How to Help Eliminate Airborne Viruses During Holiday Gatherings

Hosting the family gathering this holiday? Before you get wrapped up in the food and the decorations, there are some simple ways you can improve your indoor air quality and reduce the spread of sickness this season. The fewer coughs after Christmas the better, right?

How to kill airborne viruses in your home

With the holidays comes a warm sense of home and family. But unfortunately, it’s also the time of year when sickness runs rampant. Luckily, there are some strategies to prepare your home as a safe place for your family this season.

• Know when to clean air vents in your house. You don’t have to clean them frequently, so how often should you clean air vents? You’ll want to schedule a professional cleaning every two or three years to keep your family gatherings clear of pathogens, dust mites, and viruses. If you have pets or any of your family suffers from allergies, schedule the cleanings more often.
• Improve air circulation. Keeping the air flowing ensures that allergens are flushed out with fresh air. The best way to achieve good airflow is to open doors and windows, keep fans and kitchen or bathroom exhaust fans on, and turn on your HVAC system. Using a high-grade filter for your HVAC will also minimize the pathogens in the air.
• Regulate humidity. While bacteria thrive in warm humid places, humidity and airborne viruses don’t get along as well. Because viruses prefer cooler, dry weather, you can keep your home from becoming the ideal environment by adding some humidity back into the air.
• Add an air purifier. To keep your air especially fresh as the family gathers, install an air purifier in your home. Choosing an appliance that is fitted to your home size and equipped with modern technologies designed to kill viruses will help your household stay safe this winter.

Related Content: How and When to Change Household Air Filters

How to kill airborne viruses with new technology

New air purifiers and home sanitization devices incorporate these technologies to improve your air quality and eliminate viruses from your home.

• Exposure to ultraviolet light—UV-C in particular—kills viruses and is a reliable method used in hospitals for disinfection. There are several home appliances equipped with UV light. While they are not as effective as hospital appliances, they can be useful for sterilizing flat surfaces and keeping your household safer from sickness.
• Decontaminate with photocatalytic oxidation (PCO). Using a catalyst, this technology triggers UV light photons to form long-lasting ions, which clear the air of contaminants. To use this technology to the fullest, look for a highly-rated ionic purifier.
• Use cold plasma ionization to ionize the viruses out of the air. How does this work? This technology, also known as bi-polar ionization, uses positively and negatively charged poles to pull evaporated water molecules apart. This results in hydrogen ions and oxygen ions. The purifiers that use this technology can draw together airborne pathogens, such as dust, mold, bacteria, and viruses. The larger mass makes them too heavy for the air and causes them to fall.

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Amid all your holiday preparations, it’s important to take time to improve your air quality. It may be something no one will see, but it’s a simple measure to prevent illness during family gatherings.