While many people associate allergy symptoms with pollen, pollution and other irritants in the air outside your home, your indoor air quality can have a large impact on your symptoms. According to the EPA, “In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has shown that the air within homes and other buildings can be more critically polluted than the external air in even the biggest and most industrialized cities. Other research says that people fill approximately 90 percent of their time within a home or building. Therefore, for many people, the threats to health may be bigger due to more exposure to air pollution indoors than outdoors.”
Our Auburn homes are polluted by outdoor allergens like pollen that make their way inside, and by irritants like pet dander, dust mites, mold spores, chemicals from average household products and more. So, what can you do about it? The answer is already in your home! It’s your HVAC system.
You should understand that your HVAC can be your supporter or your nemesis when it comes to managing your allergies. A dirty system can foster and circulate allergens all over your home, so the solution is to keep your system operating well. Primarily, you need to keep your air filters clean. Set a reminder or set it on your calendar to look at them monthly and exchange them out when you see that they’re becoming dirty. They’ll normally need to be changed every two or three months, but this can fluctuate considerably from house to home. You can buy filters that vary from the most basic level of filtering to hospital-grade HEPA filters. The specialists at Forster Heating can help you decide which type of filter will keep your home clean and keep your HVAC operating properly.
It’s also important to have your system regularly checked by a professional to keep your interior air quality where it should be. As well as inspecting that all-important filter, your service expert will clean the inner workings of your system and make sure that everything is operating as it should. You can also ask your technician if a duct cleaning would be needed.
When it comes to your internal air quality, you can put your faith in the experts at Forster Heating to take good care of you. Besides helping you keep your HVAC system maintained, we can help you ensure you have the tools you need to combat poor indoor air quality and allergens—like humidifiers and whole home air purifiers. Just give us a call at 530-885-8081 to certify that your home’s air is healthy and fresh.