Protecting the interior of your home from smoke is critically important to your health.  During wildfires, smoke makes the outdoor air unhealthy to breathe. This unhealthy air may be a risk to your body, especially when it penetrates some open spaces into your house. Some individuals may advise you to stay inside your house whenever there is smoke from wildfires outdoors. However, you should bear in mind that smoke enters your house, thus making it unhealthy to breathe indoor air.

Do you wish to protect the interior of your home from smoke? Did you ever know that smoke is a composition of gases and fine particles? These particles are microscopic and may cause health threats. If yes, do not worry; you are in the right place. This article discusses tips on how to protect the interior of your house from smoke.

Purchase a Portable Air Cleaner

To help improve your indoor air quality, purchase a portable air cleaner. You can also purchase a high-efficiency HVAC filter. If you decide to buy a portable cleaner, choose the one that is sized for the room where you will use it.  According to KC construction, you should also ensure that this portable cleaner makes no ozone. If you wish to buy a high-efficiency HVAC filter, select the one with a minimum efficiency reporting value of 13 ratings and a filter slot. It’s wise to consult a professional HVAC technician to decide the most efficient filter that works best for your system.

 Purchase N95 Respirator Masks

It’s critically important to consider keeping a supply of respiratory masks at hand. This kind of mask effectively protects your lungs from smoke.

Understand How to Adjust the Air Conditioner and Heat to Keep Smoke Out

It’s vital to be familiar with your HVAC system as you can use it to help keep smoke out of your home. The following will help ensure that smoke is prevented from entering your home.

• Find out whether your central HVAC filter has fresh air intake. Ensuring that the filter is good and replaced as recommended by the manufacturer is critically important.
• Avoid using an evaporating cooler in smoky conditions since it may result in more smoke being brought inside. Additionally, you can choose other options like fans or windows air conditioners.
• Find out how to close the outdoor air damper if you have a window air conditioner.
• Consider preparing other cooling options like a fan in case you cannot close the damper.
• Ensure that the seal between the air conditioner and the window is tight.
• Do not use a portable air conditioner with a single hose in smoky conditions since it can result in smoke being brought inside your house.

Close Windows and Doors

Closing windows and doors is essential in protecting your interior from smoke. Did you know that keeping your doors and windows shut reduces the amount of smoke that enters your house? You should always keep your windows and doors closed if wildfires are nearby, especially if it gets smoky.  Keeping them open will allow more smoke in your home and increase the risks of getting a respiratory disease such as asthma. Nevertheless, you should ensure that they are open to allow in the fresh air when it is safe.

Avoid Activities that Bring Smoke Particles Indoors

There are numerous activities that can create more smoke inside your house in addition to smoke from a wildfire. These activities may include smoking cigarettes and using gas, propane, or wood-burning stoves and furnaces. Furthermore, you can create more smoke particles indoors by spraying aerosol products, frying or boiling food, burning candles or incense, and vacuuming. Avoiding these activities will help protect your house from smoke.

Create a Cleanroom

Creating a cleanroom is critically important in protecting your house from wildfire smoke. A cleanroom is a room established to keep the levels of smoke and other particles as low as possible. Your cleanroom should be free of activities such as smoking and cooking. Furthermore, the windows and the doors must be closed to prevent smoke from entering the house. This room should also contain a portable cleaner that removes smoke from the air and improves the indoor air quality. In case of a smoke event in your area, you are always advised to go to your cleanroom and stay indoors. You can easily avoid exposure to smoke by creating an effective cleanroom.

Prevent Wildfires from Starting

One way you can help is to take actions that prevent wildfires from starting, such as preparing, maintaining, building, and extinguishing campfires safely. To prevent a wildfire from starting, you should consult your local fire department to determine if the weather is safe for building a fire.

Never Rely on Dust Masks for Protection

Dust masks are designed to trap large particles so they wouldn’t protect your lungs from tiny particles in wildfire smoke. Therefore, you should not try to use dust masks for protection against smoke.

Remove Your Shoes When Entering the Home

Removing your shoes before going inside your home will prevent you from dragging in some fine particles which might lead to health effects. You can also get a doormat that can help reduce the amount of smoke particles you bring in.

Closing Thought

Protecting the interior of your home from smoke is critically important to your health.  During wildfires, smoke makes the outdoor air unhealthy to breathe. This unhealthy air may be a risk to your body, especially when it penetrates some open spaces into your house.

The tips illustrated above will help you protect the interior of your house from smoke. Some individuals may advise you to stay inside your house whenever there is smoke from wildfires. However, you should bear in mind that smoke still enters your house, thus making it unhealthy to breathe indoor air. This makes it important to take measures to protect your home, and ultimately your health.