Prepare Your Home's Indoor Air Quality for Flu Season

Flu season comes around the same time each fall. With that comes advertisements for the flu shot and good handwashing practices. These reminders are important, but washing your hands and sneezing into your elbow is just the starting point to keeping yourself and your family healthy, especially when we spend most of our time at home.

Improving indoor air quality creates a healthier home environment for you and your family. Eliminating airborne illnesses, bacteria, allergens, and other contaminants means you won't have to worry about your home making you sick and creates a more comfortable, enjoyable space overall.  

How Poor Air Quality Causes Flu Symptoms

While many people are allergic to allergens in the spring and summer air, you can still experience these issues during flu season in wintertime. By improving the indoor air quality, you can help limit allergies all year round and reduce the symptoms that mimic the flu. 

Signs of an Indoor Air Quality Issue: 

• Irritation of ears, nose, mouth, and throat
• Coughing or difficulty breathing
• Sneezing
• Dizziness
• And more

Easy Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality

• Routinely changing air filters: The air filters in HVAC systems and air purifiers help keep the air clean. Make sure to check your air filters this season to ensure your system is not circulating polluted air through the home.

 

• Utilizing cooking hoods and vents: When in the kitchen, it’s easy to get wrapped up in what you’re doing and forget to open the stove hood or crack open a window to facilitate air movement. Soot and smoke can build up over time and cause discomfort for those with sensitivities and respiratory issues. 

 

• Frequent vacuuming and washing: The rugs, carpets, linens, and window treatments in our homes can harbor many irritants. Dust, dirt, dander, even some viruses, and germs can linger on fabric for extended periods. Scents cling to fabric and can also irritate allergies or respiratory sensitivities. 

Take control of your home's indoor air quality with these improvements, which create a more comfortable and healthier environment overall.

Home Radon Testing During Flu Season 

Another important consideration for indoor air quality within the home is radon testing. Natural gas exists all around us and usually has no impact on our daily lives. However, toxic home radon is one of the leading causes of lung cancer in the U.S. and can cause serious health issues for you, your family, and your pets. 

What are the signs of radon poisoning?  

• Persistent coughing
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Chest pains
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Fatigue
• And the sudden increase in chronic infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia

The effects of hazardous radon levels can mimic allergies or the natural worsening of a pre-existing health issue such as asthma, the common cold, or the flu. As time goes on, however, these symptoms will only worsen and could prove detrimental with prolonged exposure.

Professional Indoor Air Quality Improvement

When it comes to indoor air quality, calling professionals is always a good idea - especially in the winter. An indoor air quality expert can inspect the whole home, provide a detailed examination, and create a plan to reduce indoor irritations and health risks.  

There are many possible solutions that an air quality contractor can suggest improving overall comfort and happiness in the home. 

Professional Indoor Air Quality Solutions: 

• Installing an air purifier: Purchasing an air purifier can decrease the risks of getting sick during cold and flu seasons. These machines filter the air and catch many harmful pathogens, toxins, irritants, and germs. 

 

• Purchasing a humidifier: Keeping the home’s indoor humidity level stable during the winter is very beneficial. Illnesses tend to be more exhausting on our bodies in the fall and winter months, eventually wearing us down. The extra humidity can help your body fight off sickness and infection. 

 

• Installing a low-level Carbon Monoxide Monitor: 50,000 Americans a year end up in the ER with carbon monoxide poisoning, and about 430 people a year die from the gas. A Carbon Monoxide monitor can help monitor this, so you know your home is free of this toxic substance. At National Radon Defense, our AirAdvice test can help detect these levels, as well as other air pollutants. 

 

• Duct cleaning & sealing services: As the air from your HVAC system flushes through the ducts and out of the vents, it tends to drag material with it along the way. That means the system can distribute anything in the attic, including dust, dirt, and even biological material from pests that may be hiding, throughout the home.

 

• Check up on your insulation: Most professionals recommend checking and updating insulation every 15 years or so, depending on the type in your home. An improperly insulated attic can cause a variety of health problems. So, if something seems off, it’s best to have a professional look. 

Finding an Indoor Air Quality Contractor

Here at National Radon Defense, we understand the stress associated with looking for a reputable contractor to invite into the home. It can feel like an uphill battle when finding a professional you can trust with sensitive issues like radon testing and creating healthier indoor air.

That’s why we’re proud to work with local contractors across the US and Canada who create a network of trusted, highly trained professionals that homeowners and customers can count on. 

If you’re thinking about checking up on the air quality in your home, reach out to schedule your appointment with your local expert today!