There's no denying the fact that Winter is a wonderful season but along with its wonderfulness, it also causes some other consequences that are irritating, annoying and unhealthy. We're not talking about the typical cold and cough. We are concerned today about the level of indoor quality that drops in Winters due to several reasons the most common of which are:
- Constant running of heating elements like; Furnaces, Fireplace, Space Heaters etc that produce residual gases or make the air drier
- Improper or irregular cleaning is another reason that contributes to lowering the IAQ in Winter. Due to cold weather, people get lazy and become less regular about cleaning. The dust keeps circulating in the indoor and make the IAQ unhealthy
- Insulation and ventilation go hand in hand. You should not lower the quality of air in the pursuit of keeping the indoor warm. As tight insulation is made and there's no proper ventilation system, no fresh air get in the house. And the air that continues to circulate in the indoor eventually becomes extremely unhealthy with lots of bacteria and contaminants in it.
How to maintain a healthy IAQ in Winters?
So now the question is, how to maintain a healthy indoor air in Winters? There are some tips that we want you to consider seriously:
1. First and foremost: Do not make unnecessary use of heating appliances. There are days in Winter when the temperature is bearable and thus the heating appliances can either be turned off or used in a limit. If you have a hard time keeping a check, install a Smart Thermostat and it will do the job for you. Remember that it is not only about bills. You could be the person who can afford hefty bills easily and thus doesn't care about usage but the unnecessary usage will spoil your IAQ and that’s what you don’t want no matter how rich you are
2. Get some natural heat. Let your body generate heat for you. Get up! Do your work and perform the cleaning job if you don't want to breathe unhealthy air. This will do 3 benefits at a time
You will get a warm blow by working
Your home will be clean
Your IAQ will improve
- We just talked about that balance between ventilation and insulation. If your home is tightly insulated, you'll have to go a step ahead to make sure your home gets proper ventilation.
Either install a heat recovery ventilation system or follow this:
- Open doors and windows partially in the daytime when there's sun to let fresh air in
- Use a portable air cleaner if installing a Whole Home Air Cleaner unit isn't economical or impossible for whatever reasons
- Keep indoor plants to do the air cleaning for you
- Make sure you replace filters regularly else the indoor air will start to have plethora of contaminants
- Low humidity also contributes to making the IAQ bad. As the humidity is low, the bacteria, viruses and other contaminants keep floating in the air. Maintaining a desirable humidity using a quality Humidifier keeps these consequences away
- Don't bring dry cleaned clothes inside the house without first letting them in sun or open air as dry cleaning produces chemicals that can be unhealthy when directly brought in the indoors
- Don't plan wall paint, furniture replacement etc in Winter. It becomes difficult to diffuse the effects of chemicals
Following the above mentioned tips you can manage to enjoy a good IAQ even in Winters. Have any questions? Connect anytime: 1-855-245-4328