Even on days when outdoor pollution levels are high, you may think that the air inside your home is safe to breathe. However, if outdoor pollutants make their way indoors, these pollutants can collect, resulting in higher concentrations of harmful substances, resulting in lower quality air.
It’s important, therefore, to try and keep these outdoor pollutants outdoors so that they don’t ruin your indoor air quality. To help you protect your family, here are a few ways to keep outside pollutants from getting into your home.
Seal the Gaps
Outdoor pollutants have an uncanny ability to find their way inside through the smallest crevices. That’s why it’s crucial that you do all you can to fill these gaps and cracks so that your indoor air remains fresh and healthy.
Gaps around windows and doors are some of the most-common pollutant entrance points. However, any gap in your foundation, attic floor, or any other area that’s exposed to outside air is a possible pollutant entrance point.
Close the Windows
Though keeping your windows open is a great way to keep your home cool without running your air conditioner, this should be avoided on days that levels of outdoor pollutants are high.
To keep your home comfortable on days like this, it’s important that you have AC installation services install a high-efficiency air conditioner so that you can keep your home comfortable for less money. By installing an efficient system, you can keep the outside air outside and help release less pollution to result in better outdoor air quality.
Filter Your Air
If pollutants do find their way inside, you want to be sure that they are removed from the air as quickly as possible. That’s why it’s a good idea to use a high-quality whole-home air filter in conjunction with your HVAC system.
A good filter will remove even the smallest particles, ensuring that dangerous substances don’t remain in the air that you and your family breathe. Just be sure to keep the filter media clean so the system can operate efficiently.
Plan Wisely
When your doors are open, they serve as one of the easiest entrances for outdoor pollutants. Therefore, it’s important to plan the trips into and out of your home wisely so that the doors are opened as infrequently as possible.
Think through your daily activities and try to determine if there are any activities that you can combine that will result in fewer trips outside of your home. This planning will help protect your indoor air quality and potentially help you save time.
Even with your best efforts, pollutants are still bound to make their way into your home. With this in mind, it’s important that you regularly test your indoor air quality to ensure that all pollutants fall within safe ranges.
This will help you know if your efforts to maintain your air quality are successful and give you an idea of what you need to do if those efforts aren’t quite enough.