ORLANDO CENTRAL Blog

Prepare a Healthy Home for the Holidays in Central and West Orlando

Your home’s indoor air quality is crucial to a comfortable and safe environment. Especially with the holidays slowly returning to normal and small groups gathering for dinner parties and gift exchanges, it’s important to make sure you’re watching your home’s health as closely as your own. Regardless of whether you’re visiting family and friends this year or you’re hosting a holiday party for a close group, maintaining good indoor air quality can ensure you and your household are one step closer to a healthy space. 

Poor indoor air quality can increase the risk of health concerns and even lead to allergy-like symptoms. One of the most common ways homeowners discover they've neglected their routine improvements is when they regularly wake up with a stuffy nose or itchy throat that goes away before the end of the day. These symptoms and other respiratory irritations could be caused by increased pollutants and allergens circulating through your HVAC system due to unclean or neglected ventilation. Koala Insulation of Central and West Orlando has put together a quick and easy-to-understand Healthy Home Checklist that you and your household can use in your holiday preparations this year. 

How to Improve Indoor Air Quality 

Dust & Grime 

One way you can improve indoor air quality is by regularly dusting and vacuuming the house. Routine cleaning significantly contributes to a healthy home by removing pollutants that stick to surfaces and can also prevent respiratory irritation. This is especially important to consider if one of your household members has a condition like asthma or severe allergies. Dust contains dead skin fibers, fungi, bacteria, and more microscopic mysteries that can be potentially harmful. 

Some experts recommend dusting easy-to-reach areas once a month and harder-to-reach areas every three to six months. It's important to ensure you're not just redistributing dust, though; prevent this by wiping from top to bottom in the same direction and using clean supplies like a microfiber cloth. Once you've finished with the surfaces around your home, wrap up with a thorough vacuuming to collect fallen fibers, stray hair like pet dander, dirt, and sand. 

Air Filters 

The air filters in your home are a crucial part of improving your air quality; regardless of whether you're a first-time homebuyer or an experienced homeowner, you're probably familiar with the need to regularly switch these out for your AC's sake. However, only about 18% of Americans make it a regular habit. Experts recommend changing the air filters in your home between one and three months, which will depend on the system you have. It’s important to note, though, that many other resources encourage trying to change them every month. 

The purpose of air filters is to collect allergens like dust, pollen, and other outside irritators that make their way into your home. When neglected, the dirty air filter can lead to these allergens lingering in the air system. This circulates the pollutants back through your home, increasing health risks. A clogged air filter could also be contributing to higher maintenance costs; not only could it be raising your energy bill, but dirty air filters can lead to significant damage to the HVAC system. 

Fireplaces 

Keeping a well-maintained chimney has many benefits. Cleaning the chimney flue can prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, chimney fires, and smoke backup while increasing the heating efficiency of your fireplace. While a less commonly used commodity in Florida, there are still many homes throughout Orlando that may have a chimney, even if it's only used once or twice throughout the whole year. 

The Chimney Safety Institute of America advises scheduling annual chimney inspections. This can not only protect your home from potential fire damage but reduce health risks imposed by clogged chimney chutes and drafty openings. Expanding on three levels of inspection, the Chimney Safety Institute explains further in this article what you should expect, how to prepare, and what an inspection should cover. 

Insulation About 90% of U.S homes are either poorly insulated or underinsulated. Having an incorrectly insulated home can contribute to many common problems. Insulation contributes to a temperature-regulated space, helping reduce the stress on your HVAC system to maintain the desired temperature and contributing to lower energy bills. During the wintertime, the insulation throughout your walls, floors, and attic space also contributes to keeping the heat inside of your home.

When your local insulation expert comes in to evaluate the home, they're not just looking at the deterioration and age of your current insulation. They check for underinsulated or poorly covered areas, air leaks and problematic holes or cracks in the building envelope, and even potential hazards like moisture retention and mold growth on existing insulation. By scheduling an insulation upgrade, you're not only preparing for a warm winter but ensuring the integrity of your home. 

Scheduling a Free Evaluation in Central & West Orlando 

Your indoor air quality relates to the air quality of your home and how it contributes to the comfort and health of your space. Poor indoor air quality can increase the risk of health concerns and even lead to allergy-like symptoms. If you’re regularly waking up sneezing or feeling stuffy and fatigued, it could be related to poor air quality management. With the holiday season right around the corner, this could increase your chances of getting sick. 

Regardless of whether you're planning on visiting friends and family this season or your house has been volunteered as the entertainment hub, a healthy home is crucial. By regularly cleaning, changing out deteriorated insulation and air filters, and maintaining fireplaces, you can help reduce the outdoor pollutants, dust, and allergens that find their way into your home. Our industry experts at Koala Insulation of Central and West Orlando are dedicated to bringing comfort and safety to your home with cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions. Contact our team today to schedule a free evaluation and learn more about insulation’s impact on your home during the holidays.