January 19, 2023
Winter Indoor Air Quality in Kalispell, MT.

The indoor air quality (IAQ) in your home can dip when the outside temperature plummets in Kalispell, Montana. As winter sees more people relax inside, the variety and volume of airborne particulates increases. Here are three reasons why your IAQ is likely worse during the cold season.

1. Homes Are Sealed up Tight

In summer and spring, it’s common practice to open windows and doors. Letting fresh air flow through your home during the warmer months clears out contaminants like volatile organic compounds.

To keep your heating system efficient and avoid causing undue furnace stress, it’s important to keep the building sealed shut. Other measures to weatherize your home, such as adding weatherstripping and closing up gaps and cracks at all windows and doors, create a tight home envelope and trap contaminants inside. During winter, unless you have secondary air purification measures, all of the pressure to filter your indoor air falls on your HVAC system.

2. Efforts to Create a Cozy Ambiance Can Negatively Affect Your IAQ

Winter is also a time when many homeowners take advantage of their fireplaces. Woefully inefficient for heating, fireplaces are largely valued for the ambiance that they create. Unfortunately, these units also create a number of airborne toxins.

Incomplete combustion of any fuel, including wood, results in the creation of carbon monoxide and other harmful exhaust gases. Although most of these gases are released outdoors via the chimney, there is always the danger of some escaping into the home. Additional airborne contaminants are often added by burning scented candles and air freshener sprays.

3. Indoor Activities Affect Your IAQ

Not only are homes sealed up tight during winter, but household residents tend to spend more of their time in them. Even pets go outside less often when the weather is chilly. Moreover, many long-haired pets shed more hair and pet dander during winter when the air is both cold and dry.

To further compound this problem, consumers often use more sanitizing agents to both prevent illness and slow its spread. Whether you’re disinfecting surfaces, wiping up spills and treating stains, or scouring away grime, you may be adding toxic chemicals to your indoor air. Worse still, many airborne contaminants from common household cleaners are too small to be captured and retained by standard HVAC air filters.

We offer residential furnace and air conditioner installation, maintenance, and repair services. We also provide advanced indoor air quality solutions, sheet metal and ductwork fabrication, geothermal HVAC, new countertop installation, and smart thermostats. We’ve been proudly serving residents of Flathead County since 1942. If you need help protecting and improving the IAQ in your Kalispell, Montana home, call General Sheet Metal, Inc. today.

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