I’m grateful that it’s FINALLY Spring time. What I’m not happy about is the allergies. Normally I don’t suffer from allergies but this year it’s been horrible. I’ve been dealing with watery eyes, sneezing and congestion for weeks now. I’m reluctant to go outside. I rather stay inside away from the allergens with my air purifiers on.
I really like to keep the windows open when the weather is nice to air out my home and get rid of the winter “stuffiness”. I also feel like I sleep better at night and function better during the day when I can get some fresh air.
I don’t know how people who live in high smog areas deal with it. I NEED fresh air. We live just outside of New York City and I wonder if the air quality is less then it is where I used to live upstate (NY).
Do you know what the top five cities are with the cleanest air? A recent study done by the makers of Honeywell Air Purifiers found that these U.S. cities had the cleanest air.
San Francisco, CA
Cape Coral, FL
Palm Bay, FL
Austin, TX
Boston, MA
New York City is NOT on the top 5 list.
I’m really surprised to see large cities like San Francisco, Boston and Austin on the list. You would think that large cities would have horrible air quality. These results are very surprising to me. I knew places like Los Angeles, NYC and Chicago wouldn’t make the top five. Still, I find the results surprising.
My kids used to suffer from tree pollen. Thankfully they outgrew that. These days it’s my cat that has me on high alert when allergens are out of control. She has severe asthma and requires two different inhalers (one she gets daily the other is for when she has asthma attacks). Normally her asthma is worse in the winter months but this spring it’s been just as bad.
We have yet to figure out what allergens bother her the most. Whenever the news mentions any kind of allergen is “high” for that day I am extra careful not to keep the windows opened too long for her sake.
Don’t get me wrong – I worry about the air WE breath too. I’m not a “germophobe” but I do worry about germs, bacteria or anything that could be in the air we breath or on the surfaces we touch. I like to keep my home clean from top to bottom – including the air that we breath. That is why I use air purifiers. I keep one in most rooms of our home.
Is it possible to improve the indoor air quality in your home? Yes, you can. Microbiologist Dr. Ted Myatt has some tips you could start using today to improve the air quality in YOUR home.
Avoiding VOC’s
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can be found in everyday products like paints, solvents, cleaners, adhesives, furniture, new carpeting and shelving. Try to remove or reduce the number of products in your home that give off VOCs. When cleaning, renovating or moving into a new home, open windows or, better yet, turn on an air purifier that has an effective pre-filter to help remove pollutants from the air that passes through the unit.
Caring for your Air
Whether in a dorm room, busy kitchen or stuffy bedroom, try running an air purifier for cleaner air. The Honeywell Air Genius has 5 intuitive settings – sleep, germs, general, allergen or max so you can enjoy better air quality anytime of the day – all day – at the touch of a button.
Asthma & Allergy
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, asthma and allergies strike 1 out of 5 Americans. If your little ones suffer from allergies or asthma, ask your doctor if an air purifier is right for them. The Honeywell True HEPA air purifier provides allergen, germ and odor reduction by capturing up to 99.97 percent of microscopic airborne particles that pass through the filters.
Breathe Easy
Sneezes and sniffles can put a damper on spring flowers and fall foliage. On days when pollen is high, try using a True HEPA air purifier to help capture airborne pollutants and allergens, such as dust, pollen, pet dander, smoke and mold spores.
Prevent Pet Problems
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, 15 to 30 percent of people with allergies are allergic to cats and dogs. Whether you’re allergic or not, when pets are part of your family, it’s important to keep your indoor air clean. Consider a Honeywell air purifier that helps reduce the presence of odors, dander, and allergens in the air that passes through its filters.
Dr. Myatt made it clear that having an air purifier in your home is a good thing. That is why I have them running in my home. I often wonder if they are the reason why my kids don’t suffer from tree pollen allergens anymore. They used to cough all night long – to the point where they sounded like they were barking. I’ve been using air purifiers for years and they haven’t had issues with tree pollen in a long time. It is a coincidence? I’m not sure. All I know is that I will keep using them in my home. Just because you can’t “see” the clean air doesn’t mean that they are not doing their job.
I swapped out the air purifier in the kid’s room about a month ago. Their purifier was a few years old and probably considered archaic by today’s standards. Their old one just filtered the air for allergens. Today’s purifiers capture dust, dander, odors, germs, smoke and more.
I was sent to review a Honeywell HPA060 True HEPA Compact Tower Allergen Remover which I immediately put in my kid’s room. Unlike their previous purifier this one is a nice compact size that takes up very little room. I could even put it on my desk if I wanted to. It would take up no more room than a desk lamp.
Honeywell HPA060 True HEPA Compact Tower Allergen Remover
The Honeywell HPA060 True HEPA Compact Tower removes 99.97% of microscopic allergens from the air that passes through its filters. Air first enters the pre-filter where odors and larger particles are trapped, then the HEPA filter captures dust, pollen, pet dander, smoke and other particles 0.3 microns and larger.
Set up is a breeze. Simply pop open the unit, remove the plastic wrap from the filters, close it back up, plug it in and you are read to go. It even lets you know when you need to replace the filter. It’s a total “no brainer” to set up and use this air purifier.
Unlike other air purifiers I’ve seen (or used) this purifier has different settings that you can “dial up”. The settings are germ, general cleaning and allergens. Currently I have it set at general clean. I love that I can set it to “germ” in the event someone has the bad case of the sniffles. That last thing I want is germs flying through the air. Ewww!
The unit can clean the air in rooms up to 75 square feet which is what most bedrooms, home offices and kitchens are.
Honeywell HPA060 True HEPA Compact Tower Allergen Remover – Settings
I’m not a scientist so I can’t tell you how clean the air is that we breath is but I do know that the room doesn’t smell as “stagnant” as it used to. Having been trapped inside for an extremely long winter our home smelled “stuffy”.
The unit is quiet enough that it doesn’t bother anyone. You can hardly tell that it’s even on. We keep ours on the dresser so you see it, but you can’t notice that we have one if you are listening for it.
It’s even Energy Star approved meaning it meets the strict energy efficient guidelines set forth by the U.S. EPA.
If you would like to learn more about the Honeywell HPA060 True HEPA Compact Tower you can find it, and other purifiers, on the Honeywell website, HoneywellCleanAir.com.
For more great tips visit the Honeywell website. They have a lot of information about allergens, tips for pet owners and more. Honeywell also shares tips on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Honeywell would like to give a lucky reader a Honeywell HPA060 True HEPA Compact Tower to help clean the air they breathe. Thanks Honeywell!
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end on May 16, 2104 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply or a new winner will be chosen in their place.
To enter please comment on this post and tell me why you would like to win the Honeywell HPA060 True HEPA Compact Tower?
For extra entries you can use the Rafflecopter widget (below) but you must complete the initial entry requirement (I do check) or the additional entries won’t qualify. Extra entries are optional.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Kimberly
*I received a free product sample in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
The post Tips for improving indoor air quality plus giveaway (ends 5/16/14) appeared first on She Scribes.