As we enter the new year of 2021, it’s hard to believe that we’ve spent almost an entire year in a global pandemic. This year Canadians are gearing down for the winter months while Ontario continues in lockdown mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With more families staying indoors, working from home and homeschooling this year, our indoor air has become a fairly common topic. At CleanAir Solutions Hamilton, our team of qualified technicians is committed to your home’s clean air solution!
What Leads to Toxic Indoor Air During The Winter Months?
The global pandemic has cast an increasingly harsh light on the toxicity of our indoor air at home and at work.
For a long time, we have known that our outdoor air is becoming increasingly polluted.
The truth is, the state of our outdoor air is only mildly concerning when compared to the state of our indoor air.
Current estimates indicate that the air we breathe inside our homes and workplaces may be anywhere from two to five times MORE toxic than the air outside.
This might not be so concerning if we spent more time outdoors, but the average Canadian spends upwards of 90 percent of the typical day indoors, especially in winter!
Winter is also the time of year when our air is most likely to be at its most toxic, due to the use of candles, fireplaces, heating equipment and cooking, each of which introduces new toxins into the air we are all sharing.
More toxic air equals dirtier air. Dirtier air equals lungs that have to work harder to breathe. And lungs that have to work harder to breathe can equal increased risk of illness and disease.
Three Keys to Better Indoor Air Quality
To summarize, winter is the time when your lungs need the most help to do their job and stay healthy.
While we don’t have a solution to COVID-19 yet, we do have effective solutions to improve winter indoor air quality!
Keep reading and learn about Clean Air Solutions Hamilton top winter air quality solutions!
1. Ventilation
Ventilation is the word we use to describe adding more fresh, oxygenated air to a space.
This can be done by opening a window or door to the outside, using a fan or installing a heat recovery ventilator (aka a set of mechanical “lungs” for your HVAC).
Ventilation helps your home breath in a way that is very similar to how your own lungs breathe.
There is a steady stream of fresh incoming air and a steady stream of stale outgoing air.
This keeps the concentration of any toxic or infectious airborne matter diluted with clean, fresh air at all times.
2. Humidity
Humidity may just be the underdog hero in the early fight against the coronavirus. In the earliest days, researchers believed that heat could repel the spread of COVID-19. They were wrong.
Humidity actually does have a proven protective effect. The reason for this relates to how humidity helps your immune system produce beneficial mucus in your respiratory passages.
The mucus traps particles so they can’t travel more deeply into your respiratory passages and reach your lungs.
Winter is typically a very dry time when humidity can drop to nearly zero. This dries your respiratory passages and tissues out. Your lungs become very vulnerable to viral, bacterial, fungal and toxic airborne agents.
Adding back moisture to maintain a constant 40 to 60 percent indoor humidity level helps your body keep making mucus to defend against toxicity, infection, illness and disease.
Not sure how to test the humidity levels in your home? Contact our team of qualified clean air experts in Hamilton!
3. Filtration And Purification
Cooking, using a fireplace, running heating equipment, smoking or vaping, burning candles or incense, using cleaning products or air fresheners – all of these release toxic gases and solids into your indoor air.
Removing solid particles from the air is called filtration. Removing liquid or gaseous particles from the air is called purification.
Because the virus that causes COVID-19 is primarily transmitted via an airborne liquid droplet that can travel on an airborne solid micro-particulate, both filtration and purification are necessary to protect against infection.
There are many different types of media air cleaners. HEPA filtration and ultraviolet air purification are the two methods believed to offer the best indoor air quality protection against COVID-19.
Have you installed a media air cleaner in your home this winter? Contact CleanAir Solutions Hamilton to book your installation appointment.
A Four Step Process to Ensure Clean Winter Indoor Air
At CleanAir Solutions Hamilton, we highly recommend taking these four steps to keep your indoor air from filling up with harmful toxins this holiday season.
1. Opt for natural fragrances instead of chemicals.
Make the switch from perfumes and holiday scented air fresheners over to essential oils and natural soy or beeswax candles.
2. Open a window or door to let the fresh air in.
Even if your 2021 budget won’t stretch to cover a heat recovery ventilator, you can still crack open a window or door and run a fan to help add back fresh air to your home space.
3. Add back humidity to your indoor air.
Humidifiers, houseplants and even bowls of water can help add extra healthy humidity back to your dry winter air.
4. Keep your air filters changed.
Be sure to change your HVAC system’s furnace filter every 30 days.
Get in Touch With CleanAir Solutions Hamilton’s Indoor Air Quality Specialists
Here at Clean Air Solutions Hamilton, we believe clean indoor air is a vital part of fighting back against COVID-19.
Right now and through year-end, give us a call at 1-905-549-2470 or visit us online to schedule your indoor air duct cleaning at a 10 percent discount!
