How to Keep Your Indoor Air Safe and Clean this Winter

Winter offers exciting outdoor activities and great opportunities to take breathtaking snapshots. Having pictures with powdery white snow in the background is simply magical, isn’t it? But this season also presents challenges to every family, especially indoors. One of those issues has to do with your indoor air quality. Since you can’t necessarily open your doors and windows to ventilate your home, there’s the risk of inhaling all sorts of airborne contaminants. With that in mind, how can you keep your indoor air safe and clean?

Four Seasons Air Specialists is your trusted HVAC company in Centerville MN. We are experts at helping homeowners establish comfortable homes as well as outstanding indoor air quality.

Here are a few tips you might want to consider.

Examine your current indoor air quality.

To have better air quality indoors, you must first know the status of your indoor air quality. Indoor air quality monitors (IAQ monitors) provide detailed information on air quality, allowing you to take effective improvement steps. The best IAQ monitors today can detect nearly all indoor pollutants, including radon. This chemical is associated with over 13 percent of all lung cancer-related deaths in the U.S. IAQ monitors can detect also recognize organic compounds (VOCs) responsible for many respiratory ailments.

The advantages of monitoring indoor air quality include identifying the specific pollutant in your home. With this piece of information, you can find effective ways of getting rid of that pollutant. You will have the ability to know exactly when to increase ventilation when the levels of a certain pollutant go beyond a certain level.

A good air quality monitor will check many other metrics, including indoor temperature, air pressure, and humidity. These factors are linked to how we feel and function. Issues in temperature, air pressure, and humidity are common causes of headaches, migraines, joint pain, and other similar health concerns.

Change your filters regularly.

Your HVAC system’s air filters are your first line of defense against airborne contaminants. But to keep them working as efficiently as possible, you need to make sure they are clean and maintained. Having fresh filters is critical to your HVAC system’s performance, especially in winter when the heating system is running 24/7. Having a clean filter allows your furnace to work with ease, thus, delivering heated air more effortlessly. A rule of thumb is to change the filters at least once per month to get rid of the trapped dirt, dust, and other pollutants.

Consider investing in an air purifier.

While your furnace comes with an air filter, it is not designed to capture smaller particles, such as viruses, bacteria, and others. If you have children, the elderly, people with allergies, or household pets, you should all the more invest in a whole-home air purification system. Certain models, especially ionic purifiers, can help catch some of the irritants that may trigger allergy symptoms.

Use a ventilation system.

In winter, you don’t really have the luxury of opening windows. Otherwise, it beats the purpose of running your furnace, to begin with. So how do you ensure you have the right balance of healthy outdoor air and heated indoor air? The answer is found in running a ventilation system. Such a device makes sure you have a steady supply of fresh, oxygenated outdoor air to purify your indoor air. The system can even determine how much fresh air it needs to pull based on how often you run the furnace.

Humidify your home.

Did you know that it’s not just dirty air that’s causing sickness in your family but also dry air? Winter air is so dry, you will notice your lips chapping, your eyes getting itchy, your nose bleeding, and having a sore throat. All of these are the result of the lack of humidification. To avoid these problems, install a whole home humidifier, which will add just the right amount of moisture to your home.

Call Four Seasons Air Specialists for Help

To make sure your family breathes in clean, safe air at home this winter (and all year round), be sure to talk to one of our Lino Lakes heating and air conditioning experts. We’d be happy to serve your indoor air quality needs.