Winter weather, in many areas, always seems to signal the beginning of the seasonal struggle to keep your house free of stale, damp air. Sadly, this air quality issue isn’t just confined to old homes; many new homes are built so airtight that they develop air quality issues too. There are a few ways that you can improve the air in your home this winter.

DON’T ADD TO THE PROBLEM

One of the ways that air quality in a home can worsen is from volatile organic compounds, chemicals, and dust. These things can build up in your home and make it smell bad or affect your family members’ allergies. Opt for natural cleaners instead of harsh chemicals to cut down on the chemical stink. Baking soda and vinegar, alone or together, can clean up just about any mess as well or better than most chemical sprays. Painting in your home can be done with low VOC paint to help cut down on this issue too.  If your home has carpets, make sure that you vacuum and clean out your vacuum’s filters regularly so that you don’t just keep blowing the same dust around. Also, use a damp cloth to dust surfaces in your home so that your air system doesn’t blow it around.

CLEAN THE AIR

While it’s a good idea to circulate the air in your home all year round, you’ll want to make sure that any air filters that you have in your system have been cleaned or replaced recently to avoid putting extra strain on the system and blowing dust through your ducts. To keep particles out of your duct system, a good choice is to install a filter for the air that’s entering your home. To help keep the heat in your house while still allowing for proper ventilation, consider installing a heat recovery ventilator which transfers the warmth of outgoing air to the fresh incoming air, reducing the heat loss that can happen.

GET THE MOISTURE OUT

Excess moisture in your home can cause damage to your window frames and contribute to mold and mildew in your home. Too much moisture can not only cause damage to your home, but it can contribute to health problems for anyone living in the home as well as mold and mildew need moisture to grow.

Some ways to deal with an overabundance of moisture in your home include: using your kitchen and bathroom fans to push the moisture outside, avoiding hanging clothes to dry in any room that doesn’t have a fan, and installing humidity sensors for your bathroom fans. The great thing about your extractor fans having a sensor on them is that you can just set them to the proper level and let them run until the air hits the proper humidity. The colder the temperatures are outside, the lower the humidity should be inside your home.

Reducing the moisture and increasing the airflow in your home can make your home much more comfortable for you and your family.