JACKSONVILLE Blog

How to Have a Healthy Home for the Holidays in Jacksonville

Whether you're planning to travel during this holiday season or your home has been volunteered as the entertainment hub, it's important to establish a healthy home before the season gets underway. With the amount of planning, travel, shopping, and movement that comes with the holidays, considering your indoor air quality is most likely not at the top of your to-do list. However, it's one of the most important factors to check in order to have a safe and comfortable home ready for the season.

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.

How to Improve Indoor Air Quality

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 home buyer 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.

Dust & Grime

One way you can help out your air filters is by regularly dusting and vacuuming the house. This contributes to indoor air quality 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.

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. With temperatures in Jacksonville expected to be lower than the past few years, it’s important to give any fireplaces in your home a thorough examination before roasting chestnuts on an open fire.

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

It's important to consider the health of your household and visitors as you make plans for the upcoming holiday season. With poor indoor air quality, you're more likely to increase health risks and irritate respiratory conditions. 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.

The industry experts at Koala Insulation of Jacksonville are dedicated to making your home comfortable and safe while also considering your time and budget. With the help of our team, we can not only help improve your indoor air quality and temperature regulation, but also the energy efficiency of your home. Contact Koala Insulation of Jacksonville for more information on insulation’s effects on your home and to schedule a free evaluation.