How to Improve Indoor Air Quality at Home: Best Tips

Indoor air quality is essential for human health since most people spend approximately 90% of their time in enclosed spaces.

Pollutants produce various serious health issues, starting from cancer to respiratory problems and moving towards allergies, heart disease and low birth rate weights, mostly harming children and elderly people together with those who have health complications.

Certain harmful pollutants remain undetected even though some pollution symptoms become easy to see.

Better air quality inside residences reduces health threats while providing better living environments.

We will give you information about indoor air quality relevance and how to improve indoor air quality at your home.

What Is the Importance of Indoor Air Quality Improvement?

Interior air quality matters significantly because many substances can pollute indoor environments. According to the EPA, multiple environmental problems, including pressed wood, pesticides, secondhand smoke, stoves, heaters, fireplaces, and VOCs, contribute to contamination in indoor environments and other reported pollutants.

Various pollutants exist that create major health problems for people. Improving home air quality becomes possible through specific measures people can implement.

How to Improve Indoor Air Quality at Home

Our homes contain air pollution that equals or surpasses outdoor air pollution risks. Maintaining and improving quality indoor air becomes essential because we spend most of our time in indoor settings. You should implement these specific methods and approaches on how to improve air quality in home.

Reduce the Sources of Indoor Air Pollutants

Numerous elements produce poor indoor air quality conditions. If you want to improve air quality in the house, getting rid of these elements is the best way to go. Several indoor air pollution factors exist with associated health consequences and control methods.

Radon: This radioactive gas enters buildings through cracks because it is tasteless, odourless, and colourless and originates from the ground. It is the number two cause of lung cancer.
Particulate Matter (PM): Tiny airborne pollens and other substances such as dust, smoke, pet dander, and mould enter the lungs deeply while passing through the bloodstream, leading to pulmonary harm and increasing the chances of heart attacks and strokes.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): These gases escape from commercial products and their manufacturing operations through off-gassing. The chemical compounds, which include formaldehyde and benzene, in carpets and paints can lead to throat irritation, eye inflammation, nasal passage stimulation and breathing complications, central nervous system harm, and potential cancer development.
Residential Combustion: When people use natural gas, wood, or propane as heating and cooking fuel for drying, they release dangerous emissions, including carbon monoxide and benzene. Appliances with outside vents exist, but cookstoves discharge pollution into the house environment.
Allergens: The air quality suffers from four primary indoor allergens: pet dander, dust mites, mould in AC, and pest droppings.
Secondhand Smoke: Anybody exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke that exhales tobacco particles will face elevated danger of developing deadly health problems, including cancer. Protecting your home from these dangers demands that all indoor smoking activities must stop.
Cleaning Products: Indoor air quality is tainted by dangerous chemicals in household cleaning items like glass cleaners, air fresheners, bleach, and cleaning sprays. Using environmentally friendly cleaning products that do not contain toxic substances allows you to achieve housecleaning results that are equally effective as traditional cleaning solutions but without dangerous pollution mechanisms.

Proper installation of your split system air conditioner or your ducted aircon can also play a role in managing some of these factors by circulating and conditioning the air within the home.

Check Your Indoor Air Quality

Numerous homeowners start their assessment of indoor air quality by testing the environment as their initial approach. You have two options to do air testing: performing it yourself for less money or engaging a professional for complete testing and specific recommendations. The solution that suits you best on how to improve air quality in house follows will depend on your needs and financial capabilities.

DIY air quality testing: Online air quality test kits exist in different formats to accommodate the detection of multiple pollutants or a single pollutant, such as radon. These incomplete at-home kits work well for people who must test only one or two specific pollutants. Professional testing provides complete analysis, making it more efficient, although at-home pollution tests cost from $200 up to higher amounts when multiple substance tests are needed.
Professional air quality testing: Professionals who perform air quality tests charge more than DIY kits provide, but their assessment includes essential support services. The testing professionals who work on these projects also focus on mould prevention and remediation expertise to help clients address discovered pollution sources.

Manage Allergens

The interior environment contains many allergens and irritants, including dust, mould, pet dander, and dust mites. Properly controlling these sources enhances air quality and reduces respiratory symptoms such as running nose, watery eyes, sore throat, sneezing, skin rashes, and itching.

Strategies to manage allergens require prevention efforts and routine cleaning procedures. Here’s how to improve air quality at home. Reduction steps include monthly hot water washing of pet bedding and the use of hypoallergenic materials and mattress encasings.

The removal of allergens requires active steps that include vacuuming and dusting the environment, cleaning mould using bleach or soap solutions, and replacing materials such as carpet, wood, and drywall.

Utilise an Air Purifier to Improve Air Quality

Air purifiers in air conditioner are a great way on how to improve air quality at home. They contain HEPA filters and are excellent tools for indoor air pollution mitigation. HEPA filters effectively remove dangerous airborne particles at an efficiency of above 99%.

Air purifiers effectively trap particles in the air, but they have limited coverage against various pollution elements. Air filters must align with their specific targets when capturing VOCs, smoke, mould spores, excessive carbon dioxide, and pet dander allergens.

A HEPA air purifier can eliminate flu virus particles from indoor air.

Enhance Ventilation

Simple access to open windows, along with proper ventilation, provides a free method to enhance indoor air quality. One effective method on how to improve indoor air quality in your home includes opening both doors and windows, provided that the outdoor environment contains clean air. Air is absorbed by way of vents and air entering spaces between door frames. The ventilation of cracks remains hard to control, yet you can regulate the vented airflow.

