Ah, what great feelings a fresh start to a new year brings. It’s always refreshing to get a second chance to start anew, reprioritize and reorder your life. While we put focus on bettering ourselves, have you ever thought about ways you can better take care of the place you spend the majority of your time in: your home?
The air inside your home has a great impact on your and your family’s health. Believe it or not, the air inside your home is two to five times more polluted than the air outside! Take a stand for your family’s health and happiness by taking to heart these five New Year’s Resolutions for your home and its HVAC system so that it’s in tip-top shape and working to its best ability.
Organize and De-Clutter
First and foremost, set aside time to go through closets and drawers and throw out things that are no longer needed and just “taking up space.” Use totes and boxes to organize, or search Pinterest for great DIY organization tips. Not only will this give you peace of mind, but it will also decrease the amount of dust pile up in your home and increase its indoor air quality.
Change Air Filters Regularly
While juggling a busy schedule, it can be easy to forget to change the air filter on a regular basis. To help out with this, we offer a monthly email reminder you can easily sign up for here. When a filter is clogged, it forces the air handler to work harder to push the air through the filter, increasing your energy bill. Plus, those with allergies will suffer, too. Do everyone a favor, and change the filter!
Check Ductwork
After a day’s worth of cleaning and organizing, your home may look spotless to the eye, but what about what you can’t see? Are there contaminants being blown throughout your home due to dirty ductwork? At least once this year, have your ductwork inspected by an HVAC technician to see if it needs cleaning or repairing. You don’t want pollutants such as mold, bacteria or dust affecting your indoor air quality for you and your family.
Consider System Upgrades
As you review your finances and budget plan for the New Year, consider having a whole-house purifier or dehumidifier added to your HVAC system. A purifier will trap and filter pollutants such as pet dander, mold, dust and smoke, and a dehumidifier will reduce excess moisture and allergy-causing mold and mildew. Or perhaps, you’d be interested in adding a programmable thermostat to your HVAC system to benefit from increased home comfort and energy savings year-round.
Schedule Annual Tune Up
Just as us humans have our annual physicals at the doctor’s office to ensure everything is working properly, an annual tune up appointment for your HVAC system is essential as well. This will ensure your system is in mint condition and resolve any smaller problems that could potentially flare up into larger, more costly problems later on.
