We’re entering the time of year here in Bradenton, Florida, when the weather is mild enough to enjoy, just before the summer heat strikes, forcing everyone back inside. While you’re taking time to breathe the sweet, spring air around you, think about the air in your home. Do you ever wonder if it’s clean enough? After a few weeks of staying out of the heat and keeping your air conditioner running, does it all seem a little stale?
Take some time this spring to make sure your indoor air is clean and fresh before the summer heat drives you inside, so you can be sure you’re breathing the best air possible.
What Makes Your Indoor Air Unhealthy
This may come as a surprise, but the air inside your home could be more unhealthy and polluted than the air outside. With people spending more time indoors, especially in the Florida heat, it’s important to make sure the air in your home is as healthy as possible. Many things can affect your indoor air quality.
Here in the Sunshine State, humidity is as common as sunshine. Too much humidity brings moisture into your home, which lets mold, mildew, and dust mites grow and spread. You may not even know you’re breathing it in. On the other hand, letting your humidity get too low — most common in winter — dries you out so that your lips become chapped, your throat gets scratchy, and you sneeze a lot.
Pet dander, pesticides, the chemicals you use to clean your home — these things affect the air you breathe inside your home. Keep your pets clean. When you must use pesticides or cleaning products, open your windows for a few minutes to let fresher air in.
Options to Manage Your Indoor Air Quality
You have plenty of options to make the air in your home cleaner and healthier to breathe. Depending on what is affecting your air, and the health problems you face — such as allergies or other breathing problems — you can find the product that will work best for your home.
One option is to schedule a check of your ductwork with a possible cleaning. The ducts in your home are a place many pests like to call home. Mold and other bacteria and pollutants can grow easily in those spaces as well.
Humidifiers are available for your entire home or for one room. Whole house humidifiers can work together with your air conditioning system to keep humidity levels down to the ideal concentration. In the summer, you won’t have to worry about condensation and mold, and in the winter, you won’t feel miserable with a dry throat for no reason.
Air purifiers clean the air you breathe. Depending on the type you select, you’ll not only have cleaner air, but your family may be much healthier. Some models can trap up to 95 percent of pathogens in the air and will eliminate bacteria, smoke, pollen, and other pollutants in your home. Another option is the UV lamp. This device is installed near the coils of your HVAC unit and kills mold and bacteria before they can get into the air around you.
How to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality
There are several ways to keep your air clean and fresh all year long, even after you’ve added a humidifier or air purifier. You have more control over the quality of your air than you may realize.
- Dust at least once a week and make sure to keep your floors clean. Add a doormat to every door leading outside to help keep dust and allergens from being tracked inside.
- Open your windows for a few minutes a day to let fresh air inside. If you have severe allergies, avoid this on high-pollen days.
- Make your home a no-smoking zone. Send smokers outside and don’t let anyone smoke near your doors or windows.
- Add plants to your home such as English Ivy or Peace Lilies. These plants work as natural air purifiers.
Are you ready to breathe cleaner air in your home? Contact us at Climatic Conditioning today by calling (941) 304-4722.
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