How to Take Care of Your Indoor Air Quality

Written by Eric Sherwood | November 4, 2020

As you and your family continue to practice social distancing, your home comfort has never mattered more. As we are all spending more time indoors, the air quality, and not just the temperature, can make a difference in how you feel. We want you to know about all the products that work in concert to take care of your air. Here are ideas you can take today to take care of your air.

1. Keep The Air Circulating in Your Home – It’s essential to keep the air circulating through your home, so your family is breathing fresh, clean air. To do this, turn on the circulate feature on your thermostat to keep the air moving through your filtration system. This will ensure the air is flowing through the filter and getting cleaned more often.

2. Replace or Upgrade Your Filter – You should already change your filters to reduce the amount of dust and allergens in your air, but now is an excellent time to make sure your filter is clean and if not, consider an upgrade to a higher-efficiency filter.

When looking at air filters, you should look at the MERV rating (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value). This measures how successfully it filters pollutants. The higher the MERV rating, the higher the percentage of small-sized particles trapped by the filter. These fine-sized particles (smaller than 2.5 microns) pass through our nose unfiltered and are known to cause respiratory issues, possibly.

Flat-panel fiberglass filters, or washable filters, are the most basic and economic filters, and they typically rank between 1 and 4 on the MERV register. The primary role of these filters is to protect the HVAC equipment. Pleated media filters are better and are rated between 5 and 16. We advise buying no less than a MERV 13 if the system allows for it. Keep in mind that many of the filters available in the market are very restrictive to airflow at higher efficiencies, but the Healthy Climate Solutions™ filters that we can provide are designed to provide minimal restriction to airflow while providing MERV 13 and MERV 16 (HEPA) filtration efficiencies.

High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are regarded as the gold standard in air filtration because they’re usually used at hospitals. They’re effective at trapping 99.97–99.99% of indoor pollutants, including pollen, pet dander, and smoke.

3. Fresh Air – It’s essential to get outside and enjoy the fresh air, and the air in your home should have the right balance of fresh air. For a long time, the home building industry has made every effort to tighten up the house, so they are energy efficient. Now we are finding that homes are too tight. We have units we can install that will bring in the fresh air. Ask us about how we can improve the fresh air intake into your home.

4. Get Your Best Night’s Sleep – There’s a direct correlation between your body’s temperature and sleep cycle. Research suggests that the ideal condition for sleep sits somewhere between 60 and 67 degrees. If that seems on the cool side, there’s a reason: your core body temperature drops to a lower level during sleep. An overly warm temperature interferes with your brain’s messages that it’s time to get some shut-eye.

5. Adjust Your Temperature for Your Fitness Routine – As you’re practicing social distancing, you’re likely adjusting a majority of your routines, including how and where you exercise. Practicing traditional yoga calls for a temperature between 70 and 76 degrees, but you might want to raise or lower your thermostat by a few degrees, depending on your personal preference.

You also want to keep in mind your home’s humidity, airborne pollutants, and even a general perception of how the air “feels.” A good HVAC system integrated with the right indoor air quality solutions lets you control all of these factors so that your workout leaves you feeling great inside and out.

Humidification adds moisture to the air will help prevent dryness that can cause irritation in many parts of the body. They are effective for treating the skin, nose, and throat’s dryness and ease some symptoms caused by flu or common cold. Additionally, lack of moister in the air makes wood furniture split and crack or cause gaps in hardwood floors.

6. Dehumidifier – You’ll know you have too much moisture in the air if you see windows covered with condensation, musty odors exist, or mold is visible. A dehumidifier will reduce unhealthy overly-humid conditions and protect your home’s foundation and your furnishings from warpage, mildew, and rot.

7. Germicidal UV Lights – The ultraviolet lights destroy and control micro-organisms that travel through the air, including viruses, bacteria, yeasts, molds, and pet dander. This device will improve the air quality in your home and protect equipment by sterilizing surfaces.

8. Ask us. We know these are challenging times. Whether you have questions about upgrading your filter, seasonal maintenance, or repairing or replacing your system. We are here to help and are committed to keeping your air and home perfectly comfortable.