14 Ways to Breathe in Cleaner Air at Home: Overcome Allergies

If you have trouble concentrating or suffer from coughing, sneezing, headaches, nausea, itchy eyes, or a stuffy nose, you may be allergic to your home, and you should breathe in cleaner air. This condition, called sick building syndrome, can also lead to asthma, heart disease, and cancer.

Today’s energy-efficient buildings allow less outdoor air to flow in and more pollutants to build up inside. Recent studies have found that the air inside many homes and offices is more polluted than the outdoors, even in the most polluted cities.

Although you won’t always be able to smell indoor air pollutants, a quick and easy way to tell if your home has poor ventilation is to step outside for a few minutes. If you notice any odors when you come back in, your home needs better ventilation.

If you think your home has a serious pollution problem, contact your state or local health department to have it tested. In the meantime, try some of these easy, do-it-yourself remedies. You’ll be increasing air movement and cleaning the air, which could help you feel better.

14 Ways to Breathe Cleaner Air at Home

Fix your fireplace: Never burn pressure-treated wood in your fireplace, it contains chemicals. Clean and maintain your chimney and flue, and repair any cracks.

Keep it clean: Clean your house regularly. Use a central vacuum system that is vented outdoors or has a high-efficiency filter.

Pass on the pesticides: Don’t use more of a pesticide than recommended. You won’t be killing more pests, you’ll just be increasing the level of chemicals you and your family will be exposed to. Use natural means of pest control when possible.

Cut down on moisture: Standing water, water-damaged materials, or wet surfaces are perfect breeding grounds for mold, mildew, bacteria, and insects. One of the worst allergens, house dust mites, just love to damp, warm environments. You can control the growth of these irritants by controlling the humidity in your home. To do this, empty and clean the evaporation/condensation trays in air conditioners and refrigerators often. Clean humidifiers regularly and change the water daily. If your carpets get flooded, clean and dry them as quickly and thoroughly as possible, or replace them. Make sure your basement is clean and dry.
Store chemicals safely. Follow label instructions for using and storing paints, cleansers, and other chemicals. Make sure lids are on tightly and dispose of old containers properly. Check your home for asbestos and lead-based paint.

Choose real wood: Pressed wood products, like particle-board, plywood paneling, and fiberboard, emit formaldehyde.

Change your filters: Clean or change the air filters on your heating and air conditioning units every few months -more often if you find them dirty. Have your units serviced regularly to keep them running smoothly.

Give your gas stove a tune-up: If you have a gas stove, make sure it is adjusted properly to reduce emissions. The flame tip should be blue, not yellow. A yellow tip means more pollutants. Call your gas company if you need your burner adjusted. If you’re in the market for a new stove, buy one with a pilotless ignition. This means there is no continuously burning pilot light. And remember, don’t ever use a gas stove to heat your home.

Install UV bulbs: Canadian researchers tested ultraviolet lights, which they say can kill germs, inside central heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. After only three weeks, there were fewer bacteria and fungi on the surfaces of the ventilation system. Workers had fewer headaches and eye irritations, and less difficulty concentrating. This is safe, costs very little, and no one knows they’re there. Talk to an electrician about installing ultraviolet lights in your home’s ventilation system.

Let in some fresh air: Unless you’re extremely allergic, open up the windows and doors occasionally to blow out stale air and irritants. Provide good ventilation when you’re doing things that increase pollution, like painting, stripping, sanding, or cleaning.

Pick a dry cleaner carefully: Don’t use a dry cleaner that returns your clothes with a strong chemical smell. They either aren’t drying the items properly or aren’t removing as much of the cleaning solvent as they should. Hang freshly dry-cleaned clothes in the garage or outdoors for a day or so.

Clean the air: Air cleaners vary from small portable models to whole-house systems. The best ones collect lots of pollutants and have a high air circulation rate. How well they work will depend on how strong the pollution is in your home and how well the systems are maintained.

Vent to the outside: Turn on bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans, but make sure they vent to the outdoors, not back into your home. Vent your clothes dryer to the outside. Run a window air conditioning unit with the vent open. Install window, attic, and crawl space fans. Vent a room by slightly opening a door or window where you’re running a gas or kerosene space heater.

Boost circulation: Look into installing a mechanical system that brings outdoor air into your home. Some include energy-efficient heat recovery ventilators, also known as air-to-air heat exchangers.