5 Tips to Improve Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) This Winter

Cold winter weather is the perfect excuse to seal your home tight, dial up the thermostat, and burrow under a thermal blanket. You will undoubtedly stay warm if you take those steps, but you might also trap pollutants, allergens, and airborne particles in your Newport Coast home.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some indoor pollutants can be two to five times higher than those found outdoors. The EPA also states that Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors, with young children, the elderly, and individuals with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases being especially susceptible to the adverse effects of pollution.

At Phoenix Air Conditioning & Heating, we are committed to enhancing the indoor air quality and comfort of homeowners in Newport Coast and surrounding communities. Our professionals offer solutions that filter particulate matter, remove airborne viruses and bacteria, improve ventilation, and balance humidity levels.

You can take action on the indoor air quality in your home with these five tips, which cover both do-it-yourself (DIY) actions and professional solutions.

Replace or Upgrade Your Air Filter

Your HVAC system’s air filter keeps particulate matter out of your furnace or air handler and your lungs. A dirty filter struggles to capture contaminants, and a low-quality filter lacks the density to trap tiny particulates. Both can allow allergens to pass through.

A clean, high-quality filter traps dust, dander, mold spores, and bacteria, preventing them from circulating throughout your home when your HVAC system runs.

Make it a habit to inspect your air filter for dirt every month. Replace standard one-inch filters every 90 days. If you have pets or allergies, consider installing a new filter more often. Thicker filters last six to 12 months. Refer to your manufacturer’s instruction guide for advice on filter replacement frequency.

You will trap even more particles with high-efficiency filters. MERV ratings, which stand for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, indicate an air filter’s efficiency at capturing smaller particles. A higher MERV rating means better filtration, which is why our Phoenix Air Conditioning & Heating professionals can determine if your HVAC system is compatible with a MERV 11 or 13 filter

Add Moisture to Dry Indoor Air

When cold, low-moisture air enters your home, it flows through your HVAC system, is warmed, and its relative humidity level drops.

The problem with dry air—below 30 percent relative humidity—is that it can negatively affect your home and health. It can:

• Dry your sinuses
• Chap your lips
• Cause itchy skin
• Increase your susceptibility to colds and flu
• Warp and crack wood floors and furniture
• Shrink trim

You can monitor humidity with an inexpensive hygrometer, available in home improvement and hardware stores. Try these DIY efforts and see how much moisture they contribute to your living space:

• Line-dry laundry indoors
• Leave the bathroom door open after a hot shower or bath
• Boil a pot of water
• Add more houseplants

Installing a whole-home humidifier is the most effective solution for maintaining optimal humidity levels throughout your home. Ask us at Phoenix Air Conditioning & Heating about integrating a humidifier into your HVAC system. We will assess your heating unit and recommend the best type of humidifier—bypass, fan-powered, or steam—for your specific needs. These devices add moisture to the air flowing through your ductwork.

Clean Your Ductwork

Your ductwork collects dust, pet hair, dirt, pollen, and even debris from construction projects. When your furnace runs, it blasts air through this debris, pushing particles back into your living space.

Removing years of built-up debris and dust ensures that the air passing through your home’s HVAC system is clean and has fewer contaminants.

Professional duct cleaners use specialized, powerful vacuums and brushes to clean deep inside your duct system, breaking up and removing accumulated debris. You can do the same for your air vent registers and grilles by regularly cleaning around and inside the vent to capture dust before your HVAC system blows it out.

Ventilate Your Newport Coast Home

Don’t keep your home airtight! Even in winter, a little fresh air can go a long way toward improving your indoor air quality. A simple way to refresh your air is to open a few windows for just a few minutes a day—ideally on opposite sides of the house to create a cross-breeze. You can also use existing exhaust fans in your kitchen and bathroom to help remove stale, humid, or odor-filled air.

If you want a more consistent and efficient way to bring in fresh air during the colder months, consider installing a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) or an energy recovery ventilator (ERV). These systems continuously pull stale indoor air out of your home and replace it with filtered outdoor air. While exchanging the stale and fresh air, they transfer heat, and in the case of ERVs, some moisture, between the outgoing and incoming air streams. You get fresh, pre-conditioned air without wasting the warmth your heating system has produced.

HRVs are ideal for colder, drier climates, and ERVs work well in more humid areas. Either option can significantly improve indoor air quality and comfort.

Install an Air Purifier

An air purifier can make a noticeable difference in the quality of indoor air during the winter.

The most common and effective type of purifier features a high-efficiency filter that can capture 99.97 percent of airborne particles down to 0.3 microns—including dust, pollen, pet dander, and smoke.

If you are concerned about odors or chemical fumes, look for a purifier that also includes an activated carbon filter, which helps absorb gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Some purifiers combine these filters with ultraviolet (UV) light, which helps kill or inactivate bacteria, viruses, and mold spores as air passes through your HVAC system.

Others use ionization technology to attract and remove fine particles from the air. Photocatalytic oxidation air purifiers use UV light to trigger a reaction in a catalyst, such as titanium dioxide, and produce molecules that break down pollutants, including bacteria, viruses, and VOCs.

Our experts at Phoenix Air Conditioning & Heating can recommend the best choice based on your needs. We will integrate the whole-home device into your HVAC system.

Take Control of Your IAQ Today!

Don’t let poor air quality compromise your winter comfort in Newport Coast. By combining common-sense DIY habits with professional solutions from Phoenix Air Conditioning & Heating, you can ensure your home is a safe and healthy haven all season. Call us today at 949-481-0204 or request service online to schedule your IAQ assessment!