On average, Americans spend around 90% of their time indoors. Once you realize that, it’s hard to stop thinking about how polluted this indoor air quality might be and how much it might be affecting our moods and health.
Fortunately, there are easy ways to improve the indoor air quality that really work, so you don’t have to suffer if the dust around your home is starting to irritate your sinuses.
Read on to find out what they are so you can implement them into your house.
1. Get Your HVAC Serviced
Looking at AC companies to get your HVAC serviced whenever you need to is critical to keeping the air quality in your home good. The HVAC blows air around the house and if there are a lot of pollutants around it, they’re then going to travel through the air.
As well as looking for a heating and cooling maintenance company to do the bigger parts of servicing the system, you should also change the filter out. If you do this once every ninety days, it should be enough.
A good AC and heating tune-up is often overlooked, but it’s sometimes the best way to fight bad indoor quality in your home.
2. Check the Filters in Other Household Appliances
As well as changing the filters out in your HVAC system, you also need to check the ones that you can find in other household appliances. Your dryer and vacuum cleaner, for example, should be cleaned out — don’t leave dust to fester in there, or your bad indoor air quality might end up coming from an unlikely source.
3. Get Your Air Ducts Cleaned
It’s not just about air conditioner maintenance down at the base — you need to get the ducts around your home cleaned too.
It’s very easy for dust and lint to get trapped in them, and that dust is then blown around the house and potentially into your lungs! That can really irritate someone who deals with respiratory issues.
Get your air ducts cleaned by a professional at least once a year, but it might be necessary to do it more if you have pets or other factors that might clog up the ducts quicker.
4. Invest in an Air Purifier
If you want a quick fix to the air quality in your home, but want that fix to last for a long time, there’s nothing better than buying an air purifier.
They work by drawing dirty air in and releasing it back out into the atmosphere, filtering out the tiny dirt particles that you could never see (but could almost certainly feel). You’ll notice a difference after having one of these in your house for a while.
Some of them also release ions to help keep the air clean. You’ll find they’re particularly helpful when spring comes and allergens find their way into the air too.
5. Clean, Clean, Clean
Never underestimate the importance of keeping your house clean. While it’s very easy for the task to get away from us — only a quarter of Americans would say their house is always clean — it’s critical to take the time to remove the dust and vacuum the rugs and carpets, because that’s where most of the dust will come from.
If you don’t have time to clean the house, you can also always hire someone else to do it for you.
If you have pets or kids, remember that the need to vacuum might crop up more than the average person. Dogs and cats shed and cats make messes, so you should take into account your circumstances when deciding just how often you need to clean.
6. Dehumidify
Dust and mold love heat and moisture, and these are big culprits of poor indoor air quality. Therefore, you need to keep your house dry and cool to avoid attracting them.
At night, open the windows (though make sure you have a screen to stop bugs getting in). This will allow cool air into the house to dry out any heat that’s built up during the day, especially if you live in a warm place or it’s the height of summer. It also prevents condensation from building up.
You can also invest in a dehumidifier, which will quickly do the work for you.
7. Get Some Plants
Plants do indeed purify the air inside of your home, though you’d need quite a few to make a noticeable difference to the air quality. It’s best to combine plants with other methods, as that’ll help keep things at a reasonable level and keep the air quality clean.
Make good choices when purchasing your plants. Peace lilies and spider plants are great, but lilies are also toxic to cats so you need to consider all aspects of the plant and do your research before introducing it to your home.
You’ll also have to take care of your plants to keep them alive and helpful to the air quality!
Improve Your Indoor Air Quality Today With These Tips
Whether you’ve noticed that your indoor air quality is declining and you’re sniffling a lot or you just want to get ahead of the game, you can live in a dust-free and relaxing environment. Get your HVAC serviced, make the time to clean, and consider purchasing an air purifier and dehumidifier to keep your home cool, dry, and pollutant-free.
Do you need HVAC service in Texas? Contact us today if you live in Forney or the surrounding areas and let’s see what we can do to make sure your system isn’t spreading pollutants around your home.
