Think of getting up on a lazy Sunday morning and feeling ready to take on the world! Your lungs are filled with clean air when you take a deep breath. How would that make you feel? Well, breathing cleaner air should result in happier lungs as well as a healthier, more energized you, right?
Let’s now change things up a little, shall we? Imagine waking up to foul smells that seem to hang in the air and choke every breath you take. Breathing in bad air wasn’t exactly on any of our grand weekend plans, was it?
The first situation improves your mood, but what about the second one? Not really! Well, that’s the magic of fresh indoor air!
The air quality in your home is more than just comfort; it’s about your well-being. We all certainly complain a lot about air pollution outside, but it’s high time for a wake-up call about the air we breathe inside our homes.
So, folks, fasten your seatbelts because we’re about to discuss how to improve air quality at home. Are you ready to take the plunge and read it with us? Let’s get started!
Why is the Air Quality of your Home Important?
Did you know that indoor air quality is one of the top concerns today? Yes, that’s true! The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released startling statistics about it. 99% of the world’s population breathes significantly pollutant-rich air compared to WHO guidelines!
Can you believe that something as basic and necessary as the air we breathe has become a concern for global health? Take a moment and let that sink in!
You have to understand why the air quality of your home should be high on your priority list. Your home sweet home is far more than comfy couches and aesthetic decor! Indoor air pollution will have an effect on your health sooner or later, but you won’t be spared; that much is clear.
You need to consider how much time we actually spend relaxing or sleeping in our houses. So, it’s certainly reasonable to conclude that our indoor air is continually contaminated with allergens, chemicals, and dust from common household goods. Do your eyes or throat itch when you’re at home? Perhaps you’re also feeling sleepy and worn out.
This might come as a surprise to you, but all these minor occurrences might actually be the symptoms of poor indoor air quality in your home. And if you’re planning to do anything about it soon, it might end up leaving you with serious respiratory issues in the long run.
Beyond affecting your physical health, poor air quality also affects your state of mind! Don’t you think that by avoiding the topic of improving indoor air quality, we’re effectively paving the way for problems with both physical and mental health?
Good air quality at home keeps allergies at bay, and you know what’s even better? You’d sleep like a baby and can expect to be in a better mood throughout the day!
5 Proven Methods to Improve the Air Quality At Home
Now that we’ve drawn your attention towards the potentially poor indoor air quality at your home, it’s our responsibility to tell you how to fix it next. Time and again, we’ve seen our readers wondering how to improve air quality at home.
Here’s something to keep in mind: Having decent indoor air quality doesn’t need large-scale changes or hefty renovations! All it takes are a few simple steps to make a huge difference in your home’s air quality.
Here are five tried-and-true strategies for achieving better air quality at home. Let’s check it out together, shall we?
Maintain clean carpets and rugs
Your carpets and rugs take the most heat from the dust particles floating in the air. And just so you know, if you’re in the habit of leaving them unchecked, you’ll never learn how to improve air quality at home. Breathing in the particles that have stuck to these rugs can easily trigger allergies and make you sick.
Make sure to buy a vacuum with a HEPA filter, which can filter out almost all dust particles to keep your indoor environment clean. Also, send your carpets and rugs for professional cleaning at least once a year, preferably after winter, to deep clean them.
Enhance indoor living with an air purifier
Don’t you feel that dust always manages to enter our houses? And those pesky dust mites thrive in humid environments, making things even worse.
Of course, some of you might argue that you regularly scrub your carpet and floors, but is it really enough? No, right? Some of these unpleasant substances are stubborn and simply won’t budge! However, these particles significantly worsen indoor air sickness, such as sinus or asthma!
So, having an air purifier at home might be your greatest friend if you’re seeking a trustworthy approach to enhance the air quality. They can aid you in lowering:
- VOCs
- Dust mites
- Harmful radon
- Excess carbon dioxide
- Chances of airborne disease
They are made up of one or more filters and a fan that draws in and pushes the air. When the air flows through the filter, it traps the dust particles, smoke, pollen, and all that bad stuff. When they are collected, clean, fresh air flows back into your home.
Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all for air purifiers. They are available in various sizes to fit in your room. Make sure you check the filter type and price before letting that air purifier into your home!
Protect your home from dampness
We’ve all experienced sensations of dampness in our living spaces. In addition to being unpleasant, excessive dampness also invites foul odors.
Make it a point to reduce the moisture if you want to learn how to improve air quality at home by keeping it dry. Sometimes, poor air conditioning at home can also affect the indoor environment.
Don’t be concerned if you lack knowledge; we have some simple strategies for ventilating and reducing moisture in your house.
It’s certainly important to identify the source of dampness in your home! Is it a leaking pipe or ceiling crack that’s causing this issue? Perhaps your walls are wet due to the leakage, which, of course, results in dampness and bad odor in your home.
You must make it a priority to:
- Routinely air out your home
- Use a ventilation system in your house
- Patch up any leaky pipes, walls, or ceiling cracks
- Run your exhaust fan in the kitchen and bathrooms
Control scented items for a chemical-free home
Don’t we all frequently turn to scented candles, incense, or diffusers when seeking to get rid of unpleasant odors from our homes? Who wouldn’t want their home to have a pleasant, inviting scent? However, the truth is that those seemingly harmless goods can really introduce a number of bad chemicals that interfere with indoor air quality.
Studies found that most candles contain carcinogenic toxins and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can cause allergic responses. If you want to discover how to increase air quality in home, you must avoid these harmful substances.
So, why not swap these fragrant things out with some natural herbs? They are far less harmful than the ones you are using currently. Also, switch out your paraben-filled candles with soy candles made of vegetable wax instead, which won’t emit as many harmful chemicals into the air.
Bring nature indoors with houseplants
If you’re a die-hard nature lover, do you know what’s amazing? You can bring nature indoors to fight the poor air quality!
Furthermore, having these indoor plants will increase the amount of oxygen in your home, which will make breathing much easier. If we must add, this is a win-win situation.
They are the most effective air-cleaning tools you can have that soak up harmful chemicals and airborne particles. What’s more, they can quickly filter out benzene and other VOCs from wood and cleaning supplies.
A few plants you could consider purchasing include:
- English Ivy (Hedera helix)
- Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifrizi)
- The Areca Palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens)
However, not all houseplants require the same care and environments to survive, and they all have different prices. So, check out some that you can actually keep in your home without damaging the plant.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How to measure/check air quality at home?
Getting your hands on an air quality monitor might change the game when you begin to have concerns about how to increase the air quality of your home. However, search for high-quality items that, at the very least, provide you with measurements of the air quality, such as:
- VOC
- Humidity
- Temperature
- Air quality index
- Carbon dioxide levels
- Concentrations of particulate matter
These testing kits frequently include a display screen that allows you to see your reading in real-time and a guidebook that will walk you through the procedure.
Please seek expert assistance if you can’t check everything on your own. They will get air samples from your house and study them to see what has been affecting the quality of the air inside to provide you with solutions.
How to monitor air quality at home?
You can install carbon monoxide alarms, which you can get for cheaper deals online or in local stores. CO can be fatal if you’re exposed to it for an extended period of time and at high concentrations.
These alarms let you know if something happens. In addition to that, you can also try a radon test by purchasing kits to check the air quality in your house.
Breathing Easy: Our Final Thoughts
Maintaining good indoor air quality makes it easier to breathe and is essential to our general health. Moreover, indoor air quality should be your first priority because no one in this room wants allergies!
Remember, these 5 methods are just the beginning of learning how to improve air quality at home! You need to conduct your own research and keep track of additional practices that can help you boost the quality of the air in your home.