Airflow in the home is what keeps the air circulating and ensures that air smells fresh rather than old and stale. We have all been in homes where there is a musty scent everywhere, and that’s often due to a lack of proper airflow. If you don’t want that to happen in your home, then read on.
Airflow Means Comfort and Healthiness
Having fresh air flowing through your home is actually really important to your comfort levels. It can make the difference between feeling energetic and feeling tired all the time. Unpleasant smells can wear you down, as can a lack of fresh air.
Poor airflow in the home can affect your health and comfort by making it difficult to sleep at night. Without fresh air, your bedroom may feel stifling and may be full of allergens and irritants. That will block your sinuses and impede your breathing, perhaps making you wake up repeatedly during the night and keeping you from sleeping soundly. You may even experience allergy symptoms because of poor airflow.
When we talk about airflow, we are talking about the quality of the air as well as the way the air moves through the home (or doesn’t move). If the air quality is good, then your health risks are lower. Good airflow in the home contributes to good air quality, but it isn’t the only factor.
A Clean Home Offers Better Air Quality
If there are any dirty particles floating around in the air inside your home, you can bet that there are plenty of them resting on your countertops and in your carpet. Air quality is partially determined by the tidiness of the house. If you have a dirty home, then your home will have dirty air. If you keep a clean home, there will be fewer allergens, irritants, dust, and dirt in the home.
For a quick and effective way to improve air quality, you can have your home professionally cleaned. A hallway cleaning in Seattle or deep cleaning services for where you live will make a big impact on air quality. You will notice it if your home hasn’t been deeply cleaned in a while. The level of dust and dirt will greatly diminish and will make it easier to breathe and to feel comfortable in your own home.
How to Improve Air Quality
There are a number of ways you can boost the air quality in our home, and we want to share the best ones with you.
Inspect Your Air Vents
If you have cleaned your home but still have poor air quality you may need to check the air vents in your home. Those will be a little out of the way, so they may not get cleaned with the rest of the house. Simply running a vacuum cleaner over top of them won’t be enough to clean them out.
Inspect the inside of the vents with a flashlight and see if you notice any dust buildup or blockages. Also clean off the outside of the vents with a wet cloth. If you see anything in the vents that doesn’t belong, you can try to clean it out yourself or hire an HVAC specialist to deal with it.
Also check the registers in each room. Ensure that they are open so that your HVAC system doesn’t have to work harder. This will improve air flow, because an HVAC system running properly will produce cleaner air.
Use Fans for Circulation
While you could open doors and windows in your home to improve airflow and circulation, that’s not always a good option. During the colder times of year, you’ll want to keep outside access closed. You can still get decent air flow inside the home with all windows and doors closed if you’re using ceiling fans and other types of fans that move the air around. Even fans that spin very gently will have a positive effect on the air flow in your home.
Using fans can dry up sweat and other moisture in the home, improving the humidity levels. That contributes to decent air quality as well. Using fans instead of the HVAC system and air conditioning will help with air quality control too. Fans create less dust and offer cleaner air, not to mention saving you on your electric bill.
If you have poor air flow in your home, you may want to consider installing some ceiling fans. Running these will be much less expensive than an air conditioning system, and they will pay for themselves in time. Our recommendation is to ensure that ceiling fans rotate counterclockwise during the hot months. This helps move cool air throughout your home.
Have Your HVAC System Maintained
One of the main reasons why a home will stay dusty after it has been well cleaned is that it has a dirty HVAC system. It’s a good idea to have your heating and cooling system maintained throughout the year. The best time to have it inspected is before winter when it might get used often. If you’re springing for two servicings the year, you should also have it looked at right before summer starts. The coldest and warmest parts of the year are the times when your HVAC system will get the most workout. You want to ensure that it’s in good working order and properly cleaned.
You can do some of the maintenance yourself. The main area for you to check when inspecting your HVAC system is the air filters. These will need to be changed out every so often to ensure good air quality. If they are not changed regularly, they will accumulate dust, dirt, pollen, and other debris. These particles then get into the air whenever you turn on the HVAC system. It’s very easy to change out the air filter when it becomes overly dirty.
Your HVAC system might need to be updated to ensure that it runs properly. If your HVAC system is old and has not been serviced in a long time, it could be struggling to maintain the temperature you set it to, and it could also produce low quality air.
