How to improve basement air quality is a common question in 2022. Well, the air quality in your home, especially the basement, is possibly the essential factor to consider when building or remodeling. It has been reported that anywhere from 25 – 40% of a home’s heating and cooling loss is through the basement.
Plus mold, mildew, and pests like rodents also love an environment where there’s moisture and little light i.e., basements. If you’ve had a leaky basement, those leaks often cause severe damage due to high humidity levels as well as possible mold growths. This can cause health risks for anyone sensitive to allergens.
Not only that but some “critters” actually enter your home by coming up through the basement floor. Once they’ve entered, they can live undetected in damp basements or crawl spaces for months – until you smell them.
Also Read About: Best Air Purifier for Kitchen
How to Improve Basement Air Quality? 5 Simple Solutions
So what do you do to improve basement air quality? One solution is to build an energy-efficient basement waterproofing system that fits your home’s exterior design.
This includes installing vapor barriers and gutters designed to keep water out of the basement while maintaining adequate ventilation.
Here are 5 more simple ideas on how to improve your indoor air quality in general:
1- Be Aware of Air Quality
Air quality is a very important part of having a great indoor living space. Your family deserves to be surrounded by clean and comfortable air – not stuffy or stale.
If you don’t like what you see (or smell), make the necessary changes and see how much your home can benefit from better ventilation and moisture control.
Related Article: How Ventilate a Basement
2- Use An Air Purifier
Using an air purifier is an excellent way to improve your basement’s air quality. Air Purifiers are really beneficial to get rid of contaminants floating around. If you can’t see them with your eyes, they may still be hanging in there.
Moreover, these contaminants could affect your family’s health over time if they keep coming back up to the main floor. So make sure you find one that works best for your space.
3- Improve Humidity levels
To protect against mold/mildew growth, reduce humidity levels, so there’s no chance of cond forming. This will prevent the potential of mold growth and help dry out wet insulation and floors. As a basis, aim for 40-50% relative humidity (RH) in the summer and 30-40% RH in the winter.
4- Enhance Ventilation
Be sure to use both soffit and ridge vents to maintain healthy air movement throughout your home. If you have insufficient roof venting, moisture will build upon the underside of your roof sheathing leading to mold/mildew problems.
Also, you can improve your indoor air quality by adding an ENERGY STAR-rated exhaust fan. It will reduce energy costs thanks to improved insulation levels throughout your home, which result from proper ventilation.
5- Remove VOCs Sources
Have you ever heard of the volatile organic compound (VOCs)? They are chemical compounds that react to the oxygen in the atmosphere and become airborne. These compounds are what give off strong odors.
Volatile organic compounds can come from many different things, even paints, and solvents. Of course, people tend to paint or work on their home in their basement, so this is one VOC source.
VOCs go out into your living space and affect indoor air quality negatively. This will cause your home’s air quality to decrease because you’re breathing in toxic fumes while you’re sitting basement.
The best way to get rid of the VOCs is to seal up all your exits so that these chemicals don’t have anywhere to go. You want them to stay in the place where they are produced, so you can ventilate them out appropriately. That way, you will breathe cleaner air and have better indoor air quality.
Another good solution for this problem is if you live near a river or lake, open your windows and fans constantly.
It will help bring fresh oxygen into the house, which gives off great airflow patterns throughout the house. This will keep cleaning any particles hiding in your basement, leading to better indoor air quality overall.
Verdict
If you want to make your basement seem like a serene, relaxing space again, it’s time for some air purification. But before reaching out to the professionals or investing in an expensive machine, there are plenty of things that can be done at home by yourself.
From simple steps such as opening windows and doors more often to larger projects like sealing cracks in flooring or walls will greatly improve the air quality inside your basement. Furthermore, don’t forget about routine maintenance.