{"id":1629,"date":"2024-02-12T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coolingunlimited.com\/blog\/?p=1629"},"modified":"2024-02-08T21:18:31","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T02:18:31","slug":"the-importance-of-indoor-air-quality-during-the-winter-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coolingunlimited.com\/blog\/indoor-air-quality-service\/the-importance-of-indoor-air-quality-during-the-winter-months\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Indoor Air Quality During the Winter Months"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know that the average American spends well over 90% of their time indoors? And for those of us in colder climates, that percentage might be even higher during the winter. This means we\u2019re breathing indoor air constantly, and along with the air, we\u2019re breathing in whatever happens to be mixed in with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indoor air contains more contaminants than outdoor air. But in Boston in February, you\u2019re not about to fling open all your windows to air out your home! So what can you do? Consider getting an air purifier to improve your indoor air quality. Here\u2019s what you should know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s in Your Air?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trapped indoors with you all winter are a wide variety of contaminants. There are things brought in from outdoors like pollen. There are the solids left behind from last summer\u2019s wildfire smoke, settled in your HVAC system and getting stirred up whenever the heat comes on. There\u2019s pet dander, dust, and volatile organic compounds released from things like carpets and cleaning products. And there are microbes like mold spores, bacteria, and viruses.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Air Purifiers Do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Air purifiers come in portable models, which can clean some of the contaminants out of your air. They\u2019ll only make a significant impact if they\u2019re used in small, enclosed spaces though. This makes them ideal for something like a studio apartment or a dorm room. But for a whole house, the only way to really reduce contaminants in the air is with a whole-house air purifier, which is added to the HVAC system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The type of air purifier we install is called an electronic air cleaner. All the air that passes through your HVAC ducts is directed through this system.<\/strong> As the air flows through, an electrical charge is applied to it, which affects the tiny particles that contaminate the air. When the air then flows over a metal plate with an opposite electrical charge, the particles are drawn to it and become stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can imagine this plate as a curious cat, and the air as an interesting box. Thanks to the opposite charges, when the box is full of packing peanuts, they will inevitably stick to the cat. Now, instead of drifting freely around your home, those unpleasant particles\u2014germs, chemicals, pollen, and more\u2014will all be collected on that metal plate, which is easily wiped down and disinfected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of Air Purifiers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n