8 Tips for Making Your Home Healthier

Table of Contents

1. Check Your Air Quality
2. Use a Healthy Heating System
3. Decorate With Living Plants
4. Replace Chemicals With Natural Alternatives
5. Test and Filter Your Water
6. Test for Radon
7. Create a Deep Cleaning Schedule
8. Create Unplugged Zones
9. Making Your Home Healthier

Creating a healthier home is one of the most popular goals for the new year. This is a great goal for everyone because you can do so many different things to make progress. Furthermore, turning your home into a healthier, happier place is a win for everyone involved.

Here are eight practical tips to help make your home healthier in the coming year.

Check Your Air Quality

Start your new journey to a healthier home by testing your air quality. Work with an HVAC service that also specializes in air quality testing and improvement. They’ll be able to identify any problem areas in your home and offer various solutions. Installing air purifiers has become more popular in the past couple of years and is one of the most requested services in home heating (source: https://jenningsheating.com/cuyahoga-falls/).

There are several signs that your home’s air quality is poor. If you notice that you often feel sick — either with a headache or a recurring cough — there’s likely an air quality issue. If your allergies flare up inside, your home’s filtration system likely isn’t doing the work it should remove allergens. Having a skilled HVAC specialist assess your air quality is the first step to a healthier home.

Use a Healthy Heating System

While we often evaluate the most cost-effective or eco-friendly home heating systems, it’s also important to consider the healthiest options. When assessing home heating options, health is typically measured by particulate matter and vapors released into the air.

Hydronic and geothermal heating systems are often considered the healthiest, but replacing your existing systems isn’t always possible. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to make your heating (and cooling) system more efficient.

Start by scheduling annual maintenance and cleaning visits to ensure all filters are replaced and everything is running smoothly. This preventative maintenance will also help reduce wear and tear that could release harmful chemicals or gasses into the air.

Decorate With Living Plants

Adding living plants to your home decor has positive mental and physical health benefits. Live plants provide a mood-boosting effect that instills a sense of calm, especially ones like lavender which have aromatherapeutic benefits. Furthermore, green plants help create oxygen and absorb impurities in the air.

If you’re worried about killing your plants, don’t worry; there are plenty of low-maintenance options for those who struggle to keep them alive. Some of the best low-maintenance options include:

• Snake plants
• Aloe
• Pothos
• Chinese evergreen
• English ivy
• Dragon trees

Add a few of these plants around your home to breathe a little easier, both figuratively and literally.

Replace Chemicals With Natural Alternatives

The modern home contains a surprising number of chemicals. Everything from your cleaning supplies to your cosmetics contains preservatives and toxins that can negatively impact the health and wellness of everyone in your home.

Start by swapping out cleaning supplies with natural alternatives — and never underestimate the power of hot water and vinegar. Then, start making simple swaps with your cosmetics, soaps, and hair products. Remember that change doesn’t happen overnight; choose one thing to swap this month, then another, and so on.

Test and Filter Your Water

You can never be too protected from toxins and chemicals in your water supply. If you’re on a municipal water system, use carbon filters on your faucets to filter out chlorine and other additives. If you’re not on a municipal system, put in a UV light and an osmosis filtration system, as well as carbon filters. It’s also worth using a test kit a couple of times a year to keep an eye on water quality, particularly during the summer months.

Test for Radon

Radon is an odorless, tasteless, invisible gas that contributes to the development of lung cancer if left unaddressed. According to the CDC, one in 15 homes has high levels of radon. This issue typically occurs in basements, as radon is emitted from the ground. There’s a common misconception that homes with natural gas energy are the only ones at risk of high radon levels when, in fact, radon is something else entirely.

Radon test kits are affordable and easy to use. Simply set them up in your home for a specified period, then send them to the lab for testing. If a radon issue is detected, you can then have cracks sealed in the basement to ensure nothing is getting through or put in an underground ventilation system to draw the radon from your home.

Create a Deep Cleaning Schedule

Staying on top of household chores is a challenge for the modern family. As such, many deep cleaning tasks tend to get put on the back burner. Unfortunately, it’s those tasks that get rid of excess allergens and debris that could contribute to unwellness.

Put together a deep cleaning schedule to ensure curtains are getting washed, shelves are getting dusted, mattresses are getting vacuumed, etc. Spending time deep cleaning your home and making it look and smell fresh also has mood-boosting benefits that contribute to better mental health.

Create Unplugged Zones

Constant connectivity and access to smartphones negatively impact our stress levels, and can even lead to increased anxiety in younger generations. The blue light from screens is also detrimental to our natural sleep cycles. In essence, technology is a double-edged sword that sometimes hurts as much as it helps.

Making Your Home Healthier

One of the best new-age ways to make your home healthier is to create unplugged zones where there’s no tech allowed. This could include the dining room when you gather as a family or a cozy relaxation corner in some unused space. It’s also beneficial to create tech drop zones where everyone can leave their phones at night or set tech-free times for everyone (adults included) as a part of each day.

With these practical tips, you can start making healthy changes in your home. Start by choosing one that sounds manageable to you and start implementing the change. Remember to create small, sustainable changes and that every little step in the right direction counts.

Thank you for reading!