If you or someone else in your Twin Cities area home suffers from allergies in warmer weather, improving your indoor air quality this spring will help alleviate your symptoms. The federal EPA cites poor indoor air in the home as one of the top five environmental hazards, triggering asthma and allergy attacks and causing a number of respiratory problems. Here are 10 tips to help you boost indoor air quality in the spring and breathe easier.
- Check your HVAC system’s air filter every month and change it when it’s dirty. Choose a filter with a MERV rating of at least 7 to trap more and smaller particles.
- Use your air conditioner. The filter will help clean your air, and the air conditioning will help lower your home’s humidity to prevent mold growth.
- Remove your shoes at the door. The soles of your shoes distribute allergens such as pollen and mold spores throughout your home.
- Wash your bedding in hot water every week. Your bed may contain as many as 10 million dust mites, whose cast skins and droppings are highly allergenic.
- Use a portable air cleaner in heavily used rooms to trap particles your HVAC filter misses. A whole-house air cleaner is a more expensive, but highly effective, option for cleaner air.
- Prevent mold growth. Use your bathroom vent when you shower and keep your bathroom clean and dry. Consider a dehumidifier to keep your home’s humidity in the optimum 30 to 50 percent range.
- Install a UV light germicidal system in your HVAC system to kill biological contaminants such as mold spores, pollen, viruses and bacteria.
- Keep your kitchen clean to control cockroaches, whose saliva and droppings are potent allergens. If you have a cockroach problem, call a pest control expert.
- Vacuum at least once a week. Vacuum cleaners with a HEPA filter will collect more and smaller particles in your home.
- Reduce clutter. Knick-knacks collect dust and make cleaning more difficult.
For more expert advice about ways to boost indoor air quality during the spring and year-round, please contact us at Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning, keeping Twin Cities residents comfortable since 1974.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about indoor air quality and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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