Building a healthy home is important for many Spring Hill, Florida, homeowners, especially those who have family members with sensitive lungs. Many don’t know where to start, however, and the task can seem overwhelming. We’ve created this small guide to introduce you to some strategies that can help you start on your way towards creating the healthy and happy home you’ve always wanted.
Understand Pollutants
The first step towards building a healthy home is understanding different pollutants you may be dealing with. Pollutants come in many shapes and sizes as well as degrees of impact. Consider where your house is situated and what your household is like.
For example, Florida gets very heavy oak pollen seasons. Is your home located near a bunch of trees? Or, does your household include pets? These are the types of allergens you want to keep an eye on when planning for your healthy home.
Adjust Humidity
A good first step is adjusting your home’s humidity. Humidity can create breeding grounds for all sorts of nasty mold and bacteria, which can easily irritate even completely healthy lungs. It’s normal for Florida homes to have more humidity than other areas, so you may not notice it, but you’re sure to feel the difference when you change your home’s temperature levels.
Adjusting humidity is easy using a dehumidifier. If you have a smaller home, one may be enough, but we recommend having a few in various rooms to ensure that they’re able to work as effectively as possible. Don’t set it too high — dry air can be irritating to sensitive lungs as well — but consult the manual for your dehumidifier as to the most appropriate level.
Air Purification
Air purification systems are a great way to get rid of icky household smells as well as to rid the air of more fine particles than your traditional air or heating filter. They work by forcing air through extremely fine filters which pulls out any irritants or debris. Like dehumidifiers, you may want more than one of these handy pieces of technology.
Good places to put air purifiers include living rooms and bedrooms. Since they’re essentially just extra filters, you can use them in areas that people stay in the most to best allow your household to feel the benefits of improved indoor air quality.
Vacuum Regularly
A clean home is a great step towards a healthy home. If you have little ones or other family members with health issues like asthma, vacuuming regularly is a must and chances are, you’re already vacuuming regularly to prevent allergy or asthma symptoms.
However, there are several areas that we often forget about when doing our regular vacuuming. The space beneath rugs is often overlooked but can build up large amounts of dust and pet hair. Cushions can also build up irritants and it’s a good idea to vacuum those regularly, especially in between cushions. Curtains are also dust traps but can easily be cleaned with the pass of a vacuum or a tough shake out.
MERV Certification
Your air conditioning system can play a big role in keeping your home healthy. Most systems, especially newer ones, are excellent at removing irritants and allergens from the air, especially when equipped with an appropriately-rated MERV-certified filter.
The MERV rating of a filter indicates how good it is at filtering. The higher the number, the better the filter. Avoid cheap fiberglass filters — while their price point is great, they do a poor job of keeping undesirable debris from infiltrating your home.
On the other hand, it may be tempting to buy the highest-rated filter you can find. This can lead to issues, however, if your air system isn’t able to effectively push air through it. Be sure to check and see how much your system can handle before buying a high-end filter.
If you’re ready to take some steps towards creating a healthy home, give Senica Air Conditioning, Inc. Inc a call at 866-881-5935. today to set up a consultation!
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