What’s Making My Home Unhealthy This Season?

Tis the season of cozy nights spent by the fireplace, houses full of visiting family and friends, and ovens packed with holiday dishes all month long. As we continue to drift into colder months, our minds are wrapped around holiday preparations and how to stay warm for winter! But, what most people may not think about is the health of their homes this season. Many actions that seem like normal rituals for fall and winter could significantly impact your indoor air quality without you even realizing it. That pumpkin spice candle you just lit in the living room, or the turkey you have baking in the oven, could be diminishing the quality of your home’s air, leaving you with anything but warm and fuzzy feelings.  

When talking about odors, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and poor ventilation, these negative factors stand out as a serious problem for indoor air quality. Learning how to avoid their unhealthy impact on your indoor environment can make for a better season, and better health, as we close off the last few months of the year. And not to worry, simple fixes that are easy to implement can leave your home feeling fresh and crisp without taking time away from your holiday plans.  

Get Rid of Cooking Smells in Your Home

While the delicious scents of a roasting turkey, fresh-baked dinner rolls, or your mom’s famous apple pie fill you with nostalgia and a hungry stomach, the lingering odors of this holiday feast could be a sign of poor ventilation in your kitchen. It is important to maintain proper ventilation throughout your home, especially in the kitchen where many people gather to cook and eat. This lack of airflow prevents food odors from filtering out of the kitchen quicker when mealtime is over, which is where alternative sources of filtration can come in handy. Rather than lighting a candle, which not only fails to get rid of other odors but also contributes to unhealthy air quality, try utilizing added filtration that actually eliminates odors at their source, like EnviroKlenz air purifiers. The EnviroKlenz Air System captures and eliminates odors quickly, without the use of chemicals or masking agents, to cleanse the air and promote ventilation through added air exchanges. 

Is the Air Quality in My House Making Me Sick?

Lingering odors aren’t the only issue created in the kitchen; the dangerous truth behind ordinary things like cooking sprays and gas stoves is their ability to produce indoor air pollutants like carbon monoxide and irritating aerosols. Exposure to these VOCs and air pollutants can result in headaches, dizziness, nausea, and respiratory irritation, which are worsened when poor ventilation causes stagnant air. An air purifier can help in this situation, as well, remediating the health risks associated with indoor air pollution by filtering out these toxins. Check out more tips on how to best prepare your kitchen’s air quality before Thanksgiving, especially if you are hosting this year! 

Best Air Purifier for a Healthy Home

All air purifiers aren’t created equally. When choosing an air purifier to get rid of indoor toxins that are making your home unhealthy, remember to look for key elements like safety and efficiency when filtering your air. The EnviroKlenz Air Systems are a great pick for more than just food odors. Using patented earth mineral technology within its Air Cartridge, paired with UV bulbs and HEPA filtration, this purifying powerhouse actually captures and destroys airborne particulates like bacteria, viruses, chemicals, allergens, and other pollutants at a 99.9% efficiency rating. What’s even better is that the EnviroKlenz technology is non-toxic and completely safe to use in your home, making it a healthy addition to any indoor environment.  

Are Candles Bad for Your Home?

Circling back to that pumpkin spice candle you were about to light, you may want to put down your lighter instead. Candles are great for creating an aromatic ambiance in any room, not to mention the anticipation of burning holiday scents like pine, cinnamon, and vanilla that has been building up all year. But, you could be compromising your indoor air quality with these scent boosters. Believe it or not, a candle is considered a common household toxin. When lit, candles burn off parabens and VOCs that pollute indoor air. Knowing what scented candles are made of can be a good indicator of what’s going to make its way into the air once burned. Try looking for soy or beeswax candles, as these are made from natural products and are safer for indoor use, as neither produces the toxic parabens that a regular candle would.  

Another creative trick to give your home a boost of fragrance is to simmer a pot of stovetop potpourri. Add fresh cloves, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and citrus peels to a pot of simmering water for a warm, inviting scent that will carry throughout the home. This is not only safe and toxin-free, but it can supplement holiday candles by recreating nostalgic, festive aromas.   

Alternatively, no odors are sometimes better than good odors. Instead of masking stale odors in your home with candles or potpourri, the EnviroKlenz Air System can eliminate bad odors and leave any room with a fresh supply of air. After all, clean has no odor! 

Improve Indoor Air Quality During the Winter

Winter months call for more time spent indoors. This can, in turn, affect your indoor air quality. With windows and doors shut tight, your home could suffer from a lack of ventilation; this lends a helping hand to mold growth if humidity or stagnant air is created. Indoor air pollutants can also accumulate when closed-up homes give less chance of natural ventilation; it is common to find higher levels of CO2 or radon in homes during the winter when there is more focus on keeping internal heat inside and less focus on air exchange and ventilation to sweep away these lingering pollutants.  

So how can you test for these toxins in your home this winter? A great way to see exactly what is lurking in your air is by investing in an air quality monitor. Air quality monitors are a non-invasive way of measuring different pollutants and particulates in your air, which oftentimes is then displayed in a graphic manner for you to visualize. By tracking levels of VOCs and particulate matter, you can better gauge how healthy your home air truly is. 

A good point of reference to compare to is an air quality recommendation set by official groups, like the World Health Organization, that set safe indoor air quality conditions for short and long-term exposure indoors. With your own air quality measurements and a recommended goal to strive for, you can implement the proper measures to improve overall air quality moving forward.  

Create a Healthy Home for the Holidays

Air quality is the heart of a healthy home. While it may not be visible, like the shelves you have to dust or the fancy plates you have to clean before Thanksgiving dinner, it could have a huge impact on your health this season. Investing in an air purifier can tackle many of the large risks surrounding poor air quality, like reduction of odors and VOCs, prevention of mold, and improvement to ventilation as you stay indoors. Think about penciling in an EnviroKlenz Air System on your wish list to cover these measures and more. It’s not a huge hassle to consider improving your indoor air quality, but a few simple fixes for better filtration and air flow can make a huge difference.  

Mobile UV Air System