7 Steps to Improving Indoor Air Quality in Florida

Breathing is a critical part of everyday life. If you have any doubts about this, trying holding your breath for a few minutes. You’ll soon develop a new appreciation for fresh air. This is especially true for anyone living in Florida.

That’s because everyone needs a constant supply of air in order to survive. And yet most people take air quality for granted. Dirt or polluted air is hazardous to your health, thus the need to make sure that the indoor air quality of your home is as good as possible.

This article takes a look at how to improve indoor air quality for you and your family. Keep reading to discover insight into best practices for providing air that will help keep everyone happy and healthy.

1. Replace Your HVAC Air Filter

The most simple step in keeping indoor air as clean as possible is to replace your air filter. Fortunately, this process is quick and easy.

Every HVAC unit has an air filter that’s designed to filter out dirt, dust, and other pollutants from the air. The key is to replace your air filter every couple of months, or as needed. Thus it’s important to get in the habit of checking your filter on a regular basis.

Filters can be purchased at any local hardware store and are relatively inexpensive. Go ahead and buy several at a time so that you’ll always have one on hand when it’s time for a replacement.

2. Have Your Carpet Professionally Cleaned

The next thing you should do is have the carpet in your home professionally cleaned. This is incredibly important for eliminating many forms of dirt and toxins that get trapped in the fibers of your carpet and then tracked throughout the rooms of your home.

After all, every time you walk into your house from outside, your shoes track in all kinds of dirt and nasty debris. This means that your family and pets will then be exposed to whatever ends up in the carpet fibers, which can then lead to potential inflammation or respiratory issues.

You can also rent a steam cleaner and clean your carpet yourself. But if you truly want your carpet to be as clean as possible, a professional carpet cleaning company will have the equipment and experience necessary to ensure the best possible results.

3. Buy an Air Purifier

If you live in Florida but haven’t yet invested in a quality air purifier, this is definitely something you should add to your must-buy list.

Keep in mind that there’s so much in the air that you can’t see. Every time you take a deep breath, you are pulling all kinds of microscopic debris into your lungs. If this sounds a bit gross, it should.

You can find good air purifiers at most home improvement stores or major retailers. They are relatively inexpensive and are a breeze to operate.

The key is to remember to keep the filter clean. Most filters can be cleaned by simply running water over them, while other air purifiers are designed with replaceable filters.

Having an air purifier in your home will help make the air safer to breathe while also reducing the amount of dust and other small debris that typically winds up in your carpet or settles on your furniture.

4. Don’t Smoke Indoors

When you’re a smoker, it’s no secret that smoke and nicotine odors from cigarettes and other tobacco products tends to seep into everything. This includes everything from furniture and curtain fabrics, to bedding and clothing. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to avoid.

Because of this, you should at least consider going outside to smoke in order to preserve the air quality inside your home and make it a much more healthy place to live. This is another reason to consider using an air purifier in your home.

5. Improve Air Circulation

Homes with good air circulation naturally have better air quality. That’s why it’s so important to find ways to create proper circulation through your house. This helps keep dust, smoke, and other pollutants from settling on furniture, carpet, and clothing.

Make sure the air vent registers in each room are open, close doors to empty rooms, and place fans in strategic locations throughout your home in order to improve airflow.

6. Make Sure Your Home Is Properly Ventilated

Keep in mind that stagnant air isn’t your friend. While good air circulation is definitely important for cultivating proper indoor air quality, proper ventilation is equally important.

Easy tips for ventilating your home include opening doors and windows, drying laundry outside, or installing a ventilation system.

7. Remove Your Shoes Before Entering

Here is another simple yet important tip for improving air quality: always remove your shoes before entering your home.

This might seem like a huge inconvenience, yet wearing shoes in the house is really just a bad habit that tracks pollutants such as dirt and pollen indoors. It also shortens the lifespan of your carpet.

Wearing your shoes also results in having to clean your floors more often. So just get in the habit of taking them off before you step through the front door.

A Guide to Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality

Clean air is a crucial element for healthy living. Fortunately, these tips will help improve indoor air quality so that your lungs can remain as clean and healthy as possible.

Be sure to contact us for a quote regarding A/C and heating maintenance.

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How To Remove Unpleasant Odors With HVAC Maintenance in Fort Myers

Is a bad smell coming out of your Fort Myers HVAC system instead of delivering clean, refreshing air into your home? If so, you need to take action to find out what is causing the problem and get it fixed.

