4 Ways You Might be Contributing to Poor Indoor Air Quality at Home
At this point, it’s common knowledge that outdoor air pollution can have a negative impact on your health and well-being. But did you know that indoor air pollution is just as bad, if not worse? According to the EPA, research has shown that indoor air pollutant levels are 2-5 times higher than those outdoors! This is concerning since most Americans spend, on average, 90% of their time indoors. So, what is harming the air inside your home?
Here are 4 ways you may be contributing to poor indoor air quality in your home without even realizing it.
- Failing to properly ventilate your home
Proper ventilation gives contaminants and pollutants a way to escape your home. You can help improve ventilation by doing simple things such as opening windows, turning on ceiling fans, and running exhaust fans, especially in the kitchen and bathrooms. Your air handling unit is responsible for most of the air circulation within the home and over time, dirt, dust, and other contaminants can settle in your ductwork only to be recirculated throughout your home and breathed in by family members. Proper air duct cleaning can help remove these pollutants from your ductwork and keep them from contributing to poor indoor air quality.
- Not regularly washing fabric bedding and furniture
By not regularly washing your blankets and bedding, you are introducing a myriad of pollutants and allergens into your sheets. Pet dander, pollen, dust, dust mites, even pests may have hitched a ride and snuggled down between the fibers. To cut back on these pollutants, you should regularly wash your bedsheets, pillow covers, comforters, couch cushions—everything that is safe to go through the washing machine—once a week. The hotter you can run the cycle, the better, to kill off allergens and mites.
- Ineffective dusting methods
When you use a rag for dusting, you’re often just pushing the dirt around instead of collecting it for disposal. In order to remove the most allergens and dust, consider using a microfiber cloth instead of a regular rag. Microfiber cloths are specifically manufactured to grab dust and other particles rather than simply pushing them around and occasionally wiping them up. With this proper dusting technique, you will remove and dispose of dust and debris, cleaning your home and the air within.
- Using harsh cleaning products
Even though you want to keep your home clean and sanitary for your family, some cleaning products can be a major culprit behind poor indoor air quality. Chemicals like bleach, disinfectant sprays or wipes, and other strong cleaners can harm the air around us by releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. According to the EPA, VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. Often containing fluorine, chlorine, bromine, benzene, formaldehyde, and toluene, these organic compounds easily vaporize and can be dangerous to the humans that come in contact with them. By using more natural cleaners, you can lower the number of VOCs and improve the safety of the air you and your family breathe.
How Air Duct Cleaning Can Help Improve Your Indoor Air
You can do your due diligence and improve your home’s air by dusting and opening windows, but sometimes that isn’t always enough. The air in your home is typically pulled into the HVAC system and recirculated 5 to 7 times per day. Over time, this recirculation can cause a build-up of contaminants in the ductwork. By having your air ducts properly cleaned, you can improve the ventilation throughout your home and lessen the number of pollutants that could be hiding in your ductwork and in the air you and your family breathe.
How to Get Started
There are a lot of scammers out there, so it’s more important than ever to hire an air duct cleaning company that is a member of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA). NADCA members pledge to the NADCA Code of Conduct, clean according to ACR, The NADCA Standard, and follow a higher standard of customer service. To find a NADCA member in your area, visit the Find a Professional Directory and schedule an air duct cleaning today.