Even though there may no longer be blooming flowers in your gardens, you may start to sneeze more and eyes begin to water. This may be a bit confusing, but it all has to do with your furnace. All summer, dust particles have accumulated in your heating ducts. When late autumn and winter hits, the forced heating systems are turned on and the dust begins to circulate throughout the home and aggravates your allergies. If you struggle with allergies with the furnace on, here are some tips to keep you allergy free.
Cleaning Out Your Filter
It’s always important to make sure that you replace your filters regularly. When you do not change your filters, your heating system will continue to blow dust and dirt that has collected in your filters throughout the air in your home. This will decrease the air quality of your home and aggravate your allergies.
Many doctors even recommend that you use a permanent HEPA filter that can remove 90 percent of particles in the air. They are more efficient than disposable filters. However, these permanent filters still need to be cleaned regularly so that they do not get saturated with dust and cause the same issue as unchanged disposable filter.
Cleaning Out Your Air Ducts
Dust not only collects in your filters, but it also collects in your air ducts as well. This is why heating system maintenance is so important. It is necessary for a heating and air conditioning technician to come and do this for you. Your technician has the tools and skill that is necessary for properly cleaning out your air ducts. It isn’t recommended that allergy sufferers stay in the home when the technician is cleaning out the air duct. Also, your home will need to be dusted and cleaned afterwards.
Get a Humidifier
Unfortunately, furnaces tend to dry out the air in your home and this can irritate your throat and can dry out your eyes. One way to keep this from happening is to invest in a humidifier. This will keep your home at a bearable humidity and will help ease allergy symptoms. Your home will be most comfortable at 35% to 50% humidity. It’s also important to make sure that you keep yourself hydrated and keep drinking water throughout the day if your throat and eyes feel dry.
Keeping Your Heating System Well Maintained
Doing regular maintenance on your home’s heating systems not only helps keep your furnace working as efficiently as possible, but it helps improve your home’s air quality and can help anyone who suffers from allergies. When it’s time to turn on your furnace, you may need to have a heating and cooling technician come to perform routine maintenance and ensure that everything is working well and that the filters and air ducts are clean and allergen free. This will keep you from sneezing and watery eyes.