Keeping heating and cooling system filters fresh and nonobstructed ducts together with appropriate filter maintenance for air-intake appliances as per manufacturers’ guidelines are essential actions.

Reduce Moisture Levels

Health issues develop from high indoor humidity since it allows mould growth while releasing more VOCs into the environment. Common causes include:

Humid weather
Leaky plumbing or roofs
Standing water
Buildings with improper ventilation due to high wetness levels inside bathrooms and kitchens

The moist environment causes various respiratory problems, such as coughing, wheezing, and asthma.

To reduce indoor dampness an improve air quality at home, try:

Using a dehumidifier
Running a fan or opening a window while showering or cooking
Finding and fixing leaks or areas with standing water

Ensure Your Heating System Is Functioning Properly

Heating system operations greatly influence the quality of indoor air. Releasing toxic particles from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces can significantly increase the risk of developing lung cancer and other serious health problems.

Dangerous conditions occur with traditional heating systems and equipment that burn gas. Pressurised gas heating systems sometimes release deadly carbon monoxide, which does not produce any odour. Experts recommend direct vent gas appliances to stop gas from entering residential spaces.

Invest in an Air Quality Sensor

A solid process for improving indoor air quality starts by evaluating current air quality levels, followed by regular inspection after introducing changes.

The air quality received through outdoor weather reports does not apply the same way to indoor environments. Affordable indoor air quality sensors help identify sudden pollution spikes, enabling you to determine when and where to activate an air purifier.

Astonishingly, these environmental factors lead experts to believe the sensors might need to reestablish their accuracy levels over time.

Utilise Exhaust Fans in the Bathroom and Kitchen

Homeowners should tolerate temporary exhaust fan noise because this choice significantly improves indoor air quality by removing moist, stale indoor air. Continuous fresh air enters when these fans extract air from the environment. The fan’s effectiveness in cleaning and recirculating air can be achieved for 20 minutes whenever humidity builds up or after a shower.

Clean Your Dehumidifier Regularly

A certain amount of indoor air moisture supports healthy conditions, but excessive levels become harmful. The optimal relative humidity range should be 30 to 50 per cent. You must maintain your dehumidifier correctly to achieve the best results of an improved indoor air quality, as proper maintenance and regular cleaning should be done together with seasonally running the device.

Add Moisture to the Air in Winter

Proper humidity maintenance is crucial for improving indoor air quality. Dehumidifiers are needed during summer, but humidifiers work best during the typically dry winter months. Installing portable or whole-house systems does not affect which humidifier offers better air quality.

Get a Good Air Filter

The efficiency of air filters depends on trapping airborne particles, although this increased efficiency leads the filters to clog quickly when treating fine particles, which necessitates filter replacement more frequently.

The consensus exists to change filters monthly, but larger capacity filters need replacement every six months. Always keep replacements on hand. Activated charcoal filters found in air purifiers demonstrate the best performance for toxic substance removal from the air.

Use Fewer Scented Products

Popular products like scented candles and air fresheners, together with diffusers, function to deteriorate indoor air quality levels. Several scented consumer products contain dangerous VOCs, including toxic substances like formaldehyde, benzene, and toluene.

Excessive exposure to VOCs leads to headaches and irritation of the eyes, throat, and nose. VOCs are the main components of various cleaning items, cosmetics, and hobby equipment. It is better to reduce your use of products containing harmful VOCs; however, if necessary, keep the area well-ventilated when permitted by outdoor air quality conditions.

Clean Out Your Air Ducts

Another way on how to improve air quality at home is to clean out your air ducts especially on your ducted AC system. Indoor air quality strongly depends on clean air ducts. Visible dust on your ductwork and home furniture signals that your ducts require professional cleaning, along with increased allergy symptoms. Professional cleaning is the optimal choice since specific maintenance equipment is needed. In the meantime, regularly clean and dust all registers and grilles.

Vacuum and Clean Floor Coverings

Carpets and rugs are comfortable, but they have a downside: They trap multiple allergens, such as pet dander, pollen, and dirt, that easily rise when someone walks on them. Routine carpet cleaning reduces this collection of allergens and improves your air quality at home.

Robot vacuums function as easy-to-use cleaning systems that need little attention. Implementing a shoes-free policy is an additional measure to avoid more allergen accumulation. If allergies pose an issue, always select hypoallergenic bedding materials, which include alternative down and alternative pillows.

Move Your DIY Projects Outdoors

Household routine activities, together with daily hobbies, tend to degrade the quality of indoor air. Home pollutants enter through various household tasks, including sanding, painting, paint stripping, and cooking activities. Perform those projects outside whenever possible. When indoor air quality testing is impossible, the air needs sufficient ventilation through window openings.

Global Cool Air Can Help Diagnose the Issue

Many elements in your indoor environment contribute to poor air quality, which produces quick and delayed health issues, but with the right guidance on how to improve air quality in house, you can mitigate the risks.

You can improve your home air quality substantially by stopping and decreasing particular pollutants, which results in decreased health perils.

Don’t let poor indoor air quality affect your family’s health. Dusty air, lingering odours, or even increased allergy symptoms can be signs of a problem with your air conditioning system.

The air conditioner experts at Global Cool Air can help diagnose the issue. We’ll thoroughly inspect your AC unit, checking for clogged filters, refrigerant leaks, mould growth, and other common culprits. We offer high-quality air conditioning maintenance and repair services, using only top-quality parts, so you can breathe easy knowing the job is done right.