Reduce Your Winter Allergy Symptoms: How to Keep Your Home’s Air Pure During Cold Months
Dropping outdoor temperatures mean your family will be spending more time inside keeping warm and cozy. Now the question is, with all that time spent in close quarters, how is the quality of your home’s air?
Poor air quality is a major cause of winter allergy symptoms. The good news is, while you can’t do much about outdoor allergens, you can control the air indoors.
To keep your family comfortable and allergy-free this winter, here are ways to keep your home’s air clean.
Change Your HVAC Air Filters
Before winter arrives, it’s a good idea to change out the air filters on your HVAC system. These filters trap airborne allergens that trigger adverse reactions.
Mold, pet dander, dust, and other pathogens float through your home’s air. As it gets cycled through the HVAC system, filters keep them from coming back into your house, improving your air quality.
Regularly changing out the air filters also helps prolong the life of your HVAC unit.
Clean Air Ducts
Whether they’re new or old, your HVAC air ducts collect dust, mold, hair, and other particles. If they’re not cleaned out, these particles can get blown back into your home’s air, causing your allergies to flare up.
Call in a professional to thoroughly clean out your home’s air ducts before winter arrives. This not only improves the quality of your air, it also allows clean air to better circulate throughout the house.
Buy an Air Purifier
When you want to clean the air to ease winter allergy symptoms, it only makes sense to buy an air purifier. These units help filter, trap, and eliminate airborne allergens that make you feel sick.
Air purifiers range in size as a whole-home system to a portable unit you can use in one room. Having a unit installed by a professional will ensure your air purifier is set up correctly and gives you maximum results.
Use a Home Humidifier
Humidity levels of your home also affect winter allergies. If the air is too dry, which is common during cold months, it can trigger allergy symptoms.
Running a home humidifier will add needed moisture back into the air. This moistens your nasal passages which naturally defends you against airborne allergens.
A humidifier also reduces dry skin which, in turn, will reduce the number of dust particles in your home.
Vacuum and Dust Your Home
To keep winter allergy symptoms at bay, make sure your home is free of dust with regular cleaning. Dust particles contain allergens such as pet dander and dust mites that cause allergies to flare up.
At least once a week, dust all the surfaces in the house. Then run a vacuum through, preferably one with a HEPA filter attached. These filters help trap allergens that other vacuum filters might miss.
To further sanitize and kill any lingering allergens, steam clean your floors once a month.
Clear the Air of Winter Allergy Symptoms
Keep your family warm AND comfortable this winter season. By knowing how to clean the air in your house, you can reduce winter allergy symptoms all season long.
Need help getting your home’s air ready for the winter months? Contact us today! We’d be happy to give you a quote and answer any questions you may have.
