People underestimate the importance of indoor air quality and the impact that it can have on their health and well-being. Poor air quality can aggravate allergies, asthma, and other respiratory problems, while clean air can make those problems much easier to tolerate. Maintaining the air quality in a home is relatively easy, and all the average person needs to do is to change a few habits that contribute to the problem and adopt one or two solutions to help clean up the air.
Prevent Problems
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That’s just as true when dealing with indoor air quality as it is when dealing with disease. Most of the factors that contribute to poor air quality in the home are easy to prevent with just a little bit of effort, so there’s no reason not to take a few moments to make sure the problem doesn’t get worse.
It’s best to start by removing sources of pollution from the home. Paint, pesticides, and cleaning solutions can all pollute the air, so it’s best to keep them in tightly sealed containers to minimize the damage. Keep them in a well-ventilated area to make sure that the pollutants don’t build up, and try to use as few of them as possible.
Mold is another major source of contamination. It grows in moist areas, so simply cleaning up condensation and managing a home’s humidity can prevent the worst of the problems. It’s also important to clean air ducts and other areas that are havens for mold growth. Homeowners can do this on their own in most cases, but there are times when help from an HVAC company is necessary to access an infestation.
Mechanical Purification
Plants aren’t the only option for people who want an air purifier. Machines may not be as pretty as plants, but they can pack a lot more power into a lot less space. There are a few different options to choose from, and almost every HVAC company is capable of helping customers pick out the right model.
The biggest choice is between an air purification system that covers the whole house, or one that works in a single room. The smaller options are best for homes that get most of their contamination from a single room, like a painter’s workshop. These can be useful supplementary systems in those rooms even when other systems take care of the rest of the building. Larger air purifiers are better for homes that are prone to mold infestations and have other sources of contamination spread all over the house.
In either case, it’s important to take the time to maintain the system. Air purifiers need to have their filters changed regularly, although the precise frequency will vary depending on the model and how much work it does. A purifier that doesn’t get maintained won’t be able to do its job, so these systems are best for people who are willing to check on them regularly. The best way to make sure that it remains as reliable as possible to choose one from a manufacturer that has a reputation for quality, such as Bryant. The best purifiers require the least maintenance to stay in good condition, so this saves time and money on maintenance while also ensuring that the machine starts out strong.
Go Green
A plant is a natural air purifier. Most people realize that plants take carbon dioxide out of the air when they photosynthesize, but they also help to remove contaminants. A single plant won’t do much, but a small group of them can make sure that the air in a room stays reasonably clean.
There are a few different ways to take advantage of the purifying power of plants. Planting them outside can improve the quality of air the enters the home, especially in cities and other polluted areas, but that only helps when it is combined with good ventilation. The best results come from bringing plants inside the building. Any plant will help, but plants with lots of leaves will do better than most of the alternatives.
The easiest way to find space for those indoor plants is to set up planters on window sills. They aren’t likely to cause an obstruction, and they can get all the light that they need. Hanging baskets are another option for people who need more space. It’s safe to use these plants to grow food in all but the most polluted areas, so this is also an excellent opportunity to grow food crops, such as lettuce, in the home.
Ventilate the Building
Outdoor air is almost always cleaner than the air inside a building. There are exceptions to this rule, such as the air at construction sites, but it’s valid in most areas. That means that homeowners can often improve their indoor air quality by allowing the air to circulate between their home and the environment.
The easiest way to do this is to keep windows open when the weather is good. That can have a major impact on the home’s air quality on its own, but there are times when it isn’t quite good enough. A good fan system can amplify the effect, and even something as simple as putting a fan in the window can help.
The best results come from improving the ventilation in the home’s cooling systems. Most air conditioners work by circulating the air that is already inside the home, but there are also systems that move outdoor air into the home. These systems have a lot of power, so they can do more to ventilate the home than most of the alternatives.
Mixing and Matching
The real secret to having clean air is using all of the methods at once. Every home can benefit from some preventing pollution before it starts, even a home that already has a strong ventilation system. Nothing stops a person from combining a small indoor garden with a mechanical air purifier. Each individual method has its own limits, but combining them can surpass those limits.
That may seem like a lot of effort, but it’s work that can pay dividends over time. Most of these methods only need a little bit of maintenance once they get started, so even a single day’s work can give a family healthier lungs for years to come. People who need help with the process can contact their local HVAC company to find out how to improve their ventilation and air purification systems.