How to Improve Air Quality At Home

Improving air quality at home can go a long way to relieving or eradicating mould. Besides contributing to conditions conducive to mould growth, poor air quality has been linked to asthma,lung disease and fatigue.

How do you improve home air quality so that dampness is reduced and mould growth curtailed?

Best Ways to Improve Air Quality at Home

How good is the indoor air quality in your home?  You may have some concerns about lingering odours and persistent stale air, but how do you find out for sure?

 Here is how to check the air quality at home.

Most hardware stores now stock air quality testing kits, these range from basic monitors that cost under $100 right through to deluxe versions that cost over $3000. If you cannot source them locally,online retailers are sure to have them.

 Visible signs of mould growth are a sure sign that the air quality needs improving.

 Or you could install carbon monoxide monitors in every room.

In many instances the best option is to seek the advice of a professional to test your home air quality.

If you are looking for ways  to improve air quality at home there are some sure fire ways to  freshen up the home. These include:

Maintenance of your AC

Air conditioners can play a vital role in improving air quality by drying the air in the home. The circulation of air through the house by the air conditioner can also help to keep the air fresh. As with all mechanical devices, the air conditioner requires regular maintenance to ensure that it works at an optimum level. 

The vast majority of air conditioners contain air filters that catch impurities in the air. To ensure that these filters operate as they should they should be regularly cleaned in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.

Improve Ventilation

Creating better airflow through the home is a great way to improve the air quality in the home. A simple tactic is to open doors and windows to create a draught of fresh air that will help to remove impurities in the air. However, bad weather or the local environment make it impractical to do so.

An alternative to the open window method is to install a trickle ventilator.  These devices  provide a filtered flow of fresh air through the house. They are  relatively easy to install either to existing windows or doorways or, as a new vent.

Regularly Clean Sheets

Bed sheets and furnishings often harbour dust mites. Dust mites have a significant impact upon air quality. They often cause minor irritations to the skin, eyes and throat.  Constant inhalation of dust and dust mites can lead to feelings of tiredness and lethargy. 

Keeping your sheets clean will go a long way towards keeping the dust mites under control and the air quality in good condition. It is also a good idea to keep pets off furnishings and beds, so that the incidence of hair being left on bedding and furnishings is kept to a minimum. 

Introduce house plants

As well as adding to the aesthetic quality of your home, some house plants can help to actively remove toxins from the air and produce more oxygen. 

Some plants are more effective at improving air quality than others and it has to be said that simply having one plant in a pot won’t do a lot to better the air quality in the home. That being said, some of the better performing plants include Gerbera daisies, English Ivy, Dwarf Dates and Bamboo Palms 

Some plants like the Bamboo Palm are known to remove such toxic substances as  formaldehyde from the air. A NASA study has shown that palm plants are effective in removing toxins from the air, producing clean oxygen and removing dangerous VOCs (Volatile organic compounds) from the atmosphere

Use Eco-Friendly products

Eco-friendly products like beeswax candles and salt lamps can really have a positive effect on the air quality. Both products emit negative ions when working these negative ions react with the positive ions present in the pollutants in the air. 

In the case of a beeswax candle, the negative ions transmitted cause the positive charged particles to fall from the air or even into the candle.  The candle has the added benefit of being very pleasant smelling and creating a wonderful ambiance.

Salt lamps use light and a large quantity of Himalayan salt to create the same effect.  Many asthmatics have found that using Himalayan salt lamps has had a very positive impact upon their asthma.

Wherever possible, use natural eco friendly cleaning products such as lemon or vinegar to clean your home.  These natural cleaning alternatives will leave no toxic residue behind and have no negative affect upon the quality of their

Consider activated charcoal

Activated charcoal is a great way to absorb impurities in the air.  It is commonly used in HEPA filters and was used as far back as World War One in gas  masks.  There are a number of ways to use activated charcoal which, when placed in an area will absorb bad odors and impurities in the air.

A really basic way of using activated charcoal is to simply place a briquette anywhere that you need to purify the air.  After a while, the activated charcoal will become stale and need to be reactivated. This is a simple matter of placing the charcoal in the sun and leaving it to absorb the sun’s rays for an hour or so.

More aesthetic ways of using activated  charcoal include using bamboo charcoal bags or dismantling aquarium filters to use the  charcoal contained in them.

Book a Home Inspection

If you are concerned about poor air quality in your home,it may be time to arrange a home air quality inspection.  The expert team at The Mould Doctor are well aware of the relationship between poor air quality and mould infestation. We can conduct a thorough  home air quality inspection that will identify problem areas and provide meaningful solutions to the problem.

 Give us a call today to arrange your home inspection.

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