No matter how new or old your building is, experts agree that everyone should be sealing off living space from outside air by keeping windows and doors closed during the air quality crisis. Use towels to block gaps that allow air inside.
If you are in the green (good) or yellow (moderate) levels, I absolutely recommend opening your windows and letting that clean air flush out your home. Once you go past the yellow level though, you will want to return to your filtered air system.
How do I stay healthy when air quality is poor? Stay indoors if you can, with windows and doors closed. If you have air conditioning, run it continuously, not on the auto cycle, so the air will be passing through the system's filter all the time.
Ventilation and shading can help control indoor temperatures. Ventilation also helps remove or dilute indoor airborne pollutants coming from indoor sources. This reduces the level of contaminants and improves indoor air quality (IAQ).
Keep windows closed and cool your home with air conditioning if: You have seasonal allergies. Many people with sensitive sinuses fare better in a dry, air-conditioned environment that shuts out pollen and dust. The outside air is humid.
If you easily suffer from allergies during allergy season, it would be advisable to keep your windows closed most of the time and rely on air-conditioning, especially during early morning hours — this is typically when plants, weeds, and trees release pollen.
Keep windows closed
Pollen can waft indoors through open windows, so keeping them closed can help reduce levels of dust, dirt and dander — especially during those months when pollen count is high. 'You can always pull down your blinds or close your curtains to make warm rooms cooler.
When the air is bad, walk indoors in a shopping mall or gym or use an exercise machine. Limit the amount of time your child spends playing outdoors if the air quality is unhealthy. Always avoid exercising near high-traffic areas.
Use fans to improve air flow
Even without an open window, fans can improve air flow. Point fans away from people. Pointing fans toward people can blow contaminated air directly at them. Use ceiling fans to help improve air flow in the home whether or not windows are open.
And sometimes they feel short of breath at baseline. So very poor air quality could worsen that," Widmer said. You should wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth, fits tightly to your face and can filter out smoke or ash particles before you breathe them in, according to the CDC.
If you spend time outside on a day when the AQI is high, the air pollution can make you feel unwell very quickly, but this is usually temporary. However, breathing polluted air for months or years can result in long-lasting or permanent health impacts.
Does wearing a mask help with bad air quality? If you need to be outside, experts advise wearing a mask. N95 masks are the best option to reduce your exposure to pollutants, according to Lahita, but if you don't have those, surgical masks or even a scarf is better than nothing.
While it may seem counterintuitive, it is actually helpful to open the windows and remove the stale, dry air from your house. Open windows during the daytime to let the fresh air in. It will help you breathe easy, and your skin won't feel that dry and itchy. Plus, it will also improve your home air quality.
"Generally, when it is really hot outside it is a good idea to keep windows closed during the daytime, as you don't want the hot external air to come into the house warming it up," she explained. "However, after the sun goes down, the outside air will start to cool down.
The rule you should go by is whether it is hotter outside than inside. If the temperature is higher outside than it is inside, you should keep your windows and curtains closed. This will shut the heat out, and help to keep your home cool.
At night, there's typically less wind. During the day, the sun heats up the ground, causing the air to rise and creating wind. On the other hand, at night time, the ground cools down which reduces the wind speed. With less wind to disperse pollutants, they tend to accumulate and settle near the surface.
If the air quality is especially poor, it may take a few days for your body to recover. And if you're regularly exposed to high levels of unhealthy air, the health consequences can linger for months or even years.
Hydration can have such a major impact on the way you breathe and can help to protect you against poor air quality. Water is important, and the amount of water you drink can have excellent health benefits, including keeping your lungs healthy.
Maintain a consistent room temperature.
Dry air can worsen your cold symptoms and parch your nose and throat. Use a humidifier to keep the air moist or open up a window for fresh cool air – just don't let the snow in.
Sleeping with the window open could inadvertently trigger allergies, asthma or potentially cause illness in someone with an already-weakened immune system. But for most people, it's relatively risk free. Aim to keep your bedroom around 65 degrees with 65 percent humidity.
Some believe letting cold air into your room increases your chance of getting sick. However, “You'll catch your death of cold,” is just an expression. Viruses aren't spread through winter air.
If the air inside your home is never exchanged for fresh air, it can become stale. When you're inside a building that's tightly sealed, without much ventilation, for much of your time, it's called sick building syndrome, or SBS. Living in this type of environment can allow toxins to build up in the house.
Once again simply keeping a window open for a few hours a day can help reduce the build-up of mould and nullify the health risks associated with this. Better ventilation also has a number of secondary benefits aside from health. It can reduce your energy costs in summer and help get rid of bad odours in your home.