5 Tips To Help With Allergy Season

Who doesn’t love spring? You might have a love/hate relationship with the season if you struggle with seasonal allergies. All that grass and pollen in the air can leave you miserable for days or weeks at a time. Don’t let allergy season get you down! Your furnace and air conditioner play a big role in the air quality in your home. It doesn’t take long for particles and allergens to spread through your whole house.

You can take steps to reduce the allergens in your home, but in addition to the easy steps below you should get your air conditioner and furnace served to make sure the equipment is running efficiently to properly filter the air. The HVAC experts at My Heating and Cooling Guy can help improve the air quality in your home.

The air filters in your furnace and air conditioner trap debris and other particles in the air from spreading through your home, but efficiency plummets if filters are old or dirty. Filters vary in their efficiency and often you get what you pay for. High quality filters remove airborne particles, odours, bacteria, and up to 99% of pollen, dust, and pet dander. Make a habit of replacing the air filters every spring (you should change them more frequently than once a year). My Heating and Cooling Guy can add additional filtration systems to your home to increase the efficiency of your air filtration system.

Dust, allergens, pet hair and other allergens can get trapped in or around your vents and registers. Your air conditioner and furnace will then just blow those particles throughout the house. This lowers the indoor air quality and can trigger allergy symptoms. Wipe down vents and registers with a warm damp rag to remove any build up or debris.

It’s tempting at this time of year to throw open the windows and let some fresh air in. The problem is the spring air is full of pollen and other potential allergens. Instead, on high-pollen days, seal the house and turn on the heat or air conditioning. Alternately, there are systems available that will bring in fresh air from outside and remove the stale air from indoors, and filter the air to remove the pollens.

The general rule is to aim for 60% humidity in your house, but if you are sensitive to mold you might consider aiming for lower than 50%. You may need a whole-home dehumidifier to help. You could purchase a portable dehumidifier, but a whole-home dehumidifier can control the humidity throughout the house not just in one room and will be more energy efficient.

• Take your shoes off at the door in the summer so you don’t track pollen throughout the house.
• Make sure to vacuum and sweep often to keep pet dander down.
• Shampoo your pets with a dander shampoo regularly.
• Consider swapping out carpets for hardwood, laminate, or ceramic flooring

The experts at My Heating and Cooling Guy service all parts of Middlesex, Huron and Perth counties. Contact us for a free in-home, no obligation quote for all your heating and cooling needs.