Improving Home Ventilation for Asthma Sufferers

May is National Asthma Awareness month, and if you or a family member have asthma, you know how important ventilation is in your home. As we spend more and more time indoors, it’s important that our homes’ air is safe and clean, allowing for easy breathing and a decrease in asthma attacks. In fact, poor ventilation can lead to asthma or exacerbate asthma symptoms.

Clean air is especially important for pregnant women, children, and the elderly, so if that pertains to you, follow these steps to improve your home’s air quality:

Get a ventilation inspection: Today, homes are built to retain cool and warm air – perhaps a little too well. All that insulation can wreck havoc on your air quality if your house isn’t properly ventilated. In fact, you could end up breathing the same air over and over. A ventilation inspection for your home is a good idea if you have someone suffering from asthma. Many people think that their air conditioner will filter the air, but there can be other culprits contributing to poor air quality that only a professional inspector can ask.

Monitor the humidity: Homes that are too humid are breeding grounds for dust mites, which are a major allergen. If you use a humidifier in the Winter or live in an area where it gets humid in the summer, the fabrics in your home could be holding onto that moisture. Unfortunately, this can result in mold and dust mites.

Clean it up: Allergens can accumulate in homes for decades, so even if the home is new to you, it could still be holding onto allergens from the past (and even pet dander). Vacuum two times a week and several times over high-traffic areas. Invest in a vacuum that includes a HEPA filter; this ensures that dust won’t be blown back out into the room, but instead, captured.

If you’d like to read more on the topic, check out our Home Ventilation 101 whitepaper. To schedule your ventilation home inspection, locate an Inspect-It 1st home inspector in your area.