Improving Indoor Air Quality in Portland Homes This Holiday Season
Grey skies and chilly rain are well on their way in the Pacific Northwest. That means most homeowners are spending more time inside. However, sealing up your home for the season can unknowingly trap pollutants, allergens, and odors, forcing you to deal with them for months.
Here’s how to address holiday indoor air quality in Portland, OR, for optimal health and comfort this season.
Ways Holidays Worsen Indoor Air Quality
The activity level in your home directly impacts how healthy the air is. When you’re hosting guests for the holidays, there’s more dust, dander, and contaminants flying around than usual.
Many holiday traditions, like burning candles or using your fireplace, degrade indoor air quality. Even hours of cooking your annual holiday meal can leave lingering particles called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) hovering around.
You can often deal with contaminants by cracking a window and waiting for them to clear. However, when it’s too cold outside to ventilate your home, the pollutants circulate through your HVAC over and over again.
The filter might trap some, but it won’t capture all if you have a standard filter. This affects both your HVAC's performance and your holiday indoor air quality in Portland, OR.
Having a Healthier Holiday
Fortunately, you don’t have to make the impossible choice between health and fresh air. An effective way to combat stale or polluted air is by upgrading your filtration. Standard filters trap the usual suspects, like dust and pet dander. However, for eliminating VOCs and microscopic airborne bacteria or viruses, you’ll need something more heavy-duty.
The most sophisticated solution is a dedicated air cleaner. These integrate directly with your HVAC system, working silently in the background to trap every kind of airborne contaminant you’d normally breathe in during the holidays.
Beyond a new filtration system, remember to clean your current HVAC filter often. And if it’s been years since your ducts were cleaned, now’s the perfect time to make up for lost time. A cleaning and inspection guarantees that your heating system doesn’t become yet another source of pollution in your home.
Better Holiday Indoor Air Quality in Portland, OR
Breathe better and feel festive this holiday season with improved air quality from local experts. Contact The Clean Air Act today to learn more about our air quality services and schedule your appointment.
