How to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality

Your home’s indoor air quality affects the way you live in the place where you spend the most time. With these tips, you can decrease pollutants and breathe much clearer.

Use Ventilation Equipment

You may have heard that indoor air quality is often worse than the air quality outside. Although you are not running your car inside, there is a reason this is true. What goes inside your home must be specifically taken out, typically by your ventilation equipment. You may make regular use of your air conditioner during the summer. However, do you turn on the fan in the kitchen and bathrooms, every time you run water, cook or clean? The ventilation equipment is designed ideally to remove fumes from a natural gas oven, or to clear out ammonia or bleach from your bathroom. Take advantage of all your ventilation equipment to improve your indoor air quality and get bad odors out.

Keep Pollutants Out

Of course, there are plenty of pollutants that sit in your home that you brought indoors willingly. Cleaning products, paint products, even secondhand smoke can linger for hours or days after they are opened into your home. Limit the amount of cleaning products that you keep in your home, and consider natural alternatives, such as vinegar and baking soda. Make sure that paints and solvents are sealed properly in appropriate containers, and keep them in areas that are well-ventilated. While you are painting or cleaning, turn on the ventilation fan and keep it on for a while after you are done. Dispose of all solutions appropriately, depending on the instructions given for each product.

Preserve Proper Filtration

In some cases, something that enters your home affects your indoor air quality simply because a member of your household is allergic to it. Your Sacramento air conditioning system is built to filter out most dirt, dust and debris from entering your home. However, there are different kinds of filters. The Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) of the filter determines what kinds of contaminants it can filter out. The higher the rating, the more the filter removes from the incoming air. You must also change or clean your filters regularly, according to manufacturer recommendations. Change them out every 1-3 months for best use.

Consider an Air Cleaner

Beyond these existing systems in your home, you may want a way to ensure that your air is really clear. Air cleaners can be helpful if you have particularly severe allergies to specific particles (e.g. pollen, pet dander), and controlling for introduction of the allergen into the home is not effective enough. The Environmental Protection Agency claims that air cleaners are most effective at removing particle contaminants, and less effective at eliminating gaseous pollutants.
Improving your indoor air quality does not take a lot of work on your part. If you use your ventilation equipment properly, avoid introducing unnecessary pollutants, maintain your HVAC filtration system and add an air cleaner if needed, you can really take down the toxic levels in your home. To get expert advice about preserving your indoor air quality, contact Ace Plumbing.