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Limited airflow within a house can be uncomfortable and unsafe. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, you can save yourself from airborne diseases by improving airflow in your home. The question, however, is: How do you improve the airflow in your house?
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The best way to improve airflow in your house is by purifying the air with air from outside. There are many ways to do this, including opening your windows and using air conditioners. The steps you’ll have to take depend heavily on your home structure and your location.
In this guide, I’ll be going over a few different ways to improve the airflow in your home. Regardless of the structure of your home, you’ll find one or two ways to improve your home’s airflow in this article.
1. Check the Interior Design
Sometimes, the reason air may not flow properly in your home may be due to natural blockage. If you have too much furniture tightening up the space in a room, it will affect the airflow.
Even the best air conditioning systems will not improve the airflow with a bad interior design.
For instance, let’s assume you purchase two different HVAC systems, then set them beside a tall shelf. The air circulation won’t be perfect because that shelf will disperse any air coming towards that end.
Read: How To Increase Airflow In Ductwork
2. Open Your Windows
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), allowing air from outside to come in helps to filter the air, improving its quality.
The action of opening windows is the easiest way to improve airflow in any home. However, you need to be careful, as there are some situations when you can’t open windows and doors.
These situations include:
- When you’re using your air conditioner.
- When you’re located somewhere high up and have kids and pets around.
- When you stay in a congested area with bad air quality.
If you do not fall under any of these categories, you can go ahead to open your windows.
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It’s usually best to open windows or doors opposite each other. Doing that will give room for cross ventilation and better air purification.
Read: Furnace Filter Airflow – What You Need To Know?
3. Turn On a Standing or Ceiling Fan
We usually tend to downplay the importance of having a fan, especially when there’s an air conditioner in the room. However, realistically, the fan helps with the circulation of the cool air.
An air conditioner blows within a certain radius. It will take a lot of time before the air conditioner can successfully cool up a place. However, with a fan, the air circulation is much faster and more efficient.
Having a fan can also help you improve how your home smells. By simply hanging an air freshener close to the fan, your air will circulate easily and smell better.
Using a fan alongside your air conditioner can even save some energy bills. According to the EPA, using a fan with an air conditioner gives you the liberty to increase the temperature by four degrees with no significant changes.
You can read this article on keeping your apartment smelling fresh on three things you can do to ensure your home’s smell stays fresh. Here, I explained how your home could smell nice even when hosting a large crowd.
Read: How Do I Increase The Airflow In My Furnace?
4. Keep Air Vents Clean and Right
Your HVAC systems will not circulate air properly if there are any issues with the vents. The problems may be minor in some cases, and in others, they’re more serious. Some of the vent issues you may encounter include
- Dirty vents and registers
- Bad vent size setups
Let’s look at each of the problems you may experience with vents.
Dirty Vents and Registers
Every HVAC system has an air filter to ensure dirt does not contaminate any part of the air you’re circulating. However, these filters may not work optimally over time and cause dust and debris to get through the vents. In turn, this dirt will affect airflow.
Solving this is easy, as all you need to do is to check all vents and registers for dirt and clean them immediately. You can watch this video to learn how to clean the vents and registers perfectly:
Bad Vent Size Setups
It’s usually best to have expert help when installing your HVAC systems. They have the expertise to choose the right location, size, and system brand.
Generally, HVAC systems use a recycling process where air spreads in the home, goes out through vents and gets dispersed again. If the vent bringing air in is smaller than the one taking it out, it will affect airflow.
In such cases, you will need to refurbish your HVAC system. Therefore, you need to call an expert to ensure you’re doing the right thing.
Read: Can You Run A Window AC In The Rain?
5. Clean or Change the Air Filter
The job of the air filter, as I have mentioned above, is to ensure that the air coming to the home does not contain dust, debris, and potential pollutants.
These debris and other materials do not pass through the air filter but stay on it. In turn, the air filter will gradually become dirty and reduce airflow or completely block it.
There are two ways to go about preventing your air filter from blocking the airflow, including;
- Cleaning. This may not be your best option, as the equipment will still get dirty, but it is a good temporary one.
- Changing. Changing the air filter of your whole HVAC system at intervals is your best option. However, ensure you choose only the most experienced professionals.
According to a report, you can cut down on your energy bills by as much as 15% when you have clean filters in your HVAC system.
If you want to get a better grasp of how to properly clean an air filter, check out this video:
6. Consider Installing A Different Fan
Standing and ceiling fans are not the only options that can help improve airflow in your home. Attic and exhaust fans are two other fan varieties that solve many issues when it comes to air circulation.
The exhaust fans blow in an anticlockwise motion, which means the air will go behind it. It’s a great way to remove heat from hot locations like the kitchen and the bathroom.
On the other hand, attic fans, as the name implies, are usually around the top parts of your home. They work similarly to the exhaust fan as they remove air from the home and take it out through the attic.
The only difference between both fans is the location. Attics can be anywhere in the home, while the exhaust is mainly located around rooms that tend to get excessively hot.
Read: Should You Give Your Air Conditioner A Break?
Conclusion
Good airflow in your home, regardless of the type of HVAC system you have, depends on how well the system has been installed and maintained.
If you had an experienced professional install the HVAC, you’d likely encounter fewer problems, and in any case, you can call said professional for help. Likewise, if you regularly clean and attend to the system’s needs, you’ll undoubtedly help improve airflow in the house.
