Top Fifteen Tips for Improving Indoor Air Quality and
Reducing your Allergen Exposure
- Improve Ventilation in the home.
- No smoking inside the home at any time.
- Measure the indoor humidity and keep it below 50%. Do not use vaporizers or humidifiers. You may need a dehumidifier.
- Use vent fans in bathrooms and when cooking to remove moisture. Repair all water leaks.
- Vent gas appliances and fireplaces to the outside and maintain regularly.
- Minimize use of candles, incense, aerosols, air fresheners, ect.
- Keep pets out of the bedroom at ALL times
- Mite-proof Encasings
- Remove wall-to-wall carpets from the bedroom if possible.
- Pest-control
- Use a central vacuum, a cyclonic vacuum or vacuum with a HEPA filter regularly. Remember it takes over 2 hours for the dust to settle back down.
- Wear NIOSH N95 particulate respirator when vacuuming, sweeping, or doing yard work to reduce your exposure to fine particulates and allergens.
- Regular maintenance of HVAC, gas appliances, fireplace
- Install a MERV (Minimum Efficiency Rating Valve) 11 or 12 disposable high efficiency media filter in the furnace and air conditioning system. Change filter every 3 months. Leave the fan “on” to create whole house filtration.
- Use a HEPA Air Cleaner in the bedroom with an adequate CADR
- (Clean Air Delivery Rate) for the size of the room