is easily punctured and you can make small holes that aren’t easily detected when you get them cleaned. Because of this, air can get leaked out before it even reaches the rooms of your home. Thus, making it ineffective in running your system. We recommend getting ductwork replaced if it is flexible. If it is spiral piping, it can be carefully cleaned as it is stronger and more resistant to damage.
House Plants
House plants are great for improving the quality of air in your home. Get fresh oxygen and have a nice decoration all in one! They act as an organic air purifier and absorb the harmful chemicals that can be let out by cleaning supplies and other household air pollutants. Using eco-friendly cleaning supplies can lessen the amount of chemicals released in your home as well.
Furniture and Surfaces
Dust mites are a leading factor in poor indoor air quality. Dust mites can irritate your throat and cause allergies to flare up. By cleaning and washing fabrics such as clothes, sheets and curtains you can reduce the amount of dust. Keeping furry friends off of beds and sofas help make sure that there isn’t a lot of fur getting trapped either.
We offer an array of indoor air quality products that can further enhance the polarized media filter mentioned above. When these products work hand in hand, they offer a better outcome that could lead to hospital-grade air. Take a look at the list here.