Heating your home is essential. However, sometimes it seems the price we pay to keep our homes warm is a little steep, and it’s more than just the financial price. For one thing, keeping our homes tightly sealed up so we can heat efficiently means not having fresh air, and breathing recirculated germs. And for another, the process of heating dries out the air, dramatically lowering the humidity of your home.
What can you do to maintain good indoor air quality without sacrificing the warmth you need from your heater? Here are some suggestions.
Regular Maintenance
Have you had your heater maintained during the past year? Annual maintenance is strongly recommended for all heating systems. If there is an actual problem with your heater that is impacting your air quality, your technician can make sure you get heating repair in Madera, CA. Another way to improve your indoor air quality is by doing the one heater maintenance job you should be doing yourself: cleaning your air filter. This can help to cut down on dust in your home and will improve the function of your heater and even extend its lifespan. This should be done monthly when you are heating your home constantly, and every three months when the heater is seeing lighter use.
Air Purifiers
If your main concern about the heating season is being trapped indoors with all that tightly sealed-in air full of bacteria, viruses, and mold spores, an air purifier can put your mind at ease and improve the quality of the air you breathe. Using an electrostatic system, the air passing through the purifier is cleansed of germs. The germs are negatively charged and then passed over a positively-charged plate, where they become stuck, unable to reproduce or cause infection.
Humidifiers
Portable humidifiers can help tremendously in small spaces, such as in a dorm room, or to keep air moist in a baby’s bedroom to combat health issues. But in order to affect the humidity in your whole house, ideally keeping it between 35 and 45%, you will need a whole-house humidifier. This can cut down on dry hair, flaky skin, and static shocks that may bother you when your home’s humidity is too low, and it also prevents damage to your home and furnishings. Low humidity can cause cracks in wood flooring and wooden furniture as well as paint and wallpaper. While your skin and hair will recover from being dry, the damage to your home may be much harder to repair.
The key thing to know is that you have options. If your air quality is unsatisfying to you, and your home feels too dry, or too full of dust or germs, our team of highly-trained professionals is ready to assist you in finding the solution that best fits your concerns and your home.
We strive to provide honest answers and solutions to the problems our customers’ experience while remaining highly competitive in price, and offer the fastest turnaround you can find! Contact Donald P. Dick Air Conditioning to schedule service or sign up for Mr. Cool’s Super Saver Program.