Last Updated on June 15, 2021 by Ellen Christian
When most people hear the words “air pollution”, they think of big businesses and car emissions and how they impact the quality of the air outside. Air pollution isn’t all about outdoor air quality. There are ways that you can improve indoor air quality as well. Their are indoor sources of contaminants that reduce the quality of the air in your home. Just a few of these indoor sources are your pets, dust, or chemicals from fragrances or cleaners. People with asthma, children, or the elderly are especially sensitive to indoor air quality. Since both Sarah and I have asthma, learning how to improve indoor air quality is important to me.
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Improve Indoor Air Quality
Here are six simple ways that you can improve indoor air quality in your home.
- Vacuum – Regularly removing pet hair, dust and contaminants that have been tracked in from outside will help improve indoor air quality. Make sure that the vacuum you choose has a HEPA filter to catch as many of these pollutants as possible.
- Second hand smoke – Encourage people to smoke outside your home. Since second hand smoke is a huge trigger for many asthmatics, we don’t allow smoking inside our home.
- Natural fragrances – When choosing air fresheners and cleaners, choose products with natural fragrances instead of chemical fragrances.
- Brush your pets regularly – Brushing your pet regularly to remove loose hair will help keep it off the floor and the furniture.
- Houseplants – Houseplants like ferns, spider plants and aloe vera can help remove chemical pollutants.
- Change your filter – Change your furnace filter regularly to make sure it is removing airborne dust, allergens, bacteria and viruses.
We have a forced hot air furnace that we use along with our wood stove. We use the Filtrete Odor Reduction Filter in our furnace. It helps create a healthy home by capturing things in the air to improve indoor air quality. The Odor Reduction Filter has a unique 2 sided design. One side captures the large airborne particles and the second side removes household odors. Unlike air fresheners, it doesn’t release volatile organic compounds into the air. Filtrete Filters also help maintain airflow in heating and cooling systems, which may help prevent stress on the system and reduce the amount of energy needed to reach desired indoor air temperatures. It actually removes the odors instead of masking them with a perfume smell. I definitely notice an improvement in the air quality when I use it.
Each filter lasts up to three months for odor removal and particle capture. The suggested retail price for one Filtrete Odor Reduction Filter is $15.99. You can purchase them from stores including Lowes, Target, Walmart, and Costco. Many local hardware stores carry it as well.
To help you address indoor air quality, Filtrete Brand has partnered with Mike Holmes, renowned HGTV contractor, on the Filtrete Healthy Home Remodel Contest. One grand prize winner, selected by Mike Holmes, will receive $30,000 worth of home inspections, repairs, and renovations by a Holmes Group approved contractor. Four first prize winners will be awarded $5,000 cash to put towards home repairs. To enter through June 30, 2013:
- Visit Facebook.com/Filtrete and “like” the page.
- Explain in 1,000 words or less why your home deserves a healthier home remodel.
- Submit up to two photos to support your essay.
- For more details, see the official rules.
Connect with Filtrete on Twitter. Register to receive seasonal e-newsletters featuring special offers, filter change reminders, better home living tips and more by visiting www.Filtrete.com.
This post on how to improve indoor quality has been brought to you by Filtrete. I am a Filtrete Ambassador. All opinions are mine and mine alone.
Ellen is a busy mom of a 24-year-old son and 29-year-old daughter. She owns six blogs and is addicted to social media. She believes that it doesn’t have to be difficult to lead a healthy life. She shares simple healthy living tips to show busy women how to lead fulfilling lives. If you’d like to work together, email info@confessionsofanover-workedmom.com to chat.
I have to chime in and say Filtrete are the only filters I buy as well. We don’t have a furnace, but we use them for our a/c filters. Our landlord hands us cheap air filters every three months and we end up getting about two weeks’ use out of them. I have horrible allergies and asthma – I’m sniffling as I write this – and having clean air in the home is vital.
Great review, and I can defend your claims that this is a superb product!
Filtreat is good, but The thing that made the biggest difference for our athsmatic was the addition of blue shield technologies Biodefender system to our filter furnace and system. The science of photo active surfaces is not new it’s what hospitals use.
I’m with Chrissy. We have been using this brand for years because of my son’s severe allergies. I’ve been very pleased with all the different options the have available too.
We use this type of air filter, it’s the only brand we use.
Good reminder for me to go change me filter right now! Also, I have a bagless vacuum so I empty every time I am done so that the air gets sucked through less old mess the next time. I also suck up one sheet of toilet paper with essential oils on it so that the air smells nice!
Great idea! I never thought of that!
Filtrete filters are the only kind we buy. I’ve had pretty cranky allergies in the past and these seem to do the best at keeping my symptoms from getting out of control.
Allergies are just awful this year!
I definitely need more houseplants. I have all of…ZERO! They seem to die in my house for some reason. I have a black thumb.
LOL you should try a spider plant. They are very hardy.
I invite you to come brush my dog 🙂 She needs in desperately but gets so hyper when I do it I can hardly keep her still! I have allergies so I am constantly trying to clean the air in the house!
LOL only if you come brush our three cats!
My son has pretty wicked allergies, so we’re always working so hard to keep the air in our home as clean as possible. I love your tips, and you know, my husband is really loyal to this brand. We always buy Filtrete filters.
I really love their quality and the odor reduction one is pretty amazing!