During the summer months, you hear a lot about the unhealthy air quality outside. What tends to get overlooked is indoor air quality and how harmful it can be. There are a number of things you can do to help improve your indoor air quality and some of them are actually quite simple and easy to implement.
Here are some simple things you can do right now to improve the quality of the air in your home:
Change out your furnace air filter. When your furnace air filter gets full of dust and other pollutants, it’s not going to clean the air the way it should. It will also put an unneeded strain on your furnace which may result in added wear and tear. If you need a reminder to change out your filters regularly, subscribe to a service that delivers filters on a consistent schedule.
Keep your home clean. Vacuuming often helps cut down on dust, dander and other allergens. Make sure that you are using a vacuum with a good HEPA filter so that you’re not just launching the dirt back into the air. When you are cleaning, be sure to choose a non-toxic cleaner that won’t add harmful chemicals to the air.
Consider replacing carpet with hard flooring. Not only does carpet tend to collect dirt and pollen, newer carpets actually give off VOCs for up to five years or possibly more. Carpet has also been reported to release toxins like PFAS over time through routine wear and tear.
Increase ventilation when possible. Opening windows when the weather allows will help by bringing in fresh air from outside. Running exhaust fans in the kitchen and/or bathrooms is another easy way to increase ventilation.
Invest in a good air purifier. An air purifier does exactly what the name says, it purifies the air inside your home by capturing and eliminating some of the culprits that may be causing you irritation or other symptoms. Air purifiers should be placed in the commonly used areas of your home for maximum results. You can also place one in a bedroom or office of whoever has the worst reactions to air quality issues. We have one in each of our bedrooms and one in the kitchen/living room area.
Choosing a good quality air purifier will give you the best results. I was sent an AirMax8L Medical Grade Ultra-Duo Air Purifier from Okaysou to test out. This model can handle up to 500 square feet and is a powerful unit! It captures 99.97% of air pollutants like dust, pollen , smoke, pet dander and hair as well as household odors as small as 0.25 microns. It also safely breaks down various harmful gases, such as formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene and VOCs that other 3-stage filter can’t do.
I love that it has the latest Silenceboost Technology which purifies Josh’s room with the lowest noise level of 28dB and is quiet enough that Josh sleeps with it on and it doesn’t bother him in the least. It has successfully tackled any odors that can accompany active teen boy life. It has a timer with automatic shut off in case you don’t want it running all the time as well.
Two of my favorite things about the Okaysou AirMax8L are the size and the price. Even though it is big enough to circulate all the air 3 times every hour in a 500 square foot area, it is a compact unit with measurements of 12.9 X 7.1 X 19.4 inches. And this AirMax8L 5-in-1 True HEPA Air Purifier captures 99.97% air pollutants but only costs $118.98 (and has free shipping). At that price, you can put one in every room!
I hope this gives you a few tools to tackle you indoor air and that you are breathing easily!!
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