With coronavirus (COVID-19) top of mind, all of those hygiene lessons from our childhood come in handy. In Pennsylvania, we are pretty good about covering our mouths when we cough or our noses when we sneeze. But good respiratory hygiene doesn’t stop there.
Maintaining good air quality in your home is as important as washing your hands. Your home’s central heating and cooling systems ventilate the air and protect your health. So when flu season and viruses hit Pennsylvania, we often get asked about respiratory health and home hygiene.
How to Protect Your Home From Germs & Allergens
Your central air system pushes and pulls air throughout your house to keep it nice and warm in the winter and cool in the summer. But imagine the dust, allergens, and germs that enter the air every time you open a door or window, or your pet brushes by. That air gets pulled into your vents and cycles through your house.
Thankfully, you have filters that block the dust and allergens. And there are also air quality products that can kill germs using ultraviolet (UV) light. Some products also use ionization to gather the particles into clusters, which makes it even easier to trap and filter germs and allergens. The Air Scrubber by Aerus is another product that reduces the contaminants in your home’s air. It was originally designed to reduce indoor air quality risks known as Sick Building Syndrome.
One of the best preventions against airborne pollutants is keeping your ducts and filters clean. Over time, trapped dust can grow into mold, and you don’t want that circulating in your home!
Coronavirus & Air Quality Products
Some air quality products may be better at fighting viruses than others. A HEPA filter, for example, is a high-efficiency air filter that can trap most particles, but the coronavirus is very small, and the complete effectiveness of even the finest of filters is unclear. UV light and ionization can kill germs, and can even fight some viruses. Although it is unknown at this time whether the coronavirus, given its size, could be trapped, it is better to go the extra mile for clean air whenever possible.
All that said, it’s important to maintain good airflow and clean your home’s surfaces regularly. According to the Department of Health, the spread of respiratory viruses is most often caused by close contact between people (within 6 feet). This is why it’s important to follow recommendations by the CDC and ensure good airflow in rooms that are shared with people confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19.
How to Prevent Against Coronavirus in Your Home
Being an expert also means knowing when to call in the experts. Our guidance to homeowners worried about the coronavirus is to follow advice from the Department of Health in Pennsylvania. This includes:
- Cover coughs or sneezes with your elbow.
- Wash your hands often.
- Clean surfaces frequently.
At Haller, we take safety — yours and our technicians’ — very seriously. Haller Technicians use one-time-use, disposable shoe covers and gloves, and clean equipment in between each home visit. We do what we can for our neighbors and community by answering questions you might have about air quality, and making sure your heating and cooling system is up-to-date.
If you have any questions about home hygiene or protecting your home from germs and allergens, contact a Haller specialist to see what options are available.
