The quality of the air inside your home has a direct impact on your health. Mold, mildew, viruses, bacteria, dander, and dust in the air can trigger asthma, illnesses, and other health concerns.
Learn how to improve your health with these four tips to improve your indoor air quality in Glendale.
What Usually Causes Poor Indoor Air Quality?
Indoor air quality is affected by anything within your home that emits contaminants into the air. When those contaminants accumulate, you have poor indoor air quality or indoor air pollution.
Keeping your home clean limits the contaminants like dust and danger entering the air. And regularly replacing the filters in your HVAC system can remove some contaminants from the air. However, allergens and other irritants can still linger in your air.
Some of the common sources of contaminants include:
- Smoke sources, including cigarettes, fireplaces, and wood-burning stoves
- Pet fur and dander
- Cleaning products and other chemicals stored or used in the home
- Candles and air fresheners
- Mold and mildew
- Building materials
- Dust
Additionally, if your home is poorly ventilated, has high humidity, or the HVAC system is poorly maintained, your indoor air quality suffers.
Tips To Improve Your Indoor Air Quality
The best way to improve indoor air quality is to remove the source of the contamination. However, you can’t always remove everything, and in some cases, you choose to keep the source of the contamination — for example, your pets. In these cases, you can employ some methods of cleaning the air as much as possible.
Use an Air Purifier
Air purifiers include a fan that pulls in air from a room and a filter that catches particles of allergens or contaminants. The purified air circulates back into the room, and the process is repeated several times every hour.
An air purifier can pull smoke, mold, allergens, and toxins from the air, but it will not remove everything. It is best used in combination with a filter and a commitment to reducing the irritants making their way into the air.
Improve the Ventilation
Ventilation exchanges indoor air for cleaner air from outside. This air exchange is crucial because the air inside your home typically contains 2–5 times more air pollutants than outdoor air.
The most effective way to improve ventilation is to have windows or doors open whenever the weather allows. Open at least two windows on opposite sides of your home to create flow.
You can also use whole-house fan and duct systems and exhaust fans in the kitchen or bathroom for extra ventilation as needed.
Check Your Air Ducts
Contaminants can collect in your home’s ductwork, polluting the air anytime your heat, air conditioning, or fan turn on.
You can check the condition of your ducts by removing a vent cover and checking for any debris. You can also look at the air filter or return air registers. If either of them has a buildup of excess dust, it is a sign that your air ducts need cleaning.
Install a Whole-House Humidifier and/or Whole-Home Dehumidifier
Maintaining the proper humidity level in your home is vital to indoor air quality. The ideal range is 30–50%.
If your indoor air is drier than that, a whole-house humidifier can help. While a humidifier doesn’t remove dust, it does help by saturating the dust particles with moisture, so they are too heavy to remain airborne. Once the dust has sunk to the floor, regular cleaning can remove it from your home.
If your air is too humid, it can become a breeding ground for mold and mildew, which negatively impacts the quality of your air. In this case, a whole-house dehumidifier can bring those levels back to the optimal range and inhibit the growth of these particles.
Get Indoor Air Testing
The best way to begin improving your indoor air quality is to know what you have to start with. Have your indoor air quality tested to detect contaminants, including radon, which can’t be seen or smelled. As the second-leading cause of lung cancer, it is probably more of a concern for most people than other air contaminants.
Improve Your Indoor Air Quality Today with AirZona
There is no better time than right now to begin working on the air quality in your Glendale, AZ, home. AirZona HVAC can help you. As a family-owned and operated business, honesty, integrity, and excellent customer service are the central values of our company.
Give us a call today or request service online.