October 29, 2008
In Door Air Quality Explained
Do you have stuffy rooms? It could be your in door air quality.
Hasn’t there been a difference after a thorough cleaning of your house? According to the American Lung Association, the quality of air indoors leads to a variety of health risks.
Generally, this is as a result of low humidity in winter, which allows viruses to thrive, hence leading to common colds and the flu. So, how do you realize that the air isn’t fresh?
Signs That Point to Air Quality Indoors
Nauseous? Feeling unusually tired or prone to frequent headaches while at home? Do these symptoms seem to vanish into thin air when you leave the house? Maybe the following signs are an indicator of poor indoor air quality:- Stuffy rooms and a slight stink
- No noticeable movement of the air around you may be due to the absence of windows
- Dirty air conditioning vents and filthy central heating systems
- Dirty or damaged chimneys and clogged flue pipes
- No proper vents for combustion air sources used in fossil fuel appliances
- Extremely high humidity
- Cramped, badly designed and tightly constructed home
- Presence of mold and dust
- Automatic bodily reaction to the change of atmosphere, when moving into a new house or a remodeled home
- Feeling better while outdoors than when indoors
How to improve your In door Air Quality
You’ve tried almost everything to get your in door air quality refreshed – vacuuming your rooms, dusting the furniture, cleaning the chimney, redoing your interior décor, having your air conditioning and central heating systems cleaned. But the quality simply doesn’t change? Here are five tips you could find useful…
- Remember we told you that one reason could be the extreme humidity within the four walls of your house? To check this, you could install a humidifier. You must be wondering what a humidifier is? A humidifier automatically sets a balance between the temperature changes outside and the humidity levels inside.
- You could also use an air cleaner. Most high efficiency air cleaners trap tiny microscopic dust particles as well as other invisible pollutants. It recycles the air, resulting in a cleaner, fresh air inside your home.
- Ultraviolet rays might be harmful to you when exposed fully to them, but ultraviolet lights are not the same thing. Ultraviolet lights get rid of bacteria, mold, mildew and other microscopic organisms that might be wafting through the air helping maintain the freshness within the rooms of the house.
- Using mattress covers also helps reduce growth of bacteria or deposition of dust. Pillows, mattresses, and box springs should be covered in either plastic zipper covers or in fabric covers which are allergen-proof.
- As for your vacuum cleaner, do change the vacuum bags frequently and do wash, wipe and mop hard surfaces like floors and walls. Poor air quality indoors might lead to perennial allergic rhinitis, other allergies, and asthma. So in the long run, it’s always encouraged you try this five-fold path to a fresh new indoor experience!