While many of us don’t spend much time thinking about it, indoor air quality is critical to our health and general well-being. From thousands of cars that make up our interstate traffic to huge industrial smokestacks, we’re immersed in dangerous air pollutants daily in most urban environments.
And if you think that dangerously polluted air stops at your doorstep, you’re in for a rude awakening. Indoor air pollution is a thing, and worse, a danger that most of us aren’t even aware of.
In fact, the air pollution you’re subjected to at home may be just as damaging as the one you’re breathing in outdoors. And with most of us spending more and more of our time at home, indoor air quality is something we should consider long and hard.
However, the good news is – there are things you can do to improve your indoor air quality. You just need to know where to look.
What Are The Common Indoor Air Pollutants?
Right away, it’s important to note that not all indoor air pollutants are made equal. There’s a stark difference between outside contaminants we’ve allowed to penetrate our home and stuff like dangerous gas leaks.
The latter is mostly carbon monoxide – a common byproduct of natural gas that spreads throughout our home if we leave the gas on. Also, some older households are still lined with lead and asbestos, whose particles are disastrous for our lungs if released into the surrounding air.
Furthermore, kitchens and bathrooms are home to frequent mildew and mold infestations – which, besides being a smelly nuisance, can also be dangerous for your lungs if you let the moisture levels in your home rise unchecked.
So, here are some of the things you can do to get rid of those pesky pollutants and improve your home’s air quality.
New AC Filter
The whole point of your air conditioning system is to preserve your perfect desired temperature indoors throughout the entire year. However, while the AC cycles through your indoor air, it’s also supposed to filter out most of the common air pollutants we’ve discussed above.
However, the filters that do the lion’s share of that important work don’t last forever. At some point, they fill up – and they cannot filter anything more. This doesn’t just reduce your indoor air quality (because the nasty stuff isn’t filtered out); it also messes with your AC because the additional stress is wearing it down.
If you don’t regularly switch out your AC filters, you may be looking at even more expensive repairs down the line. One of the ways to do this hassle-free is to find an AC service plan that, among other things, includes a regular filter change.
This is particularly important if you’re prone to allergies or you live in a large urban area with lots of air pollution.
Check On Other Filters
While most people know how important their AC filters are, they’re not the only ones working hard to clean your indoor air. Smaller, secondary filters do the same on various other devices and systems. And if you want to maintain a decent level of indoor air quality, you need to regularly check on those as well.
For instance, see if your vacuum cleaner’s filter isn’t jammed up – that would mean it’s leaving most of the dust just swirling around your house instead of gathering it. The same goes for your kitchen vents and your clothes dryer – whose filter issues can also be a fire hazard.
All of them need to be maintained and inspected periodically – and replacing some of the household filters on heavy-duty devices every season is thoroughly recommended.
Cooking Ventilation
A huge number of pollutants that are reducing your indoor air quality come from the same place: your kitchen.
If you have a gas stove, harmful contaminants, like nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, are probably released in your kitchen. And electric burners release them as well, just in much smaller quantities – along with other dangerous particles that quickly find their way into our bloodstreams.
That’s why you must habitually use all the available kitchen vents while cooking – and opening a window isn’t a bad idea either. Do anything you can to help the air clear as fast as possible, especially if you cook daily.
Control Your Humidity
Mildew and mold have notoriously adverse health effects – they can trigger respiratory problems like asthma and allergies in even the healthiest of people. And if you live in particularly humid conditions, your indoor humidity could rise to ridiculous levels if left unchecked during the summer months.
So, use a dehumidifier (or several) to reduce your indoor air moisture as much as possible, and you shouldn’t have any mold issues. Also, you could freshen up your air by getting some indoor plants as well.