Allergy sufferers are more sensitive to airborne allergens and are all too familiar with the frustration caused by dust, dust mites, and mold. These allergens can cause allergy symptoms to spike, creating an onslaught of coughing and sneezing. The severity of these allergy symptoms depends on the conditions of the house or building. Personally, I do not suffer from many allergies, and I am grateful for that fact every day. However, many of my friends and family suffer from everyday allergies, impacting their quality of life. That is why it is especially important to me to make my home safe, comfortable, and hypoallergenic for the people I care about. But is a truly hypoallergenic home achievable? Let’s find out!
The Bucket Theory: Why a Hypoallergenic Home is Important
Do you notice your allergies getting worse just sitting around your house? There’s an explanation for that. The Bucket Theory of Allergies states that our bodies are designed to each deal with a designated level of allergens (artificial and natural). Once this threshold is breached, the “bucket” begins to spill over, causing unpleasant symptoms. That’s why sometimes you can be around an allergen and be unaffected, and other times the symptoms are unbearable. An allergen-free home enables your immune system to deal with the allergen load in the bucket, reducing your overall allergy symptoms anywhere you go!
Steps to Turn Your Newly Built or Existing Home Hypoallergenic
If you have the luxury of being able to build a home from scratch or are thinking of making changes to your interior, there are plenty of choices that will ultimately affect your indoor air quality. Even small, cosmetic decisions can have a large impact on the potential presence of allergens. The following are some of the most important decisions you can make to reduce allergens and take one step closer to a hypoallergenic home.
- Carpeting. A recent study published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health says that recent data supports the claim that carpets can act as suppositories for pollutants. This may be bad news for the rug industry, but it’s great news for your allergies and asthma! By avoiding excess carpeting, you can reduce the risk of indoor allergens. Consider hardwood floors, tile flooring, and laminate flooring instead.
- Indoor Air System. Most homes are built with a Forced Air and Heat system that moves air throughout the house. These systems are the lungs of the home and (like your lungs) have the ability to filter out the bad allergens and pathogens floating through the air. If you’ve ever looked out the window and seen tiny floating particles illuminated by sunlight, those are the particles your systems have the capacity to filter.
- Filters. Talk to your HVAC contractor about installing media type filters or polarized filters to keep your dust down to a bare minimum. You may have heard experts recommend a HEPA (High Efficient Particulate Arrestors) to filter your air. However, HEPA filters can be air restrictive for some HVAC systems in residential properties, potentially causing premature breakdowns and shortening the life of your air conditioner. Commercial building HVAC systems are more compatible with HELPA filters.
- UV Lights. UV Lights won’t do anything for dust, but they can certainly help reduce Infectious Agents. UVV Lights can reduce Toxic Compounds and even airborne pathogens and bacteria.
Quick Hypoallergenic Tips to Transform Your Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
If you’ve read this far and you think you may have some work to do on your home, don’t panic! There are small steps that every homeowner can take to reduce allergens without completely remodeling.
- Reducing Allergen Traps. Materials such as carpets, mattresses, comforters, and curtains are all traps for potential allergens. One easy tip is to eliminate (or reduce) the carpets in the house and put allergy bags on your mattresses and pillows to fight dust mites. It’s important to note that targeting specific areas of the house can reduce allergens, but it will not make your whole home hypoallergenic. Allergen Fact! If you’re allergic to dust mites, you’re really allergic to dust mite feces and their decaying bodies. All the more reason to eliminate dust mites!
- Invest in HVAC Maintenance. We’ve already covered that your HVAC system is similar to the lungs in your body. That’s why your system requires regular checkups by an HVAC professional. The Help!! Membership Club includes annual maintenance checks, so you can have peace of mind all year long.
- Pick the Right Filter. If you are having Indoor Air Quality issues and suspect it may have something to do with your system, it may be time for a new filter! Your HVAC contractor can do the math to make sure your filter is the proper size. Here’s the formula: Air Conditioning manufacturers recommend 2 square inches per ton of AC. If you have a three-ton AC system, you can multiply 3 tons x 2.00 square inches. After the math comes the fun part, picking your filter! Plain fiberglass filters are not good for stopping allergens. Pleated filters are like wearing a mask with your nose hanging out. Allergy filters can be too constrictive. The Answer: In all of my experience, nothing matches the quality and ability of the Air Ranger Polarized Filter. It can trap dirt down to .3 microns and doesn’t require you to make duct modifications. These pads are reasonably priced and only need to be changed once every three months.
- Defense Against Unseen Infectious Agents. Unseen pathogens can be some of the hardest to remember because they are invisible to the naked eye, but they are all around us in the air we breathe. Thankfully, bacterial and viral infectious agents can be controlled by UV Lights. Help!! Air Conditioning can place a UV Light Kit in the ductwork of your existing HVAC system, and the germs are history! When germs such as Pneumococcus, Streptococcus, or even Legionella pass through UV Light, they become sterilized and cannot reproduce. UV Lights have the same effect on Viral Infections, such as Influenza, Pneumonia, Common Cold Viruses, and SARS! That’s right! UV Lights also help with COVID!
- UVV Lights and Chemical Control. UVV attacks toxic compounds, such as chemicals found in building materials and furniture. If you’ve ever worried about the effects of formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, pesticides, and even mold mycotoxins, talk to your HVAC contractor about UVV installation options! The light will oxidize these harmful elements and render them harmless.
Ready to Take the Next Steps? Call Help!! Air Conditioning for Hypoallergenic Solutions!
As you’ve read, it’s possible to create a (mostly) hypoallergenic home by using the right products in the right way. At Help!!, we call our IAQ products the “Clean Air Defense System” so that you can protect the air in your home as well as protect your family from the myriad of dangerous allergens polluting your air. Decrease your total allergen load and drain your bucket with services from Help!! Air Conditioning! Call 504-733-5888, or contact us to schedule an appointment!
