7 Ways to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality this Winter
Winter provides many excellent opportunities for you to unwind and spend time with friends and family in Beaumont, but it also brings its share of challenges. One of the favorite indoor activities this time of year is to gather around the fireplace. But unfortunately, fireplaces can emit some nasty pollutants into your home environment. During this season, you can suffer from dry indoor air, which leads to a greater risk of illness such as the flu and asthma attacks. Dry indoor air can also make your skin itchier and your lips more dehydrated than usual. Therefore, you need to understand how to improve your indoor air quality this winter.
1. Reduce the Use of Fireplaces and Fire Pits
Fireplaces and fire pits provide a magnificent ambiance to your home during the winter. However, using them can cause indoor air pollution. If you use your fireplace or indoor grills often, then you need to take steps now to improve indoor air quality that could affect your health in the future. You also need to reduce the use of coal and hardwood as they produce unpleasant odors and contribute to indoor air pollution. Therefore, you should cut down your use of fireplaces and fire pits to limit indoor air pollution.
2. Use Sunlight as Natural Light Source
Staring at snow-covered surfaces can cause dry eyes, which brings on discomfort and makes it difficult for the body to function correctly. Therefore, you need to expose your home to natural light sources such as sunlight during the day and artificial light at night so that you’ll feel more comfortable than usual. You can find plastic or parchment sheets that you can attach to the windows so you can have sunlight indoors during the day. This will also provide more fresh air flow inside the room.
3. Refresh or Replace Air Filter
When it comes to conditioning your indoor air, your air filter is your best friend. If it doesn’t get cleaned often, its efficiency will decrease over time, lowering indoor air quality. Therefore, you need to change your air filter once every three months. It’s best to have a vacuum with a built-in filter so you can clean the indoor air more efficiently.
4. Use Humidifiers
Indoor air conditioners are great for keeping the air inside the room dry, but they are not designed to humidify the air within your home. However, you can use humidifiers to make your indoor air quality better this winter. If your home is too dry, then you need to have humidifiers installed there. Unlike many other remedies, humidifiers do not produce an additional layer of pollutants into the air. This will help eliminate your dry lips, your dry skin, and it may even reduce your risk of getting the flu.
5. Limit the Use of Oils in the Kitchen
Cooking with oils can release high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC) into your indoor air. This is because cooking oil can stick to your kitchen walls and prevent you from breathing effectively, which causes indoor air pollution. Therefore, you need to avoid using cooking oils when you are cooking food at home this winter. Use a non-stick cooking spray instead to limit your use of oils and prevent indoor air pollution.
6. Consider the Use of Air Purifiers
You can get many health risks from breathing indoor air polluted with toxic chemicals, bacteria, and particles from the outdoors. Therefore, you should consider using air purifiers to improve your home’s indoor air quality this winter. This will not only increase the air safety for your family members, but it can also protect you from respiratory diseases such as asthma, allergies, and infection. Using a new air purifier every three months is also essential because it prevents pollutants from building up on its filters.
7. Use Disinfectants
Household cleaners contain many chemicals that are harmful to the family’s health. These chemicals can get trapped within furnishings, carpets, and floor tiles. Therefore, you need to use disinfectants to kill bacteria in your home. Using air purifiers can also help you improve indoor air quality. These are designed to remove toxins from the air by using ultraviolet rays or ionizing radiation. However, ionizing radiation is not suitable for indoor use, so you should choose an air purifier that is safe for your family members’ well-being.
Call Us Today!
Winter brings a lot of joy to your life. However, it can also cause indoor air pollution, leading to several health risks. If you want to live a happy and healthy life, you need to consider the above techniques. We provide the best services in the industry in Beaumont and the surrounding areas, and we’ve been doing so for a long time. Let us help you achieve a healthy, happy life this winter by improving your indoor air quality! We also perform AC repair, installation, and maintenance services. Contact Reed Service Company today.