Couple breathing clean indoor air in Columbus

Maintain Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality During Columbus Winter

The long-range forecast predicts we will ring in the New Year with extreme temperatures, and from the looks of things it’s not going to improve anytime soon after that.

With this kind of weather, it’s almost impossible to open your windows for the foreseeable future, forcing you to breathe whatever is in the air in your home. Especially if anyone in your family has allergies or asthma, it’s absolutely imperative to ensure the quality of your home’s indoor air is high.

It’s not that difficult to improve the quality of the air in your home with these simple tips, and some help from a professional heating and cooling expert.

Clean Your Heating Registers and Vents

Every molecule of air handled by your heating system must pass through the heating registers and cold air returns. They get dusty over time, so the best treatment is to remove them, vacuum with a crevice tool in the ducts and with an upholstery brush on the vents. This can cut down significantly on the amount of dust blowing throughout your home in Winter, especially if you have vents on the floor.

Clean Your Ceiling Fan Blades

Dusty blades from ceiling fans that may have been idle since the weather cooled down can dump a significant amount of debris into the air. Use a special dusting tool for fan blades to make the job easy.

Reverse Your Ceiling Fan

Most ceiling fans have a small slider switch on the side of the fan body that allows you to reverse the direction of the blades. When you do that, instead of air blowing from the ceiling down, you’ll create an updraft. This helps the warm air circulate throughout the room and may even allow you to lower your thermostat a couple of degrees.

Professional Duct Cleaning

Unfortunately, you probably can’t get at the places where the worst accumulation of dirt and debris occur, deep in the ductwork of your home. Consider hiring a contractor like Pickerington Heating & Cooling to clean your ductwork using special equipment and disinfectant sprays.

Switch Fan to ON

When most of the family is home (after school and work) switch the thermostat fan to “ON” mode. This forces the fan to run constantly through the system’s filters, boosting air quality. This comes at a price, an increase in wear and tear on the system’s fan and a slightly higher electric bill. But you may require fewer doctor visits as a result!

Install an Air Filtration System

Professional Installation of a whole-house air filtration system is the next step in ensuring your home’s air is of the highest quality. These systems can filter microscopic particles that may be circulating throughout your HVAC system and your home. The added cost is offset by making the HVAC system more efficient and longer-lasting.

Disinfect with UV Light

We offer UV disinfectant systems that are installed in “strategic” locations throughout your home’s ductwork. These systems don’t actually capture airborne particles, they are designed to remove odors, germs, viruses and bacteria using low-voltage UV light.

Add Moisture to the Air

A whole-house humidifier adds moisture to your HVAC system at the point or origin – near your furnace – to help keep your home’s air more comfortable during the brutal dryness of Ohio winters. An added bonus is it will reduce static electricity in your home as well. Extremely dry air can contribute to sinus infections, nosebleeds, and a host of other winter-specific ailments.