Yes, Virginia, you can have a healthier home
Many homeowners unknowingly suffer from poor indoor air quality and the associated health problems. You can’t control Mother Nature or air pollution, but you can improve indoor air quality by not inviting or concentrating allergens and pollutants inside your home.
Without buying a new house, here are some ideas that can work in almost any home. You may not find all of these affordable or practical ideas in your home, but any one of them can make a big improvement.
Lower the humidity and reduce humidity.
Using a dehumidifier is probably a must in most homes, and it’s especially helpful if you can connect a hose to direct the condensate to a floor drain or sump, rather than sporadically emptying the built-in reservoir.
Mold and other organisms thrive in dark, moist conditions. Eliminating these conditions is critical to improving indoor air quality. Try to locate and identify any sources of moisture in your home. Fix leaky faucets and other pipes and keep all your appliances in good working order. Leaky refrigerators, washing machines, and other appliances can add to your problems.
Even if your foundation appears dry, make sure rainwater is directed well away from the foundation and use bathroom exhaust fans to reduce humidity. The cooler conditions that prevail in foundations, even when insulated and finished, can cause often unseen condensation and encourage mold growth.
Install a central vacuum system.
While frequent vacuuming may seem like a helpful thing to do, most vacuum filters allow the same dust, pollen, and other irritants back into your living space. Central vacuum systems are more powerful, can be extracted outside and most have a self-cleaning filter. Be sure to install a sound baffle on the canister exhaust to limit noise pollution in your neighborhood!
Fresh air without opening windows.
While Granny opened the windows and hung the quilts outside, in today’s world, open windows aren’t always the best way to get fresh air. In addition to dust, when outdoor levels are high, pollen and spores float into your home and may not float out.
During hot weather, especially days with many allergens, exchanging air with a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) and cooling with fans or running an air conditioner can help. HRVs, like other central air exchange systems, are designed to exchange indoor air for outdoor air about four times every 24 hours. As much as we want to keep pollen and other irritants out of our homes, we still need fresh air to breathe.
Using a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter in your central heating and cooling system is another way to capture much of what might be flying into your home.
Other things to consider
When it comes to indoor air quality, chemical air fresheners and dryer sheets are no help. Neither is the chemical cocktail under the kitchen sink.
Attached garages are notorious for introducing not only bad odors and pollutants, but also dust from cars and unsealed concrete floors, and you only need to look under your lawnmower to find a veritable garden of fungus growth.
In addition to their own fluff, Rover and the cats can also track many other things. Neglected fish tanks, litter boxes, and moldy and buggy houseplants are other potential sources of indoor irritants.
The bottom line
You may never completely eliminate all airborne intruders in your home; however, controlling even one or two sources could be all you need to improve your indoor air quality, get some relief, and better enjoy your home.
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