Preparing Your Home For Spring Allergens

Spring is a wonderful time when the weather gets warmer, flowers bloom and the lethargy of winter begins to wash away. However, it is also a time when allergens such as pollen are at their most numerous and potent, making it a difficult time for those who suffer from allergies.

For that reason, it is important to make sure that your hope is properly protected from allergens by improving its air quality.

By taking steps to improve the air flow and filtration in your home, you will not just be protecting yourself from pollen-related allergies, but also keep out germs and various bad odors as well. Here are some of the ways to prepare your home for the coming allergy season.

Install Efficient Air Filters

Installing air filters on your heating and cooling systems is a no-brainer when you have allergies, but which filters are the best ones to use? The experts recommend making sure that all the air filters in your Boston home are high-efficiency particulate arrestance (HEPA) filters. A HEPA filter is designed to trap and remove the smallest particles from air, including pollen and dust particles that cause allergies.

To qualify for the HEPA rating, a filter needs to remove over 99.97% of 0.3 micrometer or larger particles in the air. It is important to make sure that the filters you are using are officially HEPA-rated, since many of the filters that do not meet this criteria are often advertised as “HEPA-like” or “98% HEPA” but don’t offer the same level of allergen protection as the real thing.

Adding a HEPA filter to your air conditioning unit will make the air in your home cleaner, but even more helpful is a free-standing air purifier. It will automatically cycle the air through its filter and remove the tiny impurities hiding within it, making you air cleaner and removing allergens from it.

Efficient filters keep the allergens from outside of your home from making it inside and causing you problems while you are eating, resting or sleeping. However, what about the allergens that are already present within your home?

Protect Your Home from Mold

While the pollen that plants and trees release into the air in the spring can often trigger allergies, you can become more susceptible to them if you are already exposed to a common household allergen – mold. Mold can grow anywhere within your home that is dark and wet and releases spores into the air that can cause irritation and allergies.

Even if the mold spores do not cause allergies on their own, they tie up your body’s immune system and make the pollen allergies worse. In addition to causing health problems, mold can cause bad odors and even deterioration of your home’s structure which can cause very serious problems in the long run. So how can you fight mold within your own home?

The first thing to do is try to find any patches of mold you may already have. It can be in obvious places like the cellar or bathroom, but can also develop in the kitchen as well. Some other areas to check are around pipes, windows and doors. All of those can develop leaks that release moisture that mold needs to grow. Those should be sealed and insulated to make sure that the mold does not return.

Another useful addition to your Boston home’s anti-mold arsenal is a dehumidifier. A high level of humidity in the air helps mold grow as well as makes it easier for mold spores to travel. Make sure to select a humidifier that is the right size for your home and clean it out regularly for best effect.

Bring in the Professionals

There is a lot that you can do to improve the air in your home and reduce the effect of allergies, but there is always a benefit to consulting a professional air inspection company. Professionals have the experience with all sorts of air contaminants and can often quickly determine both the problems present in your home’s air as well as possible solutions for them.

They also have access to specialized equipment that can make it easier for you to take action. For example, an air particle counter can give a snapshot of air quality in each different area or even room within your home.

This can help narrow down the location of mold, a good location for a HEPA filter or a window that is not properly insulated. A professional service can also perform tests on your home’s air to identify exactly what types of allergens or irritants are present. That can also make it easier to isolate and take care of whatever is causing the problems with your home’s air.

Finally, they can identify other common issues with your home’s air circulation like a lack of ventilation or high levels of toxic gases like carbon dioxide or ozone that can also cause health issues. Most importantly, a professional service can save you time and effort and allow you to enjoy cleaner air much faster than a do-it-yourself solution would.

Be Sure to Maintain the Air Quality in Your Home

Maintaining good air quality in your Boston home is the key to protecting yourself and your family from allergies and allergens in the spring. For best effect, make sure that you are using high-quality HEPA-certified filters to filter as many particles as possible from your home’s air. You should also find and remove as much mold as possible from your home and take steps to make your home less-suited for mold growth by fixing leaks and installing a dehumidifier to keep your air dry.

And in order to make sure that your home’s air is up to the highest standards of quality, get in touch with a professional air inspection service and have them test the air within your home. They can help you discover both the causes and the solutions for any issues you may have with allergens.

An excellent choice in Boston, MA is Atlantic Heating and Air, so don’t hesitate to contact them at (617) 566-6990 today!