Essence of Home Improvement

Posts Tagged ‘chemical cousin’

Remove as Many Allergens and Irritants as Possible – Smoke, pet dander and a buildup of household dust (when was the last time you dusted the tops of your kitchen cabinets?) are all obvious allergens and irritants. But so are the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emitted by certain paints and carpets. If you are considering having your home painted in the near future make sure you ask your painting contractor to use paints that are “low VOC”.

Install detectors – Most homes have a smoke detector or two, but do you have one that also detects carbon monoxide? Excess amounts of this gas can be emitted from faulty heating systems or even malfunctioning clothes dryers and gas stoves and it is highly toxic even in very low concentrations. Its chemical cousin, carbon dioxide, is also colorless and odorless in low concentrations, but can cause serious problems, even death. In addition to installing detectors you should also have your heating system checked by an HVAC professional regularly and make sure all appliances are properly vented.

Consider Hardwood Flooring – Have you always longed to replace your carpet with some beautiful hardwood flooring but never felt you could quite justify the expense for purely cosmetic reasons? Let your family’s health be your final push, as not only is it far easier to keep rooms with hardwood flooring allergen and irritant free, such flooring does not emit any of the nasty chemicals that many carpets do.

Look Into an Air Filtration System – Filtering the air indoors by way of a good central filtration system is the single most effective and efficient way to improve the quality of the air in your home. There are plenty of single room filtration systems available but they can help just that – only one room. Because air and all the little dust mites and other nasties it contains can flow freely throughout your home, bad air from a non-filtered room can easily make its way into a filtered one, which rather defeats the point. Contact a good local HVAC contractor and they will be able to explain what would work best in your home and the most economical way to install a good central air system.