Make Your Home A Healthy One For Your Family This Winter

Now that the temperature has dropped and winter is upon us, we’re all too keen to seal up our doors and windows to prevent cold air from getting into our homes. However, this isn’t necessarily the best option. Homeowners everywhere make this mistake every year and then wonder why they come down with illnesses and diseases. The reason for this is because when they shut their homes up for months on end, they are sealing in some harmful contaminants. This leaves them trapped indoors for the winter with unpleasant things such as mold, pet dander, and dust mites – all of which have been linked to allergic reactions and illnesses. It’s no wonder that during the winter so many of us feel unwell!

Although this pollutants in your home are always present, during the winter, we don’t open our doors and windows so often as in the summer and that means that the problem is magnified. When we switch on the heating, the heat recirculates the air time and again, allowing the allergens and harmful particles to circulate around and around, never able to escape and thrive in the humid, warm conditions. These are perfect conditions for mold growth in your house which is not only bad for your home's structure, but also for your health! Click here to find out more on how the indoor air pollutants can affect your health and what to do about it. ᐧ

When this happens, your health can be badly affected. Even worse, the cold and dry air outdoors during the winter months pulls the moisture away from your mouth and nose which you need to combat viruses and bacteria, and this leaves you even more susceptible to allergies and illnesses at this time of the year. So, what can you do to prevent contaminants in your home from making your family unwell during the cold months? Here are some top tips to point you in the right direction of a happier and healthier winter.

Open The Windows

It might sound counterintuitive to open your windows in the winter when the air outside is very cold, however, it’s vital to allow fresh enter to enter your home. You should make sure to open windows inside your home once when you get up and once before you go to bed. They only need to be left open for a maximum of ten minutes, but it will allow fresh air to get into your property within allowing your home to get too cold.

Reducing Humidity

Your home can become very humid during the winter months due to the heating inside your property. Use a dehumidifier inside your rooms to keep the humidity level at no more than 50%. This is a must-have for homeowners as in very humid spaces, mold, dust mites and other contaminants in the air can thrive, making you and your loved ones unwell.

Clean Often

It’s very important to keep your house as clean as possible during the winter, particularly if you have carpets in your home. Dust mites thrive in your carpeted flooring, so make sure to vacuum very frequently and to wash bed linen at least weekly on a hot wash to make sure that any contaminants have been killed off. Also, make sure you change your heating system’s filters at least once every 3 months to prevent contaminants from building up and wash your pets weekly to minimize dander.

Repair Leaks

We all know that mold thrives in a damp environment, so if it is a very wet winter, you need to ensure that any leaks are rapidly repaired to prevent mold and mildew from taking hold. Make sure that if you spot any cracks or leaking areas, you fix them straight away to prevent snow or rain from getting into the property. Also, make sure that any areas affected by water from the leak are dried fully within 48 hours.

Don’t Redecorate

If you’ve been thinking about redecorating your home, the winter isn’t the right time to do it. Don’t paint your rooms, buy a new carpet or install any new upholstered furniture until the spring comes around. This is because these kinds of items can release potentially harmful compounds such as acetone and formaldehyde into the air when they are new. Therefore, if you introduce them during spring when you are happy to keep your windows open, any harmful particles can escape.

Follow these top tips, and your family’s health will be much better this winter.