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Understanding what triggers your allergies can help you control your symptoms without getting rid of your dog or cat. Pet allergy sufferers can find ways to finally own cats and dogs without falling for the hype of non-existent hypoallergenic breeds. Finally, you might realize you actually have a pet dander allergy even if you’ve previously assumed you weren’t sensitive to it.

What is Pet Dander?

Contrary to popular belief, pet allergies are not triggered by an animal’s hair. It’s actually skin flakes, and particularly the saliva residues on them, that trigger an allergic reaction in humans. The combination of skin flakes and saliva residue is commonly called pet dander.

Since pet hair isn’t the primary cause of an allergy attack, whether your pet is hairless or has a luxurious coat, they could still be the cause of your allergies. Even breeds labeled hypoallergenic can still trigger your allergy attacks, although since they shed very little, your symptoms may be reduced. That’s because the allergy-causing dander that sticks to their fur doesn’t get released into the air or onto the floor as much as with a shedding dog. Proteins found in the urine also contribute to allergies, making litter box cleaning essential for good home quality.

Signs You Have Dog or Cat Allergies

Millions of people suffer with dog allergies or reactions to other pets without specifically realizing the cause of their symptoms. Since most reactions are usually not life-threatening, it’s possible to live for many years without an official allergy test from a doctor. Some of the most common symptoms of pet allergies include:

• Asthma attacks triggered or worsened by expose to the pet dander
• Wheezing and difficulty breathing
• Itchy and clogged sinuses, with or without mucus production
• Redness, hives, or rash where a pet has licked the skin directly
• Watery and itchy eyes, which often turn red from irritation
• Sneezing and coughing, either occasionally or in fits.

When you only have a mild allergy, you may not experience symptoms until a few days after petting a cat or dog. This means that you’ll constantly experience a low level of sinus and eye irritation when living in the same house with your favorite cats and dogs. Only testing from a doctor can determine if you have cat allergies or if your reactions are due to other common household irritants. You need thorough allergen testing before trying to decide how to treat dog allergies.

How to Treat Dog and Cat Allergies

As with many other home allergens, reducing your cat and dog allergies requires a multi-pronged approach. You can’t rely on any single technique and expect good results. Mix and match as many of the following allergen control techniques to permanently control pet dander levels.

• Replace or clean reusable air filters every month at the most. While some homes may go a few months at a time between changes, homes with pets require monthly attention instead.
• Switch to higher quality HEPA filters that trap 99% or more of pet dander and particles of similar size. Make sure the filter fits your current heating and air conditioning system since a thicker or larger filter could impede air flow and damage your equipment.
• Hire a duct cleaning service to remove pet dander that has traveled into the ducts and settled there. This dander stirs up and spreads through the home every time your heating or cooling switches on with a rush of air. You’ll need to repeat the duct cleaning every year if you continue to have pets in the home.
• Commit to a thorough weekly cleaning schedule that involves vacuuming and sweeping daily and dusting two to three times a week. Routine cleaning traps as much pet dander as possible before you can inhale it and develop an allergic reaction. Vacuums featuring HEPA filters and canisters offer the most control of dander and stir the particles up less than sweeping.
• Encourage the pet to spend time in one area and increase the cleaning of that space. Wash pet bed covers and furniture slip covers as often as possible. Consider building a secure outdoor enclosure or even a separate building for your pet to use to limit the amount of dander they shed in the home.
• Keep pets out of your bedroom since shedding dander on your bedding creates a direct path for inhalation through your mouth and nose as you sleep. Even if you love sleeping with your pets, this habit could be causing your daily sinus congestion or itchy eyes.

If you’re still not sure what to do about your pet allergies, discuss your problems with an air quality specialist. We can help you tailor solutions from Amana to improve your indoor air quality with or without pets.

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Keeping your house shut up tightly doesn’t allow for much air circulation. