We want to nurture the needs of every American home with the safest and most practical way to keep their homes clean, safe, and free from diseases. Home and Health News is your go-to source of information on home health and wellness.
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Since the pandemic, we have been receiving tons of requests and it is just fitting that there has to be a way to help every citizen fix the most complex down to the most basic problems at home. We came up with this website to create an interactive site and have a collection of data and inputs based on actual experiences at home.
5 Easy Steps for a Healthy Home through Indoor Air Quality
Winter is coming!
This means you’ll get to spend more time with your family indoors. You might be planning for the best vacation after colder months, but you might want to start first with how you could best enjoy the rest of the season at home.
Usually, when we say winter, we also think about Christmas, family vacations, and lots of outdoor activities like skiing and ice skating. Little did we know, it is also the flu season.
In this article, you will learn how to combat this perennial problem without hurting your budget and your health.
1. Winter-proof your Home.
Winterproofing your home doesn’t only mean preventing snow from coming into your house. With barely a month before the first snowfall, make sure you have conducted your annual maintenance at home. Is your home properly insulated? If not, you might want to start in the attic by adding more insulation to prevent freezing from the cold. Mind the gaps, check the gutters, and check your heating equipment and your vents. Make sure you keep healthy air circulation at home to prevent any illnesses affecting the entire family.
2. Store enough food.
Food is life! There is no better way of making your stay indoors more enjoyable than to have an abundant supply of food. For sure, you can’t simply storm your way to the market for last-minute groceries so you better have a meal plan for a week or two. To save more, make sure to include every ingredient and supply in your weekly or monthly grocery just to ensure you will not run out of stocks and options for a healthy meal.
3. Plan for your indoor activities.
Staying at home will make you feel bored. Especially the kids! That’s a fact. Be a pro by planning out the best indoor games to enjoy with the entire family. Create a healthy home environment by being with your kids. Enjoy the latest craze they love. Do a Tiktok or two. If you are a fur parent, play Scavenger hunt or Hide and Seek. Level it up by setting an obstacle course to keep you occupied. Holidays are best enjoyed with the family and your pets.
4. Clear up your mind.
Take this opportunity to reflect on life for what a year you had. Find a book, travel through your imagination, and let your mind loose to clear your thoughts. Light up an incense stick to calm your senses and emotions. Listen to your favorite music. Watch a feel-good movie. Find a comfortable spot at home and spare a moment of silence to release all the negativity. Never forget to take this opportunity to connect with your family by giving them time to listen to their thoughts and share your experiences. Research shows that the more time we get to spend with our family, the easier it gets to deal with them emotionally.
5. Maintain good Indoor Air Quality.
Expect to spend more time indoors during the colder months. This means you will use your unit's heating option more frequently than the rest of the year. Keep your HVAC unit in tip-top shape. Check for damages or leaks. Follow the 90-day or 3 months rule of thumb when replacing your air filters. This means, whenever the season changes. Make sure you have a spare furnace filter as well to keep your indoor air quality in good condition, especially when you have pets at home. Most illnesses are linked to poor air quality due to dust, mold, smoke, and other airborne particles as a result of failure to replace their air filters. Changing your filters at home religiously also extends the lifespan of your HVAC unit and helps you avoid sudden repairs in the middle of winter. Filters come in different sizes and ratings depending on your unit and need. If you have pets at home, make sure to choose the air filter replacement with a higher MERV rating, let’s say a MERV 13 and up or a HEPA filter for better filtration, to keep those pet dander and dust away from re-circulating. Choosing the best-rated American-made filter might just be your best option for healthy home products to improve the standard of efficiency for your health. If you are hesitant, you can always seek professional help from your local cleaning and HVAC maintenance services near you. Keeping good indoor air quality will help you keep those viruses and bacteria away so you can stay healthy at home even during the flu season.
Sometimes, all you need is to keep a healthy living-at-home program for your family, so you can maintain a good mental well-being, a bright perspective on life, and a healthy disposition in society.
Always remember that some plans may not go your way so always make sure to just enjoy whatever comes along and live in the moment while you can.
How Does Your Indoor Air Quality Affect Your Health at Home?
Do you know that an average American spends $3,266 on medical costs for Asthma per year?
Yes, true story.
According to the American Thoracic Society, the United States of America spends $81.9 billion each year on medical care, absenteeism, and mortality in Asthma-related cases.
In 1999, the Center for Disease Control’s National Asthma Control Program was founded to help ease the burden of Asthma on the U.S. economy and populace. However, despite the efforts, still families are living on American soil that is burdened by this disease both financially and physically.
The good news is you can prevent asthma at your own home.
Aside from taking your medicine based on your doctor’s prescription, make sure you can remove anything that triggers your asthma at home. These are your airborne pollutants and they come in various sizes and types. They can be visible like pet dander, dust, and smoke. They can also be as microscopic as dust mites, mold spores, cockroach allergens, outdoor air pollution, bacteria and airborne infections.
To eliminate these, it would be wise to maintain a clean and healthy living at home. To do this, you have to make a plan at home, starting with conducting thorough cleaning regularly. Reach out to areas that aren’t usually cleaned on your normal day-to-day household chores. Some dust builds up in time. Make sure to identify these areas and include them in your vacuum tasks. During the day, open your windows and let the sunshine and fresh air decrease the humidity inside your space. This will clean damp areas at home and kill molds naturally.
After identifying the source of whatever triggers your asthma, find time to check your HVAC system. This includes your vents and filters. Your vents should be regularly cleaned as part of your maintenance at home. In cases when doing it yourself seems impossible, you can always seek professional help on maintenance services near you.
The first line of defense when cleaning the air you breathe is your HVAC unit’s air filter. They come in different sizes and types. When choosing the best air filter replacement, make sure to identify the need and capacity of your unit to ensure efficient airflow. You don’t want to overdo your equipment as this may shorten its lifespan and increase your energy bills.
After choosing your air filter size, find the best MERV rating. In general, a MERV 8-10 air filter does the job. If you want to ensure better indoor air quality, you can opt for an AC and Furnace filter with a higher MERV rating. Among the best-sellers are MERV 13 and higher. For some who have more than one pet at home, HEPA filters are branded as the best choice. It is the most recommended type of filter by the U.S. Department of Health because of its ability to remove and trap at least 99.97% of airborne particles.
To ensure a safe and healthy home, make sure to control the source of dust and airborne contaminants that may affect your indoor air quality. Maintain healthy home standards by keeping your home well-ventilated, dry, clean, insulated, organized, and free from pests. A clean and organized home that makes everyone living in it happy and healthy.
Keeping your home healthy should be a top priority. You can only achieve that if you follow these key examples according to the Health Department. Conduct regular maintenance work. That way you can avoid emergency repairs. Free your home from dust by regularly cleaning your windows, rugs, furniture, shelves, carpets, and even pet cribs. Through this, you get to free your homes from pests and bugs. Avoid triggering your asthma by replacing your air filters every three months. Accumulation of dust might harm your health.
In principle, a household is healthy if it is clean, dry, safe, well-ventilated, pest-free, contaminant-free, well-maintained, and thermally controlled. Follow these, and you will find staying at home safer and more enjoyable for the rest of your family.
A healthy home environment should be free from contaminants, dust, and disease-causing germs. Homeowners should consider regular maintenance as well to avoid sudden repairs. Conduct regular replacement of air filters and make sure to vacuum floors and furniture to free your home from allergens.
You can make your home healthier by simply letting more natural light and ventilation in. Dehumidify closed spaces and check for mold formation. Make sure to vacuum regularly and ensure that you are using a High-Efficiency Particulate Air filter. Ensure that the air you breathe inside your private space is safe and free from allergens to avoid getting sick. If you do these things, you are preventing diseases as well while keeping your family safe.
A healthy home is a place that is safe for children. It is free from poisonous substances like lead which is commonly found on paint. It should also be pest-free. The air quality should also be safe. Surfaces and poorly-lit areas have to be free from molds and mildew to avoid asthma attacks. When building and managing a home, the owner should consider the safety hazards to avoid accidents and even fatalities.
