How Indoor Air Quality Affects Your Allergies

August 03, 2017

While many people correlate allergy symptoms with pollen, pollution and other irritants outside your home, your indoor air quality can have a huge impact on your symptoms. According to the EPA, “In the last few years, a increasing body of scientific evidence has shown that the air within homes and other buildings can be more dangerously polluted than the external air in even the biggest and most industrialized cities. Other research says that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. So, for most people, the risks to health may be larger due to more interaction with air pollution indoors than outdoors.”

Our Bloomfield homes are polluted by outdoor allergens like pollen that make their way indoors, and by irritants like pet dander, dust mites, mold spores, chemicals from ordinary household cleansers and more. So, what can you do about it? The solution is already in your home! It’s your HVAC system.

You should know that your HVAC can be your ally or your foe when it comes to managing your allergies. A dirty system can collect and circulate allergens all over your home, so the answer is to keep your system well maintained. Primarily, you must keep your air filters clean. Establish a reminder or mark it on your calendar to inspect them monthly and swap them out when you see that they’re becoming dirty. They’ll typically need to be replaced every two or three months, but this can differ significantly from house to household. You can buy filters that span from the most straightforward level of filtering to hospital-grade HEPA filters. The experts at Stanford Heating & Cooling can help you decide which kind of filter will keep your home nourishing and keep your HVAC operating correctly.

It’s also crucial to have your system regularly checked by a professional to keep your interior air quality where it should be. On top of checking that essential filter, your service expert will clean the internal workings of your system and ensure that everything is working as it should. You can also ask your technician if a duct cleaning would be needed.

When it comes to your interior air quality, you can rely on the specialists at Stanford Heating & Cooling to take good care of you. In addition to helping you keep your HVAC system up-to-date, we can help you make sure you have the tools you need to combat poor indoor air quality and allergens—like humidifiers and whole home air purifiers. Just give us a call at 812-825-8695 to certify that your home’s air is healthy and clean.