3 Easy Ways to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality and Reduce Your Air Cleaner's Workload

Posted on: 18 July 2016

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Just because you can't see the dust particles in your house doesn't mean that you are breathing clean air. In fact, it has been shown that indoor air can be 2–5 times more polluted than outdoor air – astounding, right? The dust particles you see when a beam of light flows into your room have a diameter of around 10 microns. However, the more dangerous particles that can get lodged in your respiratory system are much smaller: as small as 0.3 microns. These include particulate like pollen, dust, mould, spores, dust mites and pet dander and gaseous matter like odours from paint, new carpets, cooking activity and cleaning products among others.

Air cleaners are an effective solution against most of the above pollutants, subject to type, quality and maintenance, of course. One way to ensure proper function of your cleaners is to ensure that the air is as clean as possible in the first place, so that there's less to filter out. The following paragraphs show three easy ways this can be achieved.

1. Improve ventilation

This is not about opening your windows, which will allow pollutants from outside entry into your home. In addition, open windows are hardly an option for those living in very dusty or polluted areas or those with forced-air HVAC systems. Instead, you can have trickle vents installed to cycle and purify your indoor air. You can also install exhaust fans whose job is to carry pollutants outdoors. More attention should be given to the kitchen particularly for homes with gas stoves. Turn on the fan or open windows in the bathroom after a shower to get rid of moisture and reduce mildew and mould growth. Use ceiling fans and heat-blocking treatments on your windows to reduce summer heat without having to open windows.

2. Change your ways

Do not buy a chemical to do what you can find a way to do naturally. Look for all-natural household cleaning agents and reduce your use of the unavoidable chemicals like paint. Use beeswax candles in place of paraffin candles as the latter release carbon-based by-products into the air. Beeswax candles neutralize toxic compounds and burn slower, giving you better value for your dollar. Install a Himalayan salt lamp which has numerous health benefits, including pulling toxic compounds from the air.

3. Grow indoor plants

Plants are Mother Nature's gifts to purify air naturally, and they improve the décor of any space. Breathe life into your house by investing in easy-to-grow houseplants that will absorb some of your pollutants and produce oxygen for you to breathe. Some plants can actually remove up to 82 percent of indoor pollutants within a day! Invest your time to grow aloe vera, chrysanthemums, azaleas, peace lilies, spider plants, English Ivy (with care), Areca palm and philodendron among other plants with proven air-purifying abilities.

For assistance, talk to a professional like Air Cleaners Australia.