While spring can bring nice warm weather that slips us from the chilliness of winter, it also introduces many allergens into the air. Here in Oregon, the seasonal changes increase moisture and pollen levels that can significantly impact your air quality. Understanding how they affect the air quality in your home can help you take proactive steps to improve it. This is especially important for those who suffer from seasonal allergies or respiratory conditions.
How Spring Moisture and Pollen Affect Indoor Air
Two of the biggest problems that springtime brings are higher humidity and an abundance of pollen. Moisture from rain and melting snow can infiltrate your home through cracks around your doors, windows, and even your foundation. This can create conditions for mold and mildew to grow rapidly. Moisture also encourages the proliferation of allergens and dust mites.
Pollen is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to seasonal allergies. Flowers, grasses, and trees all release this microscopic pollen. They can easily enter your home through open windows, doors, your clothing, and even on your pets. Once pollen gets inside your home, it can settle on your furniture, your flooring, and even get circulated throughout your HVAC ducting.
It’s no surprise you may experience more allergy symptoms due to the increased pollen, mold spores, dust mites, and other allergens in the air. This can lead to persistent sneezing, itchy eyes, congestion, and general respiratory discomfort. Treating these problems all starts with choosing the right air quality solutions for your HVAC system.
HVAC Solutions for Better Indoor Air Quality
When you’re dealing with spring allergens in Oregon, your HVAC system is one of the best ways to help improve your indoor air quality. With proper humidity control, system maintenance, and filtration, you can reduce allergens and moisture-related problems in your home. It’s crucial to note that this is a multiprong approach where you can use multiple solutions to minimize allergens and improve your indoor air quality.
Choosing the Right Air Filters for Allergy Season
One of the best first lines of defense against airborne toxins in your home is your HVAC air filter. It can trap unwanted pollutants like pet dander, dust, and pollen to enhance your indoor air quality. All HVAC filters have a rating on the MERV scale, with a higher rating translating to better filtration capabilities. If you routinely experience seasonal allergies or asthma, you may want to consider upgrading to a filter with a rating above 11.
While choosing the right filter rating is a large part of increasing your air quality, routine replacement is also necessary. You should be pulling out that air filter once a month and holding it up to a light source. If you can’t see through the filter, it needs to be replaced with a new one. It’s common for higher-rated filters to require replacement more often due to their ability to capture more airborne contaminants.
Reducing Moisture-Related Air Quality Issues
When moisture levels increase in the spring, it can encourage unwanted mold growth throughout your Oregon home. It can also increase the amount of dust mites present. One of the approaches of the multiprong approach to boost your indoor air quality should be reducing moisture-related issues.
One of the best strategies for managing moisture in your home is with a whole-home dehumidification system. This gets installed directly alongside your existing HVAC system so that it can treat the air as it travels through your ductwork. You simply set your ideal humidity level on your thermostat, and it will automatically turn your dehumidifier on when the humidity level gets above your set point. Experts recommend setting your indoor humidity between 30 and 50%.
Another great way to control moisture in your home during the spring months is to use proper ventilation. You should always be running the exhaust fans in your kitchen and bathrooms whenever you’re using them. If you regularly experience water infiltration in your basement or crawl space, you should have a sump pump that will automatically turn on to remove it as quickly as possible. Doing this throughout your home helps reduce excess moisture and the number of dust mites and mold spores you’ll experience.
Benefits of Professional IAQ Solutions
If you want to take it up another level, you can explore professional indoor air quality solutions. These offer a high level of protection against airborne contaminants to ensure good indoor air quality throughout the year. There are a few different types of indoor air quality solutions that you can purchase for your home, depending on your unique needs and your budget.
One of the most popular is a whole-home air purification system. This works to actively remove microscopic particles, VOCs, and bacteria from the air in your home. This goes above and beyond just what a standard HVAC filter can do. Another option is UV-C germicidal lighting. These get placed either inside your ducting or over your evaporator coil. Their goal is to reduce mold growth, bacteria, and viruses.
Another thing to consider is the state of your ducting. Over time, pollen, dust, and other airborne contaminants can accumulate inside your ductwork. This can allow it to circulate these airborne allergens that can aggravate your allergy symptoms. Most homeowners can benefit from having a professional come in and clean out their ductwork every three to five years.
This removes that buildup of allergens and enhances airflow and system efficiency. Additionally, it’s a good idea to invest in duct sealing service about every eight to 10 years. This is where a professional will seal up any air leaks in your ductwork to prevent it from pulling in dirty air from inside your wall or cavities.
Call Addcox Heating Center Today for Indoor Air Quality Services
Addcox Heating Center provides exceptional services for indoor air quality in Oregon. We can assist with everything from HVAC maintenance to installing air purification systems.
Contact Addcox Heating Center today to learn more about indoor air quality solutions for your home in Roseburg, OR.
FAQs
Whether it’s about air filters or HVAC air quality solutions, we get a lot of questions from our customers. Below we’ll answer some of the most frequent ones.
Yes, coastal air can definitely affect your home’s air quality level. It has higher humidity levels, salt exposure, and airborne particles. This makes having proper HVAC filtration, ventilation, and dehumidification essential rather than just add-ons for most homeowners.
In general, most homeowners find that they need to replace their air filters about every 30 to 60 days. The frequency at which you need to replace yours really depends on the type of filter that you have and the environment in your home. We suggest pulling it out and checking it once a month to see if it needs to be replaced with a new one.
Your HVAC system can certainly assist with your seasonal allergies. Through HVAC air quality solutions like air purifiers, high-efficiency filters, and proper humidity control, you can significantly decrease the amount of allergens in your home. When paired with routine maintenance, you can minimize your allergy symptoms throughout the spring and summer months.