Wintertime can be harsh on your body; luckily, you have a furnace to keep you and your loved ones comfortable and warm at home. However, if your furnace is poorly maintained, it can compromise the indoor air quality, which isn’t something you want to happen. How do you know if you have poor indoor air quality and what can you do to improve it? That’s what we’ll talk about in this post.
How To Tell If You Have Poor Indoor Air Quality
A lot of homeowners don’t realize they have poor air quality indoors until they have to deal with its adverse effects. If you frequently experience this at home, then it’s likely your indoor air quality is compromised:
- Fatigue
- Coughing & sneezing
- Excessive amounts of dust
- Allergies
- Prolonged cold and flu symptoms
Although some of these signs may start slow, if the air quality isn’t addressed immediately, you can experience worsening symptoms because of the hard-to-breathe air that circulates around your home.
How To Improve Indoor Air Quality
There are many ways to improve your home’s air quality, such as:
- Replace air filters: Your furnace’s air filters must be changed regularly. The filters help remove dirt, debris, and other contaminants in your system. If the filter isn’t replaced, dirt can build up and eventually affect your lungs. If you have pets, it’s even more important you ensure your air filters are replaced regularly.
- Have your ducts cleaned: When you don’t have your ducts cleaned, contaminants can accumulate in your system, which will stay there. In turn, the pollutants will circulate in your home until you have the ducts cleaned. A professional can do this for you, so if you’re thinking of doing it yourself, don’t.
- Clean furnace and ducts regularly: Your furnace and ducts must be cleaned every two years. However, you will need more frequent cleaning, at least once a year, if you have kids and/or pets at home.
Aside from maintaining your furnace, there are other ways to improve your home’s indoor air quality. For one, you can bring in indoor plants to promote cleaner air. Houseplants are not only for decorative purposes, but they also help clean the air. With a good variety of indoor plants, you create a symbiotic relationship that filters the air, creates fresh oxygen, and makes your home look even more beautiful.
Another thing you can do to promote better airflow is to open the windows as much as possible. When all the windows are closed, your home will re-circulate the same air repeatedly and only decrease in quality as dust, dead skin, ash, and other debris is added to it. Opening the windows will let fresh air in. Moreover, keeping your floors clean through vacuuming and mopping will help remove particles that would otherwise end up in the air, waiting for you to breathe them in!
These are some of the simple things you can do aside from having your furnace maintained regularly. Your indoor air quality matters a lot. Besides, if you don’t maintain your furnace, how do you expect it to work efficiently during the winter? Maintenance is always an excellent way to ensure your furnace will provide you with comfort in the winter.
Let Professionals Handle Your Furnace
As much as you want to clean your furnace on your own to save a few bucks, its regular maintenance is best left to professionals. Before and after wintertime, be sure you have an HVAC company you can rely on to perform professional inspection and maintenance. This ensures that you and your loved ones can breathe clean, healthy air all year round.
Looking for an HVAC technician you can rely on? They’re just one tap away when you download the Good Guys Home Services app. Whether you’re in need of an emergency repair or regular maintenance, our highly qualified technicians have you covered. Choose what you need, when you need it, and we’ll take care of the rest!
