Stepping outside for a breath of fresh air when it’s stuffy, sweaty, and hot inside is a great sense of relief. Cool, clean, and fresh air is necessary for both health and comfort. It deepens breathing, stimulates blood vessels and helps us feel active and alert. However, we can’t always spend our lives outside, and that means you’ll eventually need to go back inside. If you’re sick of dealing with stuffy, uncomfortable rooms indoors, the good news is there are things you can do to resolve the issue and get back to enjoying your home in comfort.
What Makes Rooms Feel Stuffy?
There are many things that could contribute to various rooms in your home feeling stale and stuffy. Overheating, overcrowding, stagnant air, cooking odors, cigarette smoke, dust, and chemicals all contribute and work together to make a room feel muggy and uncomfortable. Opening the windows can help alleviate a number of these issues, but what happens when it’s hotter outside than it is inside? What if the outdoor humidity is immense and opening the windows would only lead to further discomfort? Opening the windows suddenly doesn’t become all that practical.
Proper indoor ventilation and temperature management are central components to keeping a home and body happy and healthy. The easiest way to do so is with your home’s HVAC equipment. To put it simple, HVAC stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and includes things like your furnace, air conditioner, any air purification systems, dehumidifiers, and several other things you may or may not have installed. Believe it or not, these systems may be your best and most powerful tools for resolving your stuffy air problems in ways you may not have thought of.
Here are a tips for making your home feel cool, comfortable, and refreshing again.
Change Your Air Filter
You may not realize it, but the small, simple air filter in your HVAC system may be the key to what’s causing your poor air quality and stuffiness problems. When an air filter gets too dirty, it can’t allow air to pass through, which means your air conditioner doesn’t get the airflow it needs to effectively and adequately cool your home. As a result, your entire home suffers, specifically rooms that are the furthest away from your system and rely on the full force of your blower fan to reach them.
Changing your air filter also removes contaminants like dust and pollen from the air, which can cause sneezing, sore throats, and other allergy symptoms that are usually indications of poor air quality.
Size Your Air Conditioner Properly
A poor-performing system can have a huge impact on the quality of your indoor air. When a system is about to die, often one of the first things to go is output capacity. If your air conditioner seems to be getting weaker and weaker by the day, growing even more incapable of cooling your home, this is usually a sign that your air handler is wearing out and needs to be replaced. When purchasing a new one, make sure you consult with a Beachwood HVAC services expert to make sure the one you choose to replace it is properly sized for your home and your duct network.
Change Your Duct Network
Ducts are a series of tubes made from tin, sheet metal, fiberglass or plastic through which conditioned air from the furnace or air conditioner is distributed throughout a building. Research suggests that poorly-designed ductwork or inadequate return ducts that feed air back into your HVAC system can compromise ventilation and reduce heating and cooling efforts.
Your ductwork needs to be correctly sized, installed, and maintained in order for your HVAC equipment to work properly. Check that each room with two or more supply ducts also have sufficient return air ducts installed. Make sure that every floor of the house has a central return register. See that both supply and return air ducts are sealed, insulated and free of blockages like debris or a vermin infestation. This can ensure you have refreshing airflow you need all throughout your home.
If you’ve got a problem with your ductwork, the Beachwood HVAC experts at Arco Comfort Air can resolve the issue quickly! Give us a call today at (216) 230-5117 and take the first steps toward a cooler, more comfortable home.
