While the summer months see a lot of Australians heading out for the beach, there are just as many people who spend a significant amount of time indoors. If you’re among the individuals who spend a considerable amount of time inside, it’s essential to ensure that you have superior indoor air quality.

There are many ways to increase your indoor air quality, the most common being to install whole house fans which exchange stale, stagnant air for fresher, cleaner air. If the air in your home is stale, stuffy, or making you ill, you may need to read our post about the simple ways that you can increase the air quality in your living space.

What Does Indoor Air Quality Refer to?

The term indoor air quality refers to how healthy or clean the air in your home or workspace is. Every day pollutants can severely degrade the quality of the air you need to inhale, which can lead to a wide range of health issues such as headaches, asthma, or different chronic respiratory diseases.

Improving Your Indoor Air Quality is Easier than You Think

The good news is that there are several steps that you can take to improve the quality of the air in your home or workspace. With this in mind, our experts have compiled a list of a few simple tips that will see you creating cleaner, fresher, air in no time.

1.     Identify the Culprits

As we’ve already mentioned, there are many pollutants found in Australian homes that can negatively impact the air quality in your home. The most common of these include the following:

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from furniture, flooring, and paint
• Dust mites
• Mould spores
• Bacteria
• Pet dander and other pet odours
• Combustion particles from heaters
• Emissions from cooking
• Tobacco smoke
• Pollen
• Household cleaning agents

Once you have identified the culprits in your home, the next step is to reduce or eliminate them wherever possible. Examples of this can include enforcing a no-smoking policy indoors or switching to hypoallergenic pillows and bedding to help reduce dust mites.

You may also need to up your cleaning routine and change the regularly used harsh chemicals to organic cleaning agents. If you’re going to paint your home or furnishings, be sure to opt for low to zero VOC options as these will reduce paint odours lingering around in your home.

2.     Install a Whole House Fan

One of the top ways to instantly improve the air in your home is by installing a whole-house fan. Typically, these fans are installed in the roof or attic of your home and pull in cool air from outside into your home through open windows and doors. Hot, stale air is then pushed out through your roof cavity and air vents.

Unlike air conditioning, the air isn’t recirculated. Instead, natural, fresh air is introduced into the space. It also takes as little as 15 minutes to feel a difference in your home. By constantly circulating the air in your home, you’ll be removing the odours, toxic chemicals, and gases that degrade your air quality.

These fans can be used year-round and can significantly decrease your energy bill as cooler air means there’s less need for an air conditioning unit. Since these units are installed in the attic or roof space, they also reduce the likelihood of dampness and moisture building up in those spaces.

3.     Manage Your Indoor Humidity Levels

High humidity in your home creates a breeding ground for bacteria, mould, mildew, and dust mites. Since dust mites thrive in moist or damp environments, a home with high humidity can aggravate respiratory issues and allergies.

A simple way to combat this is to add dehumidifiers to your space. These simple, but effective gadgets remove excess moisture from the air. The trick with using them is to maintain the optimal humidity range for your home to prevent the air from becoming too dry. Whole house fans also go a long way toward reducing the humidity in your space.

4.     Perform Regular Air Conditioning Maintenance

No matter what air conditioning unit, fans, or heaters, you use in your home, the golden rule should always be to perform regular maintenance. This often involves cleaning filters which ensures that fresh air comes into the space. It also ensures that your system performs at optimal strength. Keep in mind that dirty, overused components can easily compromise the air quality in your home and may even push dirty, dusty air back into the space.

Final Thoughts

Improving the air quality in your home is essential to ensuring everyone who lives in the space breathes in clean, fresh air. This goes a long way to reduce allergies, asthma attacks, and chronic respiratory infections that won’t let up. Speak to your local whole house fan installer to get the ball rolling to adding cool, clean air into your home. You’ll soon be wondering why you didn’t do it earlier!