How to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air quality (or IAQ for short) refers to the air quality within and around structures and buildings. According to the EPA, indoor air pollution can be 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor air pollution.
IAQ is commonly affected by:
- Mold, pet dander, viruses, and dust mites
- Cleaning supplies and personal care products
- Combustion products such as tobacco smoke, gas, fireplaces, and more
- Building materials such as carpet, cabinetry, insulation, and more
Poor indoor air quality is commonly associated with symptoms such as:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Irritation of the nose, eyes, lungs, and throat
- Respiratory disease
- Cancer
Exposure to some pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, can cause immediate death.
How to improve indoor air quality in 3 easy steps:
1.) Eliminate the individual sources of pollution and/or reduce their emissions. Certain sources, such as gas stoves, can be adjusted to decrease the number of emissions. Other sources (such as asbestos) can be enclosed or sealed.
2.) Inadequate ventilation is a common reason for low indoor air quality. Opening the doors and windows (when the weather permits) is a good way to increase ventilation and let fresh air into your home. For allergy sufferers, it is best to check the pollen level before doing so.
3.) Replace your furnace filters on a regular basis. A dirty air filter is non-effective at capturing the pollutants that may be present in your home and will also decrease the efficiency of your HVAC unit. Therefore, it should be replaced at least every 3 months depending on the number of building occupants.
When replacing your air filter, it is important to know which Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) Rating you need. Here is a chart showing what each MERV Rating removes from the air in your home or business.
Please note that for most homes, a MERV 11 rating is the recommended highest you would want to go. Some HVAC units cannot handle the higher MERV Ratings because of the restricted airflow.
For best practice, we recommend changing your air filters at least every 3 months. However, this number can vary depending on your indoor air quality and the number of people and pets living in your home. As a general rule, check your filter once a month and if it looks dirty, then change it. If not, you can leave it in and check back again the next month.
Changing your filters over a consistent period of time will not only help protect your heating and cooling system, but it will also help create a healthy indoor environment in your home.
Other Ways to Improve Your Air Quality
Another way to ensure good indoor air in your home is to invest in an air purifier. While air filters will help keep high levels of pollutants from traveling through your home, an air cleaner will help trap even more contaminants lingering in the environment.
There are many air purifiers on the market today, we recommend purchasing one with a HEPA filter. HEPA stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air which means that the filter has been tested and rated to capture air pollutants as small as 0.3 microns. HEPA filters are too powerful to install in most residential home furnaces, but you can still enjoy the long-term benefits through an air purifier with a HEPA filter.
To determine what the common culprits are for the indoor air quality in your home, use an IAQ Test Kit. This will allow you to test for the most common contaminants such as pollen, dust mites, mold, fibers, and skin cell fragments. By pinpointing what problem you are having, you will be able to find a solution that fits your needs without wasting money on products that may or may not solve the problem.
Summary
There are many factors including how many people or pets live in the home, where you live, when your home was built, if someone smokes, has bad allergies, etc. that can cause you to have a higher indoor pollution level in your home. FiltersFast.com is here to equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to live a happier, healthier life starting with creating a healthy environment in your home. If you have any questions, share them with us in the comments!
Katie says
Brett, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Brett Alan Kuntze says
Furnace air filters is important for multiple reasons , first for your breathing enjoyment but also very important for the functioning of your furnace itself.. Without filter, you will find out that there is dust build up deep inside your furnace where air get heated or cooled then blown throughout the ductworks. Dust buildup will “insulate” against the blown air getting in to get heated or cooled. Dust will get inside the heating element and the cooling coil inside your furnace , unseen. If you doubt me, you will need to take apart your furnace to see for yourself how dirty it gets inside… Dust buildup will sometimes get caked from humidity from activity indoors or the weather itself.. and become permanent without any chance of getting blown off by the duct fan .
Many of you may already know that .. yet , I want to keep pressing on with more details if not semantics over the workings of our furnaces in general and the filter itself… Why the filter , you may ask me.. Well, I notice that most filter housings found in many furnaces of different brands are not exactly tight like you would expect to see with your automotive air filters that comes with rubber seals to ensure that nothing get past them., right?
So,I just want to extend my concerns ov er the substandard design qualities of the air filter housings in so many furnaces.. maybe more expensive and far more efficient furnaces are better housed.. but I have not seen them in those tony mansions, for example… I assume that they are all same.. Despite the mervel levels you see around like Mervel 8 or 15 and so forth for better filtering qualities… they probably makes little differences as far as the shoddy designs with those fitler housings goes .. They are usually designed with sheet metal folded crudelyandloosely to make it wytoo easy to slip in and out new furnace filters .. I think that we should redesign our furnace filter housings to resemble automotive air filter housings.. that are very air tight..
What I did with my furnace filter is to add a weatherstrip foam aroundthe edge of the housing onthe inside to make it somewhat tighter to insert my new filter repalcement . as well as keep it pressed down .. it is not easy to do with those flimsy paper made furnace filters… I am frustrated…
but I feel good about how I did it.. As furnaces vary with the designs of filter housings , it is up to you to figure out how to make it tighter .. It iwll be tricky to pull it out when it is time to replace it.. Very frustrating!!
I urge furnace manufactureres tolook at the filter housings again and redo them as well as furnace filter manufacturers to work with the former to help make the furnace filter housings tighter…
This will save a lot of households money interms of utility bills as our furnaces will be less dusty and less ineffiecient through the caking of dust deep inside our furnaces over the times..
Thank you!
Katie says
James,
Thank you for sharing this information. It is recommended that air filter be replaced at least every 3 months, but the frequency at which you replace your air filters is completely up to you.
Thanks!
Katie says
Richard,
Can you share what your question about cost is referring to?
James Witt says
Split-air system manufacturer recommends replacing home Air Return Filters every 4 weeks plus 2 days.
Tampa/New Port Richey, Florida inspection services recommend M.E.R.V. 8, Air filters.
Each unit to be inspected at least once each year, to keep manufacturer Ten-year warranty coverage.
One use air filters, Dry filters, are recommended. * CAUTION * Wash-able filters can force tiny water-droplets into air ducts, increase mold and mildew in Florida’s high humidity climate, homes. This can require entire new R-8 Duct System, Labor, Florida Permit and Tax. Consider U.V. Light usage. Take care.
Thank you for your information page.
richard harrell says
whats thecost?
Katie says
Thanks so much for sharing this resource!
https://passiveknowledge.com says
Incredible knowledge about improving air quality on https://passiveknowledge.com/2019/08/17/how-to-improve-indoor-air-quality-in-your-home/
Katie says
Eli,
We are glad that you found the information that we have provided valuable. Please let us know if you have any other questions, we’re here to help!
Kory says
Hello,
Yes! getting your ducts clean is a great thing to do and will help your filters last longer and improve the air quality in your home.
Thank you,
Ridley Fitzgerald says
It’s good to know this about improving air quality in the home. I like how you said that we need to replace the filters every few months. I’ve heard that getting the ducts cleaned could help with that, too. Have you heard about that?
Dale C Rubin says
I think this inspection will be for long term according to its features it seems a cool and elegant way of air quality. Much appreciated!
Dale C Rubin says
I think this will be long lasting according to its features it seems a cool and elegant way of air quality. Much appreciated!
Kory says
Our Customer Experience Department will be more than happy to assist you in finding the exact water filter you need along with any other questions you may have. They can be reached at [email protected] or at 866-438-3458, Monday – Friday 9AM-5PM ET.
liz pereira says
i need a filter water and air conditioner for my house