Year after year, everyone eagerly awaits the holiday season. It’s the best time to prepare your home for the festivities, starting with improving the indoor air quality.

Unfortunately, many winter and holiday activities often increase the air pollution level in your home. And if you don’t try and do something about it, the chances of catching allergies, headaches, and other respiratory infections run high.

To have that gift of clean air at home, you can do a few things.

Natural Ventilation

Increase the amount of outdoor airflow in your home to reduce air pollutant concentrations in your home.

If you have a heating and cooling system that doesn’t bring fresh outdoor air in the house, you can improve ventilation by opening doors and windows. You can also run the window or attic fans, if possible. You can also install a window air conditioner with an openable vent control to increase the outdoor ventilation rate.

Changing the Air Filter

A standard heating ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) circulates over 1,000 cubic feet per minute of air through its air filter. Imagine how much dirt and dust can accumulate in there as it defends the house from indoor air pollutants.

Depending on your air filter and how much you use your HVAC, change or clean air filters regularly. Remember that if too much dirt accumulates on the filter, your electricity bill may go up and the dirt and pollutants on the filter may slowly break away and go back to your rooms.

Control Relative Humidity Levels

When your heating system is working during the holiday months, the relative humidity can go down to below 50% to 30% (relative humidity may vary during the season and your location). Humidity at below 30% basically means that the air is too dry and can dry your skin. The drier your skin, the easier allergens can trigger your allergies..

Keep Your Furnace Well Tuned

A well-maintained furnace will decrease the potential for incomplete combustion, which can result in the accumulation of carbon monoxide and combustion byproducts in your home. 

Vacuum with HEPA Filtration

High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters trap particles that are 75 times smaller than human hair. They also trap 99.97% of dust mites, pollen, molds, or pet dander. Using a vacuum with HEPA filters can help improve your home’s indoor air quality, reducing the risk of developing allergies and other respiratory problems.

Clean Air Duct

Dust or other obstructions in the ductwork may accumulate and prevent clean airflow into the living spaces. Ensure that your air ducts are cleaned and maintained, as it’ll also keep your HVAC system running efficiently.

Other Natural Ways to Improve the Quality of Breathing Air

There are other more natural ways of improving indoor air quality during the holiday season.

  • Get a real Christmas Tree: Your indoor air will be cleaner with a real Christmas tree in the house.
  • Use Natural Decorations: instead of plastic decorative items, use pine cones, real leaves, berries, branches, and twigs for your holiday décor
  • Avoid storing firewood in or near your home: molds and other microbial organisms from the firewood can become airborne and pollute the air inside the house.

Enjoy the Holidays and Clean Air

Celebrate the holiday season with your family and dear friends. Whip some delicious Christmas recipes for everyone to share. Take advantage of the rare times you get to spend the holidays with your loved ones in the comforts of your home with good indoor air quality. Share the gift of clean air this holiday season by calling Stack Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric in Cleveland, Ohio! We want you to know that your family’s safety and comfort is our number one priority, as it always has been. We are taking all necessary precautions and following CDC guidelines to keep our customers and employees healthy. We’ve been serving the Cleveland area for over 40 years, and we’re not going anywhere. Give us a call at (440) 937-9134 or visit us on our website today and find out what we can do for you!

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