Air quality can be a tough issue to tackle at home. This is because homes are closed off from the outside world where air normally circulates and tends to be fresher. Things such as dirt, dust, skin cells and dander can make indoor air unbearable. However, there are ways that you can remedy the problem of unbearable indoor air. Here are the ways that you can clean the air in your house:
1. Air purifiers
Air purifiers have fans that suck in air. The air is pulled into filters, where it is cleansed of pollutants such as dust, dander and spores. Afterwards, the air is then circulated back into the room. The beauty of air purifiers is that they also remove up to 99% of bacteria in the air. Another great thing about them is that they remove allergens from the air. So, if you suffer from allergies, getting an air purifier for your home may be the best decision.
2 Air cleaning plants
Believe it or not, but plants can actually clean the air in your home. They do this by absorbing and neutralizing gases and chemicals in the air. All plants have this ability, though some are known to be better than others when it comes to cleansing the air of toxins. Of course, before you invest in air cleaning plants, you should consider whether certain plants are dangerous. If an air cleaning plant is poisonous, you might not want to put it in your house if you have children and pets who might ingest it. Some air cleaning plants include spider plants, dracaenas, golden pothos, areca palms, chrysanthemums, bamboo palms, english ivy, rubber plants, Chinese evergreen and peace lilies. On this list, the plants that are non-toxic to both animals and humans include spider plants, areca palms and bamboo palms. The plants that are only toxic to only animals include dracaenas, golden pothos, chrysanthemums, rubber plants and Chinese evergreens. The plants that are toxic to both animals and humans include English ivy and peace lilies.
3. Air filters
Filters are very helpful when it comes to cleaning the air in your home. They are rated based on how well they filter air. A scale called the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value scale, or MERV scale, is used to rate filters. The scale goes from 1 to 16, and different ranges of ratings filter out different sized particles. The higher the rating, or range of ratings, the more pollutants are filtered out. For example, MERV 1-4 filters are cheapest, only remove particles over 10 microns and don’t really do the greatest job at filtering air. MERV 5-8 filters are able to take particles out of the air that are down to 3.0 microns. They are medium quality. MERV 9-12 filters have the ability to take away particles that are down to 1.0 microns, and are high quality. MERV 13-16 filters are considered to be the highest quality of standard filters. They remove particles that are as small as 0.3 microns. MERV 17-20 air filters filter 99.97% of particles in the air that are as small as 0.3 microns.