There are many reasons to keep your indoor air as clean as possible. Clean air that is free from allergens like pollen and mold spores makes it easier to breathe inside your home. With clean air, you’re less likely to become ill, and the surfaces in your home will remain cleaner. Installing an air purifier or upgrading your furnace filter are two simple ways to improve the air quality in your Cincinnati home. But what if your air filtration system cannot keep up, and your indoor air is still poor quality? Chances are, your windows are to blame. Keep reading to learn how poor window performance can impact your air quality.
How does low window performance impact air quality?
As your windows age, gaps begin to form between the sash and the glass, and also between the window frame and sash. Air can blow in through these gaps. So if the pollen count is high, some of that pollen is going to enter your home. Other allergens, like dust and mold spores, can blow right in, too.
Old wooden windows may also begin growing mold as condensation builds up between the window panes. Spores from that mold may become suspended in the air whenever a breeze blows through the open window — or through the cracks that have developed in the window frame. Although an air filtration system should remove pollen, mold spores, and other contaminants from your air, it can only do so much. If these contaminants are blowing into your home faster than the air filtration system can remove them, your indoor air quality is going to suffer.
How can you use your windows to improve air quality?
The best solution is typically to replace the windows in your Cincinnati home. New windows made from Fibrex® composite are less likely to bow and warp as they age, so you will no longer have to deal with drafts — or the contaminants they carry. Fibrex windows won’t rot or mold, either, so there won’t be any more mold spores introduced to your home by the windows. Your air filtration system will have an easier time keeping up and removing any remaining contaminants from the air.
You can also improve air quality by choosing windows fitted with low-e glass, like SmartSun™ glass.This type of glass reflects heat waves rather than allowing them to pass through the glass. As such, your home’s temperature remains more comfortable without your heating and air conditioning system having to turn on as often. Thus, dust will have more time to settle out of the air between heating or cooling cycles. Once it settles, you can easily clean it up by dusting and vacuuming. Your air filters will last longer and be more effective.
If replacing your windows is not an option right now, a good temporary fix is to press rope caulk into the gaps around your window. The caulk will keep air from blowing in through the gaps, and you can easily pull off the rope caulk if you need to open or close the window.
Is your window performance starting to impact your air quality? Contact Renewal by Andersen to learn about the window options for your Cincinnati home. We offer free, in-home consultations and our estimates are good for one year.
