A home is not a home if it doesn’t guarantee you good health, security, and comfort, among other things. However, health is wealth and both the security of your health and your comfort is at risk if the quality of air inside your home is wanting. The quality of indoor air is often determined by its level of contamination by allergens (such as dander, dust, pollen, and mold spores), foul odors, and chemical toxins, among other things.
These contaminants or pollutants are what often lead to discomfort as well as upper and lower respiratory tract illnesses among residents. They also come to worsen allergies such as asthma and bronchitis, some of which can be life-threatening depending on severity. So what can you do to keep these contaminants at bay and keep the quality of the air circulating in your rooms high? Here are some things you should do to improve your home’s indoor air quality.
1. Keep the Indoors Clean
Regular cleaning is one of the most important yet basic ways to improve indoor air quality. Due to our busy schedules, however, most of us find it really challenging to attend to their homes and offices, which allows dust, dust mites, pollen, and other potential pollutants to accumulate on fabric, carpeting, furniture, and attic, just to name a few areas.
If you’re finding it hard to keep up the pace with your cleaning schedule, you can look for a professional cleaning service provider in your local area and thanks to the internet, you don’t have to break an arm and a leg doing so. If you’re in Texas, for instance, you simply need to conduct a search for the best cleaning services in Houston or near the capital and let Google do the rest. Hiring a reputable cleaning service will not only save you the stress and fear that come with having a busy schedule, but it is also a way of ensuring that you and your family breathe in high-quality air to keep respiratory issues at bay.
2. Mind Your Ventilation
When a home or indoor setting is all closed up, air circulation becomes a problem. This is why rooms smell foul and stuffy after being uninhabited for a while. Improving the quality of your indoor air could simply take opening the windows to let in fresh air and improve air circulation. In case this is not enough, you could also invest in ventilation systems and units such as fans, air purifiers, humidifiers, and portable air conditioning units.
3. Add Some Indoor Air-Filtering Plants
Houseplants such as English ivy and peace lilies are great in filtering the air of toxic substances such as formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene. Their leaves are great at absorbing volatile organic compounds to leave the room smelling fresher, nicer, less polluted, and healthier.
4. Clean the HVAC Filters
Ducts and HVAC filters are a major source of indoor air pollutants. This is because, with time, these heating, cooling, and air conditioning systems are prone to accumulation of debris, which may include dirt, mold, dust, and potential other allergens. As the system works to release warm or cool air into the indoor environment, some of these trapped pollutants get released into the indoor space, thus decreasing the quality of air being circulated. Hiring a professional HVAC service to clean the ducts and air filters at least once or twice a year can help boost your indoor air quality.
The air you breathe in while indoors in your home or workplace can have a huge impact on your health. It can also hugely affect your comfort. The above are just a few of the various ways you can boost your home’s indoor air quality and make it a healthy yet comfortable and welcoming environment to live in and be at.