For millions of people, a home is not home unless it has pets.
Dogs and cats have topped the list of favorite pets for decades. Nothing beats having your pet curl up on the couch with you after a hard day’s work.
However, while Fido or Fluffy may be your biggest fan, there’s one downside to keeping a pet indoors—pets can affect the quality of the air inside the home.
Pet hair floats around inside your home, but that’s not the only problem found in a home with pets. Pet dander, which is comprised of dead skin cells, is even worse for the air quality as it is microscopic in size. This can be very harmful to those who have an allergy to pet dander.
Pets and Your Air Conditioner
While pet dander can cause a lot of problems if you are allergic to it, it can also affect your air quality, especially when your air conditioning is running. As the air blows inside your home, the pet dander spreads throughout the air as well. Take a breath, and you’ll be breathing it into your lungs.
Pets and Your HVAC System
You may not think your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system is at risk for problems with pet dander, but it is. As your system takes in air, it also takes in pet dander and even pet hair floating in the air, causing air filters can clog up which decreases the efficiency of your system. Additionally, when warm air starts to blow out to heat your home, pet dander trapped in your system comes along with it.
How Does Pet Dander Affect Your Health?
Too much pet dander floating around in the air can multiple health problems. From itchy, watery eyes to infections in the lungs, pet dander accumulation has harmful effects. It may even cause problems with your sinuses.
How Do I Get Rid of Pet Dander?
Contrary to what many people believe, you do not need to get rid of your beloved pets to maintain good air quality in your home. The following are a few things you can do to keep pet dander down:
- Brush and bathe your pets regularly. By bathing them, you can keep the levels of pet dander down. Brushing them daily or at least every other day will prevent shedding hair from ending up all over your home.
- Vacuum and dust. Vacuuming will diminish the amount of pet dander and hair throughout your home. Dust at least once a week to remove pet dander from surfaces where it might settle.
- Use an air purifier. This is a great way to improve the quality of the air in your home. Make sure it meets HEPA requirements so that it does what you expect it to.
- Schedule regular cleanings of your ductwork. Pet dander, dirt and debris can build up in the ducts. The minute you turn your system on, the particles end up in your air. This type of maintenance should be completed once a year so that your HVAC system stays in top working order.
- Clean or change the air filters. This should be done regularly in order to improve your air quality. In fact, if you have several pets in your home, you may want to clean or change them more often than recommended.
If you’re like most people, you consider your pets family and would never give them up—even if they contribute to poor air quality in your home. Thankfully, you don’t have to.
By taking the above measures, you can lower the amount of pet dander and hair, improving the air quality in your home without kicking your fur baby out the door.
Learn more tips for keeping your home air quality pet-dander free.
