An interesting recipe is created when you mix the heat of the summer, bitter vehicle emissions, crusty industrial pollution particulates, briny sulfur dioxide and other harsh airborne contaminates. This recipe turns into your favorite robust boiling hot soup of SMOG! This is not a healthy recipe. I know what you are thinking…only people in big cities go on smog diets. Wrong! The wind carries the smog into the rural areas too. It doesn’t stop there, it also finds its grimy way into our homes. While there is little we can do to eliminate smog when outside, there are a few things we can do to lower the levels in our homes.
Clean Vents
This smoggy recipe gets into your home through the doors, windows, etc. Then it is added to the moisture in the air from your cooling system. This can create even more fun ingredients for your smog soup like MOLD – dun dun dunnn. If your vents are flowing with icky ingredients then that means your air will be too.
Making sure your vents are clean will help improve the air quality in your home. Dust, vacuum, and sweep on a more regular basis. Keep the surfaces in your home reasonably clean to prevent particulates from entering your HVAC system. Of course you can also make it easy on yourself by calling us to come clean your vents for you.
Close Up & Turn AC On
In the humid weather keep your house closed up and ac on. On a cool night You may be tempted to open up your windows, however, this will bring in humidity along with possible mold pollen and other irritants. It takes many hours to remove humidity from your furniture, carpet and furnishings. It will end up costing you more, and negatively affect your indoor air quality. During extended hot periods set your thermostat on Hold! Do not set it too low, your system may not be able to keep up.
Note: if its cool and dry you can open up your house!
Keep Humidity in Check
Humidity is a foul ingredient that pairs well with icky mold. Cooking, bathing, clothes drying, and dishwashing are all ways moisture is introduced into your home. Benefits of lower humidity include better smells, decrease in allergies and decreased damage to the structure of your home.
Here are some helpful tips on how to keep the humidity in check…
- Run Exhaust Fans in the House. Those nifty little fans that are in your kitchen and bathroom help clear out odors and excess humidity. Run these fans when cooking or bathing.
- Use a Dehumidifier. Run your dehumidifier a few hours every day to see results in a flash!
- Did you know that there are plants that help reduce humidity? You can dehumidify and save energy consumption by growing Boston ferns in your home. Now this IS a healthy ingredient. Who knew?
- Keep a Clean AC Filter! Air conditioning already helps prevent humidity by pulling in air from outside and filtering out the moisture but it can’t do its job correctly if the filter is dirty. Dirty filters prevent the flow of air which enables humidity.
Keep Your Air Conditioner in Tiptop Shape
Keeping your AC unit tuned up is a sure way to save yourself some money and also keep your home from turning into soggy smog soup. Not only will your unit get to live a longer life it will also keep you from costly repairs that are sure to cost way more than a tune up. While tuning up we can catch any current problems as well as potential future problems.
We don’t want you to be worried about your air quality this summer. We want you to be prepared so that you can spend more of your time doing things you love like taking a vacation near the ocean, having a picnic in the park, hosting a cookout or maybe even a water balloon fight! Give us a call if you decide you need any HVAC help. We will eliminate the tragic combination of ingredients that come together to create that awful smog soup. Now you can create your own recipe for summer fun!