You might think the air in your house is much cleaner than outside. What if I told you it is even polluted two times higher than outside air! You won’t believe me! It’s fine, but EPA says indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air, no matter whether you live in an industrial or rural area. Today, we are going to talk about some ways you can improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ).
There must be some reasons. Let’s go and see what makes our indoor air worse than outside. So, we can take some steps to avoid them and keep our lung healthier.
Here are the common pollutants of indoor air:
- Biological Pollutants – bacteria, viruses, pet dander, pollen, dust mites, mold
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) – Emits from various household products like paints, adhesives, sprays
- Particulate Matters (PM2.5) – Emits from stoves, heaters, fireplaces where combustion occurs
- Carbon Monoxide (CO) – Emits from stoves, space heaters, tobacco smokes
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) – Emits from unvented stoves, tobacco smokes, welding’s works
- Radon – Naturally formed radioactive gas can be entered from underground
Test your indoor air quality at first place
We all have senses of bad air. We can’t easily breath the air that is polluted! Though some toxic gases, we can’t test, smell, or see. You can bring a good air quality monitor to check your Indoor Air Quality (IAQ).
7 ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
You know the sources that make your indoor air polluted. You can reduce pollution by just taking some precaution. Here are the 7 ways you can improve your indoor air quality up to 99%.
1. Improve Ventilation
Let the fresh air come into your house naturally. Keep open the doors and windows from time to time. You can run the air conditioner to bring fresh air from outside. Improving ventilation is the easiest and effective way to make the indoor air clean.
2. Control Humidity
Keep your indoor humidity at a moderate level of 30-50%. It will minimize the growth of airborne allergens like mold and dust mites. Humidity increased significantly in summer. During this time, you can use an air conditioner or dehumidifier to keep your indoor moisture level safe.
3. Keep Your Indoor Clean
Do you know why your floors and carpets trapped most of the pet dander, dust mites, and other airborne allergens? Yes, its Gravity, which pulls and stick them to the ground. So, clean your floor and carpet twice in a week with a good HEPA vacuum cleaner and wash its filter regularly.
Keep clean your furniture, household equipment where pollutants hold. For useful cleaning use microfiber cloth.
Regularly clean your HVAC filters where dust mites, pollen, and other pollutants being trapped. Replace filters if needed. Clean the air ducts of HVAC units to reduce mold growth.
4. VOC Control
Volatile Organic Compound known as VOC is a high indoor air pollutant. It comes from some of our daily consumer products. Air fresheners, aerosol sprays, paints, adhesives, hobby products are the sources of VOC emission.
You need to use these with cares, don’t keep exposed in the air when you do not use them. Use VOC products in an excellent air-ventilated area.
5. Care About Smoke
Try to avoid smoking inside your home. It is one of the most likely responsible for making indoor air quality worse. Some of the elements from cigarette smoke can be trapped in furniture and clothes.
Properly vented your gas or kerosene space heaters and stoves. These are the sources of smell-less gases like CO and NO2.
6. Invest in an Air Purifier
There are some known benefits of air purifiers. A good HEPA filter air purifier can remove 99.97% of prominent air pollutants (pollen, mold spores, dust mites, pet dander) to the smaller contaminants (bacteria, tobacco smoke) which are sizes down to 0.3 microns. Human hair is 50-70 microns in diameter.
Few true HEPA filter air purifiers are more effective, which removes up to 99.99% of fine air pollutants like carbon dust, fine combustion smoke, and even viruses. To remove smoke odor, you need to select activated carbon equipped air purifier.
So, an air purifier can be an effective way to make your indoor air pure and clean.
7. Decor Indoor with House Plants
House plants could be a useful way to reduce chemicals from the air. It can be even home decor elements. Keep in mind not to over-watered them or microorganisms will grow there which can be turned airborne pollutants. Houseplants which can thrive in low light are perfect for bedrooms. Read our article on 7 Best Air Purifying Plants according to a study by NASA.
Occasionally, you can clean your walls and ceilings. Test the Radon presence at your home. It is a naturally forming radioactive gas can be entered to your home from underground. You can’t see or smell it, and it is causing lung cancer. Here you can test and fix your indoor radon level.
Let us know your thoughts about indoor air cleaning in the comment section. Share it with your favorite ones who spend most of their time at home. Happy breathing!
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