When you work from home, there is nothing worse than having surroundings that don’t make it easy for you to concentrate and achieve your potential. It might be stacks of books, piles of clothing, or dishes that need to be put away. But a more troublesome one that you might not consider is your air quality.
With so many people working from home, more people are now inside for a larger proportion of their day; air quality should be at the forefront of considerations for comfort.
Your HVAC plays a big part in making sure that the quality of the air inside your home is high. While most assume that the HVAC only deals with keeping a comfortable temperature, there is more to it. HVAC units have filters, which ensure that the air handler is clean.
The more dust debris and others in the filter, the less well your HVAC can function. Over time without the right maintenance from DUCTZ, those particles will start getting kicked back through the home.
Photo by Vlad Kutepov on Unsplash
So what can you do to ensure you get the best air quality?
Vacuum
The fastest way to get any airborne particles under control is to vacuum. Even if you have a robot vacuum doing a lot of the work, it is important to do a deep vacuum yourself.
Dust settles on all surfaces, even just a few hours after vacuuming – and this means the carpet too. If possible, make sure that people remove their shoes before entering the main living area of the home, too, as this will significantly reduce the amount of debris in the home.
Some of the particles on the bottom of shoes are feces, chemicals, animal dander, mud, and pollen. All these are moved through the house long after the person with the shoes has left.
Chemicals for cleaning
Many years ago, all cleaning products were laden with chemicals that aren’t just toxic to animals and the people, and the environment. Over time we learned how harmful many of these chemicals could be – but most often, they do a great job, and people like to use what they are familiar with.
Cleaning chemicals are one of the items in the house that can emit the most toxins and are a source of significant pollution.
There are several things you can do to tackle this issue. Say goodbye to chemical-laden options, and switch to natural products. Natural products don’t contain bleach, ammonia, or other harsh chemicals. Most often, they will use vinegar and bicarb. You can also make your cleaning agents with lemon, vinegar, and bicarbonate.
Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash
Plants
Amazingly many plants have to absorb specific VOCs and help you have a happier and healthier air quality. Of course, one plant isn’t going to do the job, so you might need to invest in a few plants that you like to help maximize the effect.
Luckily, most plants that help to purify air are easy to care for and look beautiful.
- Pothos removes benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and trichloroethylene
- Peace lily remove carbon monoxide, benzene, xylene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene
- Spider plants are great for people who struggle with plant care and absorb xylene and formaldehyde
- Snake Plants are also easy to take care of and remove the above toxics but not carbon monoxide.
The pollutant removal rate isn’t high, but they do keep your air filtered. And, if you enjoy keeping them, the more you can add and the larger the impact.
Air Purifiers
Do you ever wish there was a simple way to remove the maximum amount of particles from the air without much work? An air purifier can help. Using a filtering system, an air purifier can help eliminate any contaminants in the room. While there are many different types, they have similar processes.
Air purifiers will suck air in, filter it, and put refreshed clean air into the room. Most often, they are mobile, but it is a good idea to put more than one in large rooms and have one per room in the home.
Air purification can also offer those with allergies some great relief.
Room Spray
Much like cleaners with a lot of chemicals in, room sprays can lower the quality of the air in the home. While they do smell nice, they’re not necessarily the best thing. Any synthetic fragrances that are put into the home have an impact on the overall quality – not to mention many of the chemicals are harmful to us.
If you love to have room sprays, candles, and other scents, then opt for ones that are made with natural fragrances.
Open windows
Unless you have an air co system that maintains the temperature in the room, it is a good idea to make sure that you open the windows in the home when possible. For around 30 minutes or more per day, open the windows and doors, and the air circulates through the home. This is a great way to make sure that fresh air is moved into the home and trapped air is moved out.
Humidifier
For many people, they can get stuff and dry noses at night if there isn’t a humidifier – but if the humidifier isn’t well maintained, it can cause more harm than good. Humidifiers that aren’t cleared can quickly get a build-up of bacteria, and when they are turned on, push that out into the surroundings.
It is also important to remember that humidifiers don’t clean any pollutants from the air, but some machines are able to remove microbes from the air.
When you have lower air quality, this leads to an increase in allergies, less comfort, and a potential increase in health issues. All of these issues directly impact those who work at home on a regular basis.
This is just one of the things you can do to get more from your working hours. To increase your general productivity, here are some tips: Design A Successful Office Space At Home – Three Little Z’s
Laura x