Am I going to suffocate without opening my windows? March 14, 2015   Subscribe This is silly and at this point I feel like I should know better: I'm a little lost when it comes to using air purifiers and keeping windows open/closed. It makes sense that the less pollutants get inside the better, except I've never had to keep all the windows closed for long and I keep thinking that no fresh air will be terrible. How do normal people do this? What do I breathe if not fresh air coming in from outside this is so confusing help! No, this is not a survey. We're just curious how you feel about air purifiers. If you're anything like us, you've probably already read at least a dozen times or more that the air inside your house can be 10 times as polluted as the air outside. So what's a person to do? We like to open the windows during the summer, but that tactic doesn't work so well in the winter. What do you do? Do you use an air purifier? We have a friend with mild allergies and asthma and three cats who swears by hers.

for a decent price. She runs it in her bedroom every night. Indoor air quality is a big concern when it comes to maintaining a green home. What do you do to improve yours?Improve your indoor air quality Do you need to improve your indoor air quality? What do you smell when you walk through your front door? Do you smell air fresheners, dryer sheets? Who knows what chemicals are in these products and how many are harmful to your health? Who knows what they do when they accumulate in your body? Or what their synergistic effects might be? [“Synergistic” means that 2 + 2 = 5, that when two or more are added together, their total effects might be worse than the sum of either separately.] The Environmental Protection Agency added synthetic fragrances to the list of chemicals that can promote asthma. Get rid of synthetic fragrances This is an easy first step to improve your indoor air quality. Though there are costly laboratory tests that can give you the total levels of volatile compounds in your air, you can improve air quality on your own, without laboratory testing.

Simply discard anything with fragrance, including the following: Air fresheners, including plug-insMinimize your exposure to plastics, especially around food, water, and in your children’s bedrooms. There are plenty of alternatives to plastic. Use glass containers for food storage. Avoid water in plastic bottles.Minimize your exposure to combustion by-products. Step 4: Assess if you have sufficient fresh air in your home.georgia clean air force repair watch Step 5: Minimize exposure to pesticides.diy air cleaner workshop Step 6: Reduce levels of dust and other particulates in your air.benefits of using air purifier Cleaning – To improve your indoor air quality, u The whole system needs to be cleaned, not just ducts.

Replace ductwork that has porous lining. Avoid chemicals and fogging. Mechanical cleaning is recommended. If your system had a superior, pleated filter from day 1, it may not need to be cleaned ever – though have the coils checked from time to time. On the other hand, usually contractors would not protect ducts from construction dust, so construction dust may need to be vacuumed out of ductwork. Remember, dust collects on horizontal surfaces. If you feel stuffy in bed, your bedspread or blankets may need to be washed. What about a bedspread that needs to be dry-cleaned? Try shaking it out outside. In the olden days, the blankets and quilts were hung on a clothes line and beaten with something like a tennis rack for dust removal. Step 7: Reduce exposure to biological contaminants. Most people know that deer can carry ticks that cause Lyme disease. It is not so well known that mice can, too. See the A-Z list and scroll down to “Ticks” for how to reduce the risk of exposure.

Step 8: Reduce your exposure to formaldehyde Formaldehyde is a sensitizing agent, that is, it can make you more sensitive to other chemicals that didn’t bother you before you had an exposure to formaldehyde. New buildings materials and new furniture, drapes, etc., can contain formaldehyde. New carpeting is no longer supposed to contain it. Step 9: Reduce your exposure to lead paint. Lead paint was outlawed in 1978 but painters were allowed to use up their supplies, so conceivably houses painted in 1979 or 1980 might have lead paint. If lead paint is buried under other layers of paint, it likely is not a health issue, unless someone starts sanding. The problem comes when lead paint is in bad condition, and the flaking dust adds lead to the air. Another issue is when the inside runners of window frames were painted with lead paint. Every time the window goes up or down, lead dust could be released. Step 10: Reduce your exposure to asbestos. Old houses likely have asbestos somewhere, but the most obvious place would be pipe insulation.

For testing, a small bulk sample can be forwarded to a lab such as Microbac Lab, 4359 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112, 717-661-9700, asbestos or lead, $15-20. Read the EPA brochures on asbestos, www.epa.gov/iaq and search on Asbestos. Last words on Indoor Air Quality Some years back, I was asked to conduct air quality testing in a vacant cottage on the grounds of an estate. The homeowners’ daughter and son-in-law, with their new baby, were coming for a visit, and my clients wanted to make sure the air quality was good. I ran a VOC scan for volatile organic compounds, a standard air quality test. An indoor sample was done, as well as an outdoor sample for comparison. Results showed indoor test levels just about the same as outdoor levels. The lab fees for the tests were in the area of $800. I thought to myself: “Just wait until the new family arrives, with their cleaning and polishing products and their personal care products and their air fresheners and their car exhaust in the attached garage.