Maintaining a Good IAQ for the Summer

How do you help achieve the perfect comfort in your Monroe home during the summer? One way is by practicing ways to maintain a good IAQ (indoor air quality). After all, the hottest season of the year is also the time of increased pollen, bugs, allergens, humidity, and other airborne contaminants. And letting these contaminants negatively impact your home’s IAQ can make the already-hot summer a more uncomfortable one.

The experts at Iceberg Heating & Cooling would like to inform Monroe homeowners on how they can maintain a good IAQ for summer. We have detailed some tips below to help get you started.

Change HVAC Filters Regularly

With the summer weather leading to more AC usage, you must accompany this by regularly replacing your HVAC filters. HVAC filters are used to catch dust and other airborne contaminants to prevent them from being distributed by your HVAC system. They assist in both maintaining IAQ and energy efficiency. And once filters have become too clogged up, they must be replaced to help avoid dust and other contaminants affecting your IAQ.

Generally, you’ll want to replace your HVAC filters every 2-3 months. But this can be shorter if you live in a house with more people or if you have pets. That’s why we recommend checking your HVAC filter at least once a month for any noticeable clogs.

Minimize Your VOC Usage

At first, you may think spraying an air freshener can improve IAQ. But this is far from the case. Air fresheners and other commercial cleaners tend to carry VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which are an umbrella term for a variety of chemicals that have short-to long-term health effects. This makes spraying air fresheners and other commercial cleaners somewhat counter-productive, as you’re polluting the air with VOCs. We recommend opting for natural cleaners such as lemon or vinegar instead of commercial products.

Maintain Adequate Humidity Levels

Summer brings rain which can be one of the prime causes of excessive humidity levels. But summer also brings heat which can make your home too dry, leading to low humidity levels. Both instances can lead to a negative effect on your IAQ, as well as increasing the chance of sickness and mold. It’s important to maintain your humidity levels, and this can be done in a few ways.

First, you’ll want to test your home’s humidity using a hygrometer. This tool can be found at almost any department store and displays your home’s humidity via a percentage. Generally, you’ll want this percentage to be at 40-50%.

After knowing your home’s humidity levels, here are a few steps on how to increase/decrease it.

Increasing Humidity

• Humidifier
• Houseplants
• Produce Steam from Cooking/Cleaning

Decreasing Humidity

• Dehumidifier
• Run Exhaust Fans
• Run the AC More

Be sure to practice these tips to help have a healthy IAQ for your Monroe home during the summer. Want to improve your IAQ even further with the leading air quality experts in Michigan? Contact Iceberg Heating & Cooling at 734-342-3420 for our IAQ services.