After spending the cooler months cooped up indoors, it can be great to spend a lot more time outdoors when summer arrives. You might look forward to grilling steaks in your backyard or spending more time sunbathing at the beach or a nearby St. Louis pool. Unfortunately, it is also fairly common for the summer season to lead to problems with allergies, asthma, and the like. While there is not much you can do about air quality outdoors, here are three tips to consider to improve indoor air quality in your home.
Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality
- Watch Your Windows and Doors: The more your windows and doors are open, the more outdoor air will find its way into your home. Now, that will not be as much of a problem if the air quality outdoors is okay. However, this is not always the case, so keep an eye out for the Air Quality Index and similar reports on local news and weather programs. When the AQI is in the unhealthy or worse ranges, you can definitely improve indoor air quality by keeping windows, doors and similar points of entry closed. This will also make things easier for your air conditioners, leading to lower utility bills.
- Watch Your Floors and Footwear: Another way for dust, particles, and allergens to make their way into your St. Louis home is by having people track all of that stuff in at the bottom of their shoes or footwear. Ideally, you should already have a regular schedule for vacuuming and cleaning your floors, so that dust and allergens do not have the opportunity to build up. You can also take further steps to improve indoor air quality by preventing this stuff from coming in, in the first place. Set out mats just inside and/or outside your doors, and advise family members to use these to scrape off mud or shake off dust from the soles of their shoes. Where possible, have people leave their shoes near the entryway and use specific home slippers for when they are indoors.
- Keep Your HVAC System Clean: Another tip to improve indoor air quality involves properly maintaining your HVAC system. Over time, filters will become clogged with dust, particles, and other debris. If these are not cleaned or replaced, these will allow fine particles to be scattered around your home through your air conditioning. So to improve indoor air quality, check the manual or documentation that came with your HVAC system or air conditioners, and follow the recommended schedule for cleaning, replacement, and other maintenance. Also, be sure to keep ducts and other air passageways clean, and check for possible excess moisture due to insufficient drainage. That moisture can be a problem if it allows mold to grow, which will definitely worsen the quality of the air moving through your HVAC system.
Learn More About How to Improve Indoor Air Quality in St. Louis
If you would like to learn more about how to improve indoor air quality in your St. Louis home, Galmiche & Sons can help. You can give us a call at 314-993-1110 and our staff would be more than happy to answer your questions about improving indoor air quality, as well as about heating & air conditioning in general. You can also schedule an HVAC maintenance appointment to have your heating and cooling system checked and cleaned.
