Summer Tips for Indoor Air Quality

Summer is here! I love the warm sunny days, outdoor activities like gardening, water activities, barbecuing, hiking and camping.

While I’m thinking about summer and all that I love, another thought to ponder is:
What do we expect from our homes in the summer? To keep us cool and comfortable?

To give us a place of shelter from the elements, a place to eat and sleep?

What about when summer brings long bouts of hot dry weather, creating wildfire activity, and the potential for smoke covering the sky. We all know that affects the comfort we have come to expect. What can we do to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the impact that smoke has on our home’s indoor air quality?

Even if your home is sealed well (in typical ways) smoke particles can still get in through air gaps you may have never thought of. An airtight home is critical in controlling indoor air quality and is the best way to combat those smoke particles.

In reading more about summer indoor air quality, I also found this: “A house does not need to breathe. It needs to have good indoor air quality so the people can breathe.”

Reducing smoke particles can help improve respiratory problems, especially for those with asthma or allergies. An airtight home will also help preserve the home by making it less likely to bring in mold and other elements such as humidity and pollutants that overwhelm ventilation and filtration systems. An added bonus is that you’ll reduce your energy bills because you’ll reduce the amount of conditioned air needed; it won’t be getting lost through all the air gaps.

“When possible, start with an energy audit and address air sealing and ventilation needs followed by insulating from the top down starting with the attic, then floor, and finishing with the walls. After the envelope is taken care of, move on to the heating system. Then, finally address appliances, windows, and solar panels” (Community Energy Challenge: Residential News 7/5/24).

If an energy audit is not currently an option for now, here are a few simple things that can be done to help with indoor air quality, air sealing, and ventilation:

• Use air purifiers.
• Create a Clean Room; a room that is sealed better than any other room (clean rooms often have no windows) and put the air purifier in that room.
• Limit the use of your range/oven as (especially gas) they produce a lot of air pollutants.
• Use HVAC systems properly; set the HVAC to recirculate instead of bringing in outdoor air.
• Make sure all filters are clean.
• Have N95 and P100 masks on hand. For people with respiratory issues, it may be necessary to have them wear a mask during poor air quality events.
• Keep the shoes you wear most days outside. This helps by eliminating pollen, smoke particles, and dirt you might otherwise track into the house.
• When cleaning (i.e. vacuuming, mopping, and dusting), clean vacuum filters after each use, and consider using damp cloths. Dust from the top down – start high with ceiling fans and blades & door tops, and then work your way down to baseboards and hard-surface floors.
• Use non-toxic cleaners like vinegar and water, baking soda, borax, lemon juice, and castle soap.

Digging into The Climate Action Handbook I’ve been using as a terrific resource:
Did you know that the earth’s global average temperature has increased 2 degrees Fahrenheit just since 1850? How do we slow this warming trend?

Let’s relate this back to Summer and Indoor Air Quality. 
Watching the world break all-time heat records in the past few years is a HUGE wake-up call for all of us! A warming world means an airtight home will be much more energy efficient; easier to heat and/or cool during extreme weather events. A goal? Net-Zero, meaning that our homes, and buildings, produce as much renewable energy as it uses over the course of a year.

Looking for more resources?
Check out Community Energy Challenge for more information about air-sealing your home.
Here’s a good link to the EPA for more information about indoor air quality