Cold weather is here and it’s only going to get colder. Gone are the days of opening up the windows to fill your home with fresh air — in many parts of the country, you’ll be staying huddled up indoors for the next several weeks. Since you’ll be breathing more indoor air than in the months past, it’s the most important time of year to focus on your home’s indoor air quality.
There are a lot of ways you can improve the quality of the air you breathe at home. Some are as simple as routine cleaning and maintenance of the system while others involve installing new systems that purify the air on a microscopic level. The combination of approaches that’s best for you may depend on how well sealed your home is, whether you have pets and whether anyone in your home has respiratory problems.
Here are a few things you might consider at the outset of the winter heating season:
Clean your HVAC registers and vents: All of the air handled by your HVAC system blows through them, so these vents will inevitably get dusty. A flexible duster or the wand attachment on your vacuum should make this an easy job, and it can cut down on the amount of dust blowing through your home.
Schedule professional duct cleaning: The worst accumulation of dust and allergens in your home may be in the places you can’t see. Professional duct cleaning lets technicians reach deep into your ductwork with special vacuums and spray gentle disinfectants that can help keep your ducts cleaner for months to come. Call us for a referral.
Replace your furnace filters: This is a quarterly job, but it’s as important as ever during the winter. When people and pets spend more time indoors, they shed more skin cells and hair, causing filters to fill up faster.
Clean your ceiling fan blades: Just as with your vents, dusty ceiling fans can circulate even more dust around your home. And while you’re at it, reverse your ceiling fan direction so that the blades turn clockwise, creating an updraft. This helps circulate warm air throughout the room and may allow you to set the thermostat a couple degrees lower without sacrificing comfort.
Switch your fan to “on” mode: This strategy is a trade-off: when your fan runs constantly, your indoor air is always being filtered, boosting air quality. You may see the difference in your monthly utility bills, and it will also increase the wear and tear on your HVAC system’s fan.
Add an air filtration system: If you’re ready to make an investment in your indoor air quality, professional installation of an air filtration system is a smart first step. These systems complement your existing HVAC system by filtering out microscopic particles that may currently be flowing through your HVAC filters. And by keeping your indoor air clean, they can also make your HVAC system more efficient and longer lasting.
Disinfect with UV light: You can go a step further by installing UV disinfection systems in strategic locations throughout your ductwork. While these systems don’t capture airborne particles, they can remove toxic gases, odors, germs, bacteria and viruses using low-voltage UV light.
Get rid of strong odors and bacteria with an air scrubber: These scrubbers work 24/7 in your living environment, continuously reducing airborne and surface contaminants, mold, dust, pollen and odors. Germicidal UV light rays have been used for decades by the medical industry as a method for cleaning the air. However, germicidal UV light is only effective in reducing the airborne contaminants that pass directly through the light rays. Once installed, Air Scrubber Plus® goes to work right away by copying the power of nature outside to clean your home inside. As air passes through the unit, it is transformed by our unique technology. ActivePure™ scrubbers then travel through the ductwork into every corner of your home, effectively treating and purifying the entire home.
