5 Tips for Managing Seasonal Allergies Indoors

Springtime brings sunshine, tulips, and warmer weather. But it often brings seasonal allergies with it as well. The good news is that there are things you can do to manage your seasonal allergies when indoors.

Watts Heating & Cooling specializes in keeping the air in your home clean and healthy for optimal comfort. We have years of experience in the heating and cooling industry and have picked up a few things along the way that we’re more than happy to share with you. So here are five tips for managing your seasonal allergies indoors.

Improve Your Indoor Air Quality

One of the best things you can do to minimize your seasonal allergies indoors is to improve your indoor air quality. Pollutants such as dirt, dust, and other debris can accumulate inside your home. If you’re breathing in these pollutants on a regular basis, it can exacerbate your allergies and cause serious health problems.

By installing an air cleaner inside your home, you can eliminate many of the common irritants that cause seasonal allergies to flare up, such as smoke, mold spores, pet dander, and pollen. If there’s a specific room in your home that’s of particular cause for concern, you may want to opt for a room-sized air cleaner.

However, if the whole family needs help managing seasonal allergies, you may want to use a whole-house HEPA-certified air cleaner instead. HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air, and this designation ensures that the filter has met certain efficiency standards.

Monitor Humidity Levels

Mold spores are one of the common irritants that appear indoors. Since mold spores grow in moist environments, you want to make sure the air in your home remains dry. On the other hand, overly dry air can irritate the throat, eyes, and lungs. That’s why it’s important to monitor your home’s humidity levels to ensure you’re maintaining a healthy moisture level.

A humidifier can help you monitor the moisture levels in your home. Humidifiers work in tandem with your furnace system to distribute adequate levels of moisture throughout your house. In addition to managing seasonal allergies, humidifiers can also help you stay warmer in the wintertime at a lower thermostat setting. This will help you save money in addition to improving your family’s health.

Replace Your HVAC Filters

Another place where dirt, dust, and dander can accumulate in the filters inside your HVAC system. The pollutants that gather there can then be circulated back into your home. Replacing your HVAC filters regularly can prevent this from happening.

Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to replace your HVAC filters once every few months. Some people do it at the start of each season to help them remember when the filters need to be replaced. But keep in mind that some filters need to be changed more frequently than others. For instance, if you own a large home, have pets, or suffer from allergies that are particularly severe, you may want to change your filters on a monthly basis instead. You also may want to consider changing your filters monthly during seasons of heavy use, such as winter and summer, when you’re HVAC is working its hardest.

In addition to frequently replacing your HVAC filters, you should also think about installing UV lights near your furnace’s indoor coil. Since ultraviolet light kills the mold and bacteria that can grow on your indoor coil, these allergens will be destroyed before they’re able to circulate through your home.

Clean Your Home Frequently

You should also manage your seasonal allergies the good old-fashioned way, by regularly cleaning your house. We recommend vacuuming with a HEPA filter weekly. You should also wash and change your bedding at least once a week since dust mites are often found in bedsheets and pillowcases. If you haven’t already, you may also want to purchase bedding made with an anti-allergen fabric.

Make Lifestyle Changes

If you’ve made all the above changes and are still having difficulty managing your seasonal allergies indoors, then it may be time to implement some lifestyle changes. For instance, if you have pets in your home, you should keep your bedroom door closed so that your pets stay out of that room.

It’s also important to remember that carpeting is not ideal for allergy sufferers. Instead, you should consider replacing your carpeting with hardwood flooring. You should also think about getting rid of any curtains or area rugs that easily collect dust. And if you like to keep windows open, consider closing them so that outdoor pollutants don’t make their way indoors.

There are many lifestyle and behavioral changes you can make that will help you better manage your allergies. But rather than make these changes all at once, start with just one room where you spend a good amount of time. If you notice that your allergies improve after a few weeks, then you can implement these changes in the other rooms of your home as well.

On the other hand, if your problems persist, schedule an appointment with your primary care physician. Before your visit, keep a record of your symptoms and when your allergies seem to flare up. For instance, is there a particular place in your home or time of day when your symptoms seem to be especially bad? Keeping a detailed record will help both you and your doctor determine what steps to take next.

Seasonal allergies are more than just an inconvenience. They can lead to bigger health problems down the road if they’re not properly managed. That’s why it’s important to be proactive about your family’s health.

Want to Know More?

Our indoor air specialists can assess your home’s indoor air quality and make appropriate recommendations. Give us a call and we’ll schedule an appointment for your free in-home consultation. Watts Heating & Cooling has helped countless families just like yours over the years. We can help you improve your home’s indoor air quality and help you breathe a little easier in the process.