Simple Ways to Improve the Air Quality in Your Home This Winter
When Minnesota winter sets in and windows stay closed for months, keeping the air inside your home clean makes all the difference for your family's comfort.
There are several simple things you can do to help improve the air quality in your home this season, keeping your home fresh and your heating system running smoothly.
Here are a few places to start!
1. Start With Your Furnace Filter
We know, checking your furnace filter isn't exactly exciting. But it's one of the easiest and most important things you can do for your home's air quality - and that's why we keep bringing it up!
Your furnace filter helps catch dust, pet dander, and other airborne particles before they continue circulating through your heating system.
A few things to keep in mind:
Check your filter monthly, especially during the winter when your furnace is working harder.
Replace filters when they're dirty.
Consider a higher-efficiency filter if your system can handle it.
And here's something people don't always realize: A higher-rated filter isn't automatically better for every furnace. Some filters restrict airflow more than others, so it's important to make sure you're using one that's compatible with your system.
A clean filter can also help your furnace run more efficiently, which is always a bonus!
2. Keep Humidity in a Healthy Range
Managing indoor moisture goes a long way toward maintaining a healthy, comfortable home.
Minnesota winters are notorious for dry indoor air. If you've ever experienced dry skin, irritated sinuses, scratchy throats, or those annoying static shocks, you know exactly what we're talking about!
It is generally recommended to keep indoor relative humidity between 30 and 50 percent. Keeping humidity balanced helps reduce dry-air discomfort.
During especially cold Minnesota weather, you may need to keep humidity below 30 percent to prevent condensation.
A programmable Wi-Fi thermostat can make monitoring your home's comfort even easier. Many newer thermostats allow you to check indoor humidity right from the display or your smartphone. Some compatible models can even control a whole-home humidifier, allowing you to adjust your humidity settings along with your home's temperature.
It's a convenient way to keep an eye on your home's comfort, even when you're not home. Just remember that not every Wi-Fi thermostat measures or controls humidity, so make sure the model you choose has the features you need.
If you notice condensation or moisture collecting on your windows, walls, or pipes, that's often a sign your indoor humidity is too high for the conditions.
A few quick daily habits can help, too:
Turn on the bathroom exhaust fan when showering.
Use your kitchen exhaust fan when cooking.
Keep an eye on condensation around windows.
Consider a whole-home humidifier if your indoor air is consistently too dry.
Whole-home humidifiers, like the AprilAire systems we install, work with your heating system to help maintain more consistent humidity throughout your home.
Unlike portable humidifiers, they don't require you to constantly refill water tanks. And because properly humidified air can feel more comfortable, you may find you don't need to turn your thermostat up quite as high to feel warm.
3. How Air Cleaners Support Your Home
Adding a whole-home or room air cleaner can be a great step for capturing fine airborne particles. Under proper conditions, air cleaners can effectively remove tiny airborne particles, such as tobacco smoke particles, dust, and certain allergens, helping reduce the amount circulating through your home.
Electronic air cleaners are another option worth considering. Depending on the technology, these systems use electrically charged collection surfaces or other filtration methods to help capture particles as air moves through your heating and cooling system.
They can be especially helpful in homes with pets, higher dust levels, or family members sensitive to airborne irritants.
Because heavier particles like pollen, dust, and pet dander tend to settle on furniture and floors rather than stay airborne, combining air cleaning with regular vacuuming and dusting gives you the best overall results for a fresh house.
Not all air cleaners work the same way, so choosing one with effective filtration and low or no ozone emissions is important.
4. Enhance Your System With UV Lights
UV lights are another option for helping keep the inside of your heating and cooling system cleaner. Installed inside your HVAC system, UV lamps can help address mold, bacteria, and other microorganisms on damp interior components, such as cooling coils and drain pans.
UV lights can inactivate certain bacteria, viruses, and mold organisms when they receive enough exposure. Depending on the system and where it's installed, UV lights can help reduce microbial buildup on HVAC components and provide an additional layer of air treatment.
At North State Mechanical, we install Scorpion UV systems to help address these concerns.
Think of UV lights as a valuable extra layer of protection working alongside your furnace filter to help keep the internal equipment cleaner.
Together, proper filtration and targeted UV light treatment can provide additional protection for your home's indoor air quality. They're most effective as part of a complete approach that also includes regular maintenance and moisture control.
5. Don't Forget About Fresh Air
We spend a lot of time making our homes energy efficient, sealing drafts, replacing windows, and keeping that expensive heated air inside.
That's great for keeping heating costs down, but it also means our homes may not get as much fresh air as we'd like.
Everyday activities like cooking, showering, cleaning, pets and even just living in our homes can introduce moisture, odors, and pollutants into the air.
A few simple habits can make a difference:
Use your kitchen exhaust fan when cooking, preferably one that vents outdoors.
Run bathroom fans during and after showers.
Open windows briefly when the weather and outdoor air quality allow.
Keep exterior vents and exhaust outlets clear of snow, ice, and debris.
For homes that need more consistent ventilation, a whole-home air exchanger may be worth considering.
Air exchangers bring fresh outdoor air into your home while removing stale indoor air. This can help reduce the buildup of indoor pollutants, odors, and excess moisture.
Many air exchangers also recover some of the heat from the outgoing air, helping provide fresh air without wasting as much energy as simply leaving a window open.
It's a way to help your home breathe a little easier, even when the windows stay closed.
6. Where a Furnace Tune-Up Fits
Your furnace does more than keep you warm. It's also part of the system responsible for circulating air throughout your home.
Keeping it clean and properly maintained helps support good airflow, efficient operation, and reliable heating.
Regular furnace maintenance can help catch things like dirty blower components, clogged drains, restricted airflow, and other issues before they turn into bigger problems.
A tune-up isn't a replacement for air filtration or ventilation, but it's an important part of keeping your heating system working the way it should.
7. A Healthier Home Doesn't Have to Be Complicated
Improving your home's indoor air quality doesn't mean you need to run out and buy every product on the market.
Sometimes it's as simple as changing your furnace filter, keeping humidity in check, or remembering to turn on the bathroom fan.
Other times, adding a whole-home humidifier, electronic air cleaner, UV light, or air exchanger can help address specific concerns.
The important thing is figuring out what your family needs and what makes sense for your home.
Every house is different, and what works well for one family might not be necessary for another.
At North State Mechanical, we'd rather help you understand your options than sell you something you don't need.
If you have questions about your home's air quality or want to learn more about the options available, we're always happy to help.
Call or text us at 612-207-0345.
Sources and Further Reading
