Simple Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality

According to a study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor pollutants are two to five times higher compared to outside equivalents in the U.S.

With most Americans spending over 90% of their time indoors, this issue has become of public health importance since exposure to these pollutants can lead to short-term and long-term adverse health effects. While it’s impossible to get rid of all contaminants in your home, you can significantly improve the air quality. Here is how to improve indoor air quality.

1. Change Your AC Filter Regularly

While the primary function of your AC is to regulate your home’s temperature and humidity, it also traps microscopic indoor pollutants such as dust, pollen, molds and even bacteria. With time, these filters fill up and stop working, which negatively impacts your indoor air quality and, even worse, wears down your AC system. Therefore, to avoid compromising your indoor air quality and costly repairs down the road, ensure you change the AC filters regularly.

2. Keep Your Home Clean

Maintaining good indoor hygiene is one sure way to keep pollutants at bay. You can achieve this by purposely ensuring you focus your strategies on mitigating and adopting habits that reduce pollutants in your home. These strategies may include:

• Leaving outdoor shoes by the door when entering the house to avoid bringing pollutants into the house.
• Minimal carpeting to reduce pollutant accumulation.
• Vacuuming your rugs and carpets regularly using a vacuum cleaner with a  HEPA filter.
• Cleaning your bedding, couches and any other surface that tends to hold pollutants regularly with non-toxic household cleaners, especially if you own pets.
• Use essential oil diffusers instead of air freshener.

3. Use Air Purifiers

Cleaning your home doesn’t necessarily get rid of the microscopic indoor pollutants, so you need to incorporate gadgets like air purifiers. Air purifiers draw in dirty air and purify it through filters. Some even have negative ionizers that neutralize positive ions without filtering them.

4. Increase the Amount of Outdoor Air Entering Into Your Space

Typically, this is achieved by opening the windows and doors to allow air exchange. However, during colder months, opening your windows and doors seems unconventional while trying to keep your house warm, but it is still essential that you let in fresh air to reduce the concentration of indoor pollutants. Also, living near busy highways can be challenging, but you can always wait until the traffic dies down for you to open your windows and doors.

5. Control the Humidity Levels in Your Space

High humidity levels in any space provide the perfect environment for disease-causing bacterial and viral organisms, thus a need to keep the levels in check. Be keen to use exhaust fans after taking a shower to remove humidity and cover your pots when cooking. Also, consider purchasing a dehumidifier to control the moisture in your space.

How Can You Ensure That Your Indoor Air Quality Is up to Par?

By following the above-listed ways to improve air quality, you’ll have better indoor air quality in your home. If you still have suspicions, you can contact us today to inspect and test your indoor air quality for a better quality of life.

Categorised in: Indoor Air Quality

This post was written by admin