The Environmental Protection Agency lists heating and ventilating systems as some of the possible sources for indoor air pollution. You can be exposed to immediate and/or long-term effects depending on what is causing the problem.

Here are some descriptions to help identify what may be the cause of that less-than-pleasant smell in your home.

Rotten Egg Smell

If you smell rotten eggs in your home or riding in with your conditioned-air, you need to act immediately. It can mean you have a natural gas leak. You need to turn off the gas at the meter and take appropriate action.

The Florida Public Utilities recommends evacuating immediately and calling 9-1-1. They also encourage you to not engage in any activity that can cause a spark, such as smoking, using your landline phone, or lighting a match.

If the gas company determines that the problem lies in your HVAC system, you will need to get that fixed. Do not attempt to turn the gas back on yourself before the gas company comes out to check that it is safe for it to be turned back on.

Oil Smell

If you smell oil while running an HVAC system that wasn’t very recently installed, you either have an oil leak or a problem with your oil burner. Either can lead to more serious problems. Your HVAC technician will be able to determine where the oil leak is coming from or what is causing your oil burner to not function properly.

Mold and Mildew

If your conditioned-air smells musty, it is a sign that you likely have mold or mildew in your HVAC system. The Center for Disease Control suggests having any mold you find in your house removed to prevent damage to your health.

The presence of mold can cause relatively mild health symptoms similar to having a cold. For people with asthma or underlying health issues that have a compromised immune system, the effects due to mold exposure can be much more serious.

Cigarettes

A residual buildup of cigarette smoke can occur when people have smoked cigarettes inside your home. If you’re smelling cigarette smoke when you run your HVAC, you will need to change your air filter and have your system professionally cleaned. To keep the problem from recurring after remedial measures have been taken, ask smokers to smoke outside.

Stinky Feet (Dirty Sock Syndrome)

If water has accumulated in your HVAC system and become stagnant, the conditioned air will smell like dirty or stinky feet. This smell indicates there is likely a drainage problem somewhere in your system. Some causes may be blocked drainage lines, standing water in your drainage pan, or a wet air filter.

Burning Electrical Smell

A burning smell coming from your HVAC system may be something as simple as a dirty air filter. You need to turn off the electricity to your HVAC system at the breaker box prior to checking the condition of your filter.

If it isn’t a filter issue, then call a professional to help you diagnose the problem. You may have a problem with your HVAC motor or faulty wiring, either of which needs to be professionally repaired before turning the electrical back on to your HVAC.

If the burning smell includes a rotten egg or fishy odor, call the fire department because plastic parts in your HVAC may be melting down. Turn off your electricity at the breaker box while you wait outside for them to arrive.

Stinky Trash Smell

If your home begins to smell like something is dead or decomposing, it is possible a rodent or small animal has died inside your HVAC system. If this happens, call a Florida HVAC professional to get it removed ASAP. While waiting for them to arrive, do not run your HVAC and open up windows and doors to help release some of the smell.

Gunpowder Smell

If your HVAC system is emitting a gunpowder smell, it is likely that something in your system has shorted out. For example, the circuit board or the fan’s motor. Your HVAC professional will need to either fix or replace whichever part has failed.

Sewage

When your main sewer line or one of the pipes leading to it backs up or ruptures, the smell can get pulled into your home through your ductwork. Sewage creates a mixture of substances; some of which are not safe to breathe or can create a fire hazard. Call your plumber immediately and open doors and windows to ventilate your home.

Importance of Preventive Maintenance

The best way to ensure your HVAC system lasts and keeps providing you with healthier air is to have your system on a regular maintenance schedule. During these preventive maintenance checks, we can clean and inspect the various parts and operating pressures that keep your system performing optimally.

Call Your Fort Myers HVAC Tech Today

Bad smells coming from your HVAC can be both harmful and unpleasant. The air quality in your home is important to your health, so do not prolong your exposure or simply try to cover up the smell with air deodorizers.

Most of the symptoms above mean there is a problem directly related to your HVAC unit that needs to be corrected. Contact us now to schedule an inspection of your Fort Myers HVAC system.

How To Remove Unpleasant Odors With HVAC Maintenance in Fort Myers syndicated from https://flheatair.com/
How To Remove Unpleasant Odors With HVAC Maintenance in Fort Myers posted first on https://flheatair.com/