It’s been a fairly warm winter so far in Central Texas, so you may be out enjoying the temperate weather every chance you get… but you still spend a lot of time indoors–especially when it’s cold out! While you’re inside, breathing high-quality air is important for your health and comfort. During cold and flu season, you’re at a higher risk for contracting illness if contaminants such as bacteria and mold spores are blown around your home while your HVAC system is running.

Here Are Two Components:

Since you spend the majority of your time indoors—especially as the weather gets cooler—controlling the indoor air quality is key to your comfort and health. This cold and flu season, you’re more likely to become ill if contaminants like bacteria and mold spores are able to cycle through your ducts continuously while running your heater. We’ve got a few suggestions for people looking to improve their indoor air quality and stay comfortable this winter.

Humidifier

During the winter, dried-out sinuses are likely to make a cold or flu virus even worse. It takes longer to get over an illness in dry environments, and it could make you more susceptible to catching a cold virus in the first place. Install a whole-home humidifier to keep humidity within a comfortable range.

Air Purifier

Your home’s air filter is designed to provide some level of filtration for the air circulating throughout your air conditioning and heating systems. But it is fairly limited in what it can do. Usually, the standard filter can eliminate contaminants up to a certain size, but it will struggle with the tiniest of contaminants (which are usually the most harmful as well). An air purifier works a little differently than a media filter. It uses an ionization process to give particles a charge so that they cling to a metal plate of the opposite charge, thus eliminating a large majority of the tiny contaminants that pass by.

If you would like more information about indoor air quality, or would like to speak to a professional about your HVAC system, contact AirOne Heating and Air Conditioning Repair, located in San Marcos, TX.