Clean air in your home is a prerequisite for health and comfort. Poor indoor air quality can cause everything from allergies to just plain discomfort. The good news is it does not have to be complicated to improve the air quality in your home. Simple steps, like running an air purifier, can make huge differences. The article offers four tips on refreshing and adding a healthy touch to the air at home to be completely comfortable in your space.
1. Use an Air Purifier
You can use an air purifier – one of the easiest and most effective ways of improving your home’s air quality. It applies filters to remove other harmful particles from air pollutants, allergens, or particles in the form of dust and pet hair, yielding fresher air for breathing. They work very efficiently in places where one is most likely experiencing poor airflow, such as the bedroom, living room, or office desk.
Look for HEPA-based air purifiers, which can capture as high as 99.97 percent of airborne particles down to 0.3 microns in size. This would be most helpful to those suffering from allergies or having asthmatic problems and respiratory difficulties, since this amount of filtration significantly reduces the concentration of common irritants in the air.
Installing an air purifier in several of the key areas, especially your home, is a step towards getting an assurance of cleaner and healthier indoor air. The instructions and advised frequency of filter changes will be helpful in ensuring that with your manufacturer-recommended air purifier policy, you will get constant clean air.
2. Ventilate Your Home Regularly
While air purifiers might be supremely efficient in ridding the air of impurities, adequate ventilation is also important to achieve good indoor air quality. Ventilation can allow fresh outdoor air to enter your home and stale indoor air loaded with pollutants, moisture, and odors to exit. More importantly, sufficient ventilation needs to be done in places such as kitchens and bathrooms. Cooking and showering create a situation where abundant moisture and an accumulation of air particles are eminently produced.
For better ventilation, open all the windows and doors in your house for at least some minutes every day if the weather permits. This simple action would improve air quality through the circulation of fresh air and the replacement of stale air inside. One can use exhaust fans or mechanical ventilation systems in instances where windows cannot be easily opened, such as due to inclement weather or security reasons. This applies to exhaust fans, mainly in the kitchen and bathroom areas, which extract moisture, smoke, and smells directly at their source, not allowing them to circulate within your house.
For those interested in going the extra mile in terms of energy efficiency, using energy-recovery ventilators or heat-recovery ventilators can be a fine solution. These systems exchange the stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air while reducing heat loss or heat gain, therefore making them ideal for both the quality of air inside a building and energy efficiency. Proper ventilation will help reduce the concentration of indoor pollutants, lower humidity levels, and avoid mold growth and mildew, all factors in a more healthful and comfortable living environment.
3. Add Indoor Plants
Household plants are a natural, not to mention pleasingly decorative, quality booster for one’s home. The plants not only provide beauty to one’s space but also help filter and purify the air. Some plants are very effective in the removal of typical home toxins, such as formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, and even carbon monoxide, which many household products, paints, and even building materials release.
Some of these common air purifier plants include snake plants, spider plants, peace lilies, and Boston ferns. They can absorb harmful chemicals through their leaves and roots and turn them into substances that will not cause harm. For example, snake plants reduce toxic substances and need minimum care, so they are suitable for beginners. Another great option is the peace lily: its classy white flowers not only cleanse the air but can also easily upscale any room.
Besides this, indoor plants can also help regulate the level of humidity in your house. Plants will certainly add humidity indoors, which is really dry, by releasing moisture into the air by a process known as transpiration. Thus, the air becomes much more comfortable to breathe. To derive maximum indoor benefits from plants, locate them where you spend most of your time, for example, in the living room, bedroom, and workstation. Not only will they purify the air, but they will also aid in relaxing and being comfortable.
4. Reduce Indoor Pollutants
The basic first step to sound indoor air quality is to simply reduce the number of indoor pollutants. Things you normally use every day – cleaning products, candles, and synthetic fragrances—can release dangerous gases called volatile organic compounds, which contribute to poor indoor air quality and can cause health problems that give you headaches, respiratory problems, and irritated eyes. Be very aware of the kinds of products that you bring into your home.
Clean with all-natural or organic cleaners free of harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances. They are more whitewashed-friendly and less poisonous to the environment. If you like your candles normal and your air freshener, use soy or beeswax candles that produce less pollution compared to normal paraffin candles. Furthermore, essential oil diffusers can be used as a natural way of perfuming your home without the chemicals of synthetic fragrances.
The other way to reduce indoor pollutants is by cleaning regularly. In this regard, dust, dander, and other allergens may pile very quickly, especially on carpeted surfaces, upholstered furniture, and curtains. A very effective vacuum with a HEPA filter can pick up the piles well and not allow them to be sucked back into the atmosphere. This will also ensure that the allergens are removed: wash bedding, curtains, and other fabrics on your bed frequently. Be on top of reducing indoor pollutants, and you can provide yourself with a cleaner, healthier environment with better air quality.
Improving the condition of your domestic air does not have to be such detailed work. Create a healthier, more comfortable living space quickly with these four fast and powerful strategies: get an air purifier, ventilate your home well, fill the house with plants, and reduce indoor pollutants. Such small changes will make you breathe the air in a new way, and now you can feel safer compared to before. Truly, small actions can bring large benefits for overall health.
