Winter is here, and you head indoors for some cocoon time while you wait out cooler temperatures, dark days, and the possibility of snow.
Indoor Air: Another Consideration This Winter
Your home’s indoor air affects both the comfort and the health of your loved ones. As you spend more time indoors during winter, poor air quality can significantly affect your quality of life.
How the Winter Season Affects Indoor Air
While you seek to make your home warm and comfortable in winter, you may also be looking for ways to improve your home’s energy efficiency. This includes adding weatherization and insulation products that seal drafts and leaks in tightly. While these efforts save a few energy dollars, they add to an already saturated atmosphere of dirt, dust, and other pollutants that cycle through your HVAC system.
A dirty HVAC system and a dirty home can cause indoor pollutants to circulate throughout your home. As you breathe these particulates in, your respiratory systems become clogged with debris. Allergies, asthma, and other respiratory diseases are commonly found in homes with poor indoor air quality.
Homes with mold and mildew growth in the HVAC system can become potentially life-threatening if these toxic substances are allowed to build up a solid presence. Health complications such as allergies, asthma, infections, toxin-exposure conditions and skin rashes or lesions can wreak long-term consequences on health if there is no attempt to clean up indoor air at its generated source. With all of the potential for adverse health conditions and consequences, staying on top of your HVAC system and keeping a clean home is necessary all winter long.
Improving Air Quality: One Step at a Time
Simple steps can be taken to create healthier indoor living spaces to enjoy all winter long. Take these tips to heart as you become proactive about protecting yourself and your family members.
Monitor Indoor Air Saturation
Air quality monitors and inspections provide valuable data that will help you understand what’s going on in your home. Having a monitor provides you with real-time information that will shed light on both beneficial and detrimental activities to indoor air quality.
Ventilate Appliances and Equipment
Your air vents should be clean and free from dust and debris, allowing them to open and close easily. Regular cleaning and inspection of your duct covers in each room will help you assess the health of your HVAC system and determine when an inspection and cleaning of your ductwork might be necessary.
Clean That Ductwork!
If you have a home with central ductwork, cleaning it is essential to keeping a clean, toxin-free home. Cleaning ductwork should only be left up to professionals with the knowledge, skills, and specialized tools to do the job while minimizing excess indoor debris. Make this duct cleaning a regular part of your maintenance schedule to improve your indoor air quality and protect the function of your central HVAC unit.
Change Your Furnace Filter Regularly
Proper filtration is the single most effective thing you can do to improve your home’s indoor air quality. Set a schedule to change your filters on a regular basis, such as once a month. This will help to keep you breathing cleaner and easier.
Consider Air Purification Systems
Take filtration to the next level of effectiveness by investing in an air purification system. In many cases, a purification system can be directly installed into your HVAC system. These systems release microscopic “scrubbers” that whisk away impurities, making every room in your house fresher and cleaner. Purification systems are especially effective in removing mold spores, dust mites, and pet dander that can irritate sensitive eyes and respiratory systems.
Develop Clean Air Habits
Indoor living is easier with the implementation of a few habits that whisk away odors and pollutants that can clog your living space. Use the ventilation fan when cooking to eliminate excess moisture and odor. Always use the bathroom fan when showering or bathing to help prevent mold growth from occurring in moist, damp places. Install ceiling fans to keep air circulating efficiently and prevent stagnant air from settling in corners around your home.
Play an Active Part in Creating a Healthier Home
You may be heading inside to avoid the cold, but you don’t have to succumb to seasonal allergies, sneezing, and stuffy noses that are so common with the presence of poor indoor air quality. At Air Care Heating & Cooling, we provide valuable heating and cooling services for our valued customers in the Shawnee area and beyond. With over 40 years’ experience, we provide solutions related to heating, cooling, water heater service, and indoor air quality inspections. We are here to serve your every need! Contact us today for more information on our indoor air quality inspections to keep your home clean and healthy all season long.
