How To Improve Your Home’s Air Quality?

Three alarming facts for you to mull over:

• Pollutant concentration in indoor settings is 2 to 5 times higher than in outdoor settings.
• Spending long hours with these pollutants indoors lead to sick building syndrome with symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and throat irritation.
• One of the pollutants found indoors — Radon — is a human carcinogen and the second leading cause of lung cancer.

Reason enough to improve home air quality, right?

In the next five minutes, learn seven ways with which you can improve your home’s air quality:

• How keeping indoor plants improves the indoor air quality
• How cleaning your home improves the indoor air quality
• How changing the filters improves the indoor air quality
• How fresh air improves the indoor air quality
• How air purifiers improve the indoor air quality
• How cooking vents improve the indoor air quality
• How controlling humidity improves the indoor air quality

7 ways to improve home air quality

1. Keep indoor plants

• A NASA experiment confirmed indoor plants scrub the air of over 300 cancer-causing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) such as benzene and formaldehyde.
• According to a Washington State University study, indoor plants lower dust amounts by up to 20% in a room. Furthermore, indoor plants remove particulate matters from the air as well.

Thus, if you’re asking, “How do I purify the air in my home naturally?” indoor plants are the answer. Go for plants such as lilies and ferns for best results.

2. Clean your home at regular intervals

Dust, mold, and pet dander lurk in every nook and cranny of your home. Carpets and rugs trap dust and airborne particles inside their fibers as well. Thus, when it comes to improving the quality of air in the home environment, always:

• Vacuum the carpets and rugs once or twice each week. Furthermore, use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter for the task.
• Clean the bedding and drapes at regular intervals. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology suggests washing the bedding and drapes in water that is at least 130-degree Fahrenheit.
• Choose hard-surface flooring over wall-to-wall carpeting to reduce the number of allergens in your home.

3. Change the filters

Electrostatic filters — be it in your AC, vacuum cleaner, or clothes dryer — filter out dust and airborne particles. However, with time the air filters fill up with allergens, fungal spores, and pollutants. The process releases the pollutants in the home air and worsens the indoor air quality.

Thus, make sure to:

• Replace filters before the filters are clogged. The American Lung Association Health House suggests replacing filters every 3 months.
• Choose filters with MERV 10 or higher ratings for small particulate filtration.
• If you’re buying a new air conditioner, choose one that accepts a 5 or 6-inch thick filter media.

4. Allow fresh air inside

Wondering how to improve air quality at home naturally? Open the doors and windows.

The fresh air from outside removes or dilutes indoor pollutants. Miss that and it’ll lead to:

• Deadly levels of carbon monoxide build-up.
• High levels of radon build-up which can result in lung cancer.
• Higher levels of humidity which increases mold, mildew, and dust mite growth.

Fresh air:

Removes air with low oxygen levels and replace the air with high-oxygen air.

• Protects against mold growth.
• Removes dust.
• Lowers humidity.

5. Get an air purifier

Air purifiers effectively eliminate:

• Pet dander from the air. Thus, if any of your family members have allergies related to pet dander, air purifiers offer a perfect solution.
• Unwanted smells coming from smoking, pets, and dirty diapers.
• Smoke and tobacco pollutants. Thus, no one in your family will fall prey to the dangerous outcomes of passive smoking.
• Toxins such as formaldehyde.

Furthermore, if you’re wondering how to improve indoor air quality in winter when you can’t open doors and windows, an air purifier offers a perfect solution as well.

6. Turn on cooking vents

Gas stoves release toxins such as nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. Furthermore, electric burners produce nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter in lower levels as well. The solution? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the International Residential Code suggest cooking vents.

Cooking vents:

• Remove oils, grease, odors, and moisture that originate from cooking.
• Remove toxins such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde.

However, if you can’t invest in cooking vents, make sure to open a window to dilute the pollutant density in the indoor air.

7. Control the humidity of your home

If you’re asking, “What causes poor air quality at home?”, high humidity is one of the reasons. If humidity levels rise over 50%, the condition allows mold, dust mites, and mildew to thrive.

• Exposure to molds results in health problems including sore throat, skin rashes, headaches, and wheezing.
• Furthermore, the humid condition triggers respiratory issues such as asthma and allergies as well.

Reduce the humidity of your home by:

• Turning on the exhaust fan in areas such as washrooms and kitchens.
• Opening windows to let the fresh air in.
• Investing in a good quality dehumidifier.

Improve home air quality — home is the place where you spend most of your time
The average U.S. citizen spends 90% of their time indoors. Thus, you must keep the indoor air quality at the best possible level.

In this article, you’ve learnt:

• Why should you keep indoor plants to improve the indoor air quality
• Why should you clean your home at regular intervals to improve the indoor air quality
• Why should you change the filters to improve the indoor air quality
• Why should you allow fresh air inside to improve the indoor air quality
• Why should you get an air purifier to improve the indoor air quality
• Why should you turn on cooking vents to improve the indoor air quality
• Why should you control the humidity of your home to improve the indoor air quality

The information will help you improve your home’s air quality.

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Appendix

Sources

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/easy-ways-you-can-improve-indoor-air-quality
https://www.petro.com/resource-center/improve-indoor-air-quality
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/science-of-the-total-environment
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2796751/
https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/how-to-improve-indoor-air-quality
https://www.epa.gov/report-environment/indoor-air-quality
https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/12-natural-ways-to-improve-indoor-air-quality/
https://www.cnet.com/health/how-to-improve-indoor-air-quality/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2019/11/23/how-to-improve-air-quality-in-your-home/?sh=170dd39c6ef5
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19930072988
https://time.com/5105027/indoor-plants-air-quality/
https://skyheating.com/blog/can-a-dehumidifier-improve-indoor-air-quality/#:~:text=Higher%20humidity%20promotes%20insect%20growth,and%20providing%20protections%20against%20allergens.
https://www.spscreens.com.au/blog/essential-fresh-air-home/
https://www.rabbitair.com/blogs/air-purifier/16853380-5-reasons-why-buying-an-air-purifier-is-worth-your-investment#:~:text=Air%20purifiers%20are%20designed%20to,everyone%20with%20peace%20of%20mind
https://www.rabbitair.com/blogs/air-purifier/16853380-5-reasons-why-buying-an-air-purifier-is-worth-your-investment