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7 Ways Improve Your Indoor Air Quality


Written on March 24, 2023.

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indoor air quality

The abundance of sunshine and comfortable winter temperatures allow plants in Arizona to grow year-round, which can be a blessing and a curse due to the constant pollen. While the blooming trees and flowers make the springtime in Phoenix beautiful, the pollen produced can heighten allergy symptoms. Many homeowners shorten time spent outside in the peak of allergy season, but did you know indoor air is often more polluted than outdoor air? The air quality inside your home could be worsening your seasonal allergies, and Olive Air is here to help! In this blog, we discuss ways to improve your indoor air quality in Phoenix, Arizona and surrounding areas.

Why Is Good Indoor Air Quality Important In Arizona?

We spend a large portion of our time in our homes, whether you are sleeping, working, cooking, or lounging. It is important to ensure the air you breathe while inside your home is clean and beneficial to your health. If your home has poor indoor air quality, you may experience allergy symptoms and other health conditions. Common indoor air pollutants in your Arizona home include mold, mildew, pet dander, dust, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and smoke. Additionally, the amount of humidity in your home can contribute to poor air quality and negative health symptoms due to the excess or lack of moisture. Below are ways poor air quality can affect your health in Phoenix, AZ and surrounding areas.

  • Sore Throat
  • Congestion
  • Dry/Cracked Skin
  • Increased Susceptibility To Illnesses
  • Headaches
  • Dizziness

While poor air quality can cause many health symptoms, it can also lead to respiratory disease, heart disease, and cancer according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If you or someone currently struggles with respiratory diseases, it is extremely important to maintain positive air quality to keep them healthy and comfortable.

How To Improve Indoor Air Quality In Gilbert, AZ

Depending on the harmful pollutants in your air, some can flare up allergy symptoms, cause discomfort, and damage personal belongings. There are a variety of simple maintenance tasks homeowners can do to improve their home’s air quality and keep each resident healthy. Below we have listed seven ways to improve indoor air quality.

  • Schedule AC Maintenance
  • Maintain Clean Air Filters
  • Install Beneficial Home Devices
  • Invest In Quality Air Filters
  • Groom Pets Outdoors
  • Increase Ventilation
  • Dust Regularly

Schedule AC Maintenance

Air conditioning maintenance is aimed to ensure your AC system is prepared for the workload the spring and summer seasons bring. A trained Olive Air technician will perform various beneficial tasks to prevent future AC repair in Phoenix, which includes thoroughly cleaning the air conditioner. AC units typically sit outdoors and can build up debris and dirt. Even if your air conditioner is located inside, it has been sitting since last season and likely has dust collected inside. A Gilbert technician will clean each component and remove dirt before it can be picked up in the cooling process. Dirty air conditioners can produce unclean air and negatively impact your home’s air quality. Give us a call to schedule AC maintenance in Phoenix, AZ and surrounding areas.

Maintain Clean Air Filters

Maintaining clean air filters is one of the most beneficial ways to keep good air quality inside your home. Air filters catch pollutants before they are distributed throughout your home. However, air filters can become clogged with each allergen and need to be cleaned to continue working effectively. If your air filters are dirty, the filter struggles to catch pollutants and allows some to slip by and affect air quality. Be sure to change your air filters at least every 90 days to maintain good indoor air quality.

Air Filter Tip: If you struggle with keeping up with the last time you changed your air filter and when to change it next, we can help! When you are changing your air filter, write the date three months from now on the edge of the filter. This helps keep track of what date you need to change your filter by!

Install Beneficial Home Devices

There are a variety of home devices that help improve indoor air quality, such as humidifiers and air purifiers. Your home relies on humidity to maintain comfort and good health. Humidity levels should always remain between 30-50% to maintain positive indoor air quality. Some homes in Arizona struggle with humidity due to the dry climate, and humidifiers can help add moisture back into the air. Air purifiers are made to remove harmful contaminants in the air and circulate clean air back into your home. Air purifying systems can greatly benefit indoor air quality if you have harmful pollutants floating through your home.

Invest In Quality Air Filters

While it is important to maintain a clean air filter, it is equally important to utilize quality filters throughout your home. When choosing an air filter, homeowners should know two things: the type of filter and the MERV rating.

The most common types of air filters are fiberglass and pleated. While these are both beneficial options, the filters have air quality differences. Fiberglass filters are often the cheaper option, because the filter struggles to catch small particles. Pleated air filters are more expensive, because of the filter’s ability to catch small particles. The filters differ due to the minimum efficiency reporting values. (MERV)

MERV measures a filter’s effectiveness to catch particles and ranges on a scale of 1-20. Fiberglass filters typically range between 1-4 MERV, while pleated filters range from 5-13 MERV. We recommend homes use air filters between 8-13 MERV to maintain positive air quality and an efficient HVAC system. The higher the MERV, the more particles a filter can catch and the cleaner your air will be.

Groom Pets Outdoors

Pet dander is a common indoor air pollutant in homes and could be the cause of your allergy symptoms. Pet hair can clog air filters, contribute to dust, and carry pet skin cells and saliva. To cut down on pet dander throughout your home, we recommend regularly grooming your animals outside of your home. Homeowners can personally groom their animals in the yard or send them to a professional. Be sure to give your furry friends lots of treats for being the best during their grooming session and keeping you healthy inside your home!

Increase Ventilation

The reason indoor air is often more polluted than outdoor air is because of the lack of ventilation homes can have. Harmful pollutants can build up and negatively impact allergy symptoms. There are many ways to improve ventilation inside your home, such as:

  • Opening a window
  • Utilize ceiling fans
  • Turn on exhaust fans when cooking

Dust Regularly

One of the easiest and cost effective ways to improve indoor air quality is to maintain a clean home. Furniture around your home such as couches, throw pillows, and rugs can collect dust and build up other harmful pollutants. Additionally, dusting with a rag and natural cleaning product can help avoid dust build up and keep you breathing easy. Cleaning and fluffing around your home, especially unused areas, can help keep allergy symptoms to a minimum.

Let us help keep you healthy and comfortable this allergy season in Phoenix! We are here to help keep your air filters clean and your air conditioner running smoothly. Give us a call to schedule AC maintenance in Gilbert, AZ and surrounding areas this spring!


Written By Olive Air Heating & Cooling

Oliver is a trained technician whose passion is to make your home comfortable again.

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