Improving Your Air Quality

Much attention is paid to the harmful effects of smog and other outdoor air pollutants, but the air we breathe inside our homes and workplaces can contain any number of airborne particles and pollutants. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than the air we breathe outside.

The air in your home or workplace can be improved significantly by taking action against air pollutants. With very little investment of time or money, much can be done to improve your air quality.

You can start improving the air quality in your home today. Along with changing, and possibly upgrading, your furnace filter, you can employ a variety of tips and strategies for improving the air you breathe. With a few small, inexpensive steps such as vacuuming and dusting more often, you'll be breathing better and feeling better.

Prolonged exposure to indoor pollutants can lead to long-term health problems, but there are many simple steps you can take to improve your air quality. The EPA cites three basic strategies to improving the air quality in your home. You must (A) Control the sources of pollutants, (B) Try to circulate and ventilate the air in your home as much as possible, and (C) "Clean" the air by maintaining clean, efficient furnace filters.

The first step in improving your air quality is controlling the sources of pollutants. Take these simple measures to start limiting the pollutants in your air:

• Vacuum and Dust: By simply vacuuming and dusting on a regular basis, you will significantly reduce the number of harmful dust particles in the air.
• Store Chemicals Outside: Instead of storing toxic chemicals such as paints, paint thinner, and pesticides indoors, try to keep them in a separate storage shed.
• No Smoking: Do not allow smoking in your home. Cigarette smoke is a harmful carcinogen and, to most, is extremely unpleasant.
• Take Your Shoes Off: By not wearing shoes around the house, you greatly decrease the proliferation of harmful dust particles in the air.
• Fresh Air: Increase the circulation of outdoor air into your home by opening windows or installing window fans.

The most important and efficient way to ensure that you are breathing clean air in your home is by properly maintaining your furnace filters.

When shopping for furnace filters, keep in mind the MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values) rating. This is the industry standard evaluation of a filter's efficiency. The MERV rating is based on a scale from 1 to 16. The higher the MERV rating, the more efficient the furnace filter.

A clean, high-quality furnace filter is truly the only means by which you can "clean" the air in your home. Efficient furnace filters like the HEPA filter actually trap harmful dust particles and keep them from circulating in the air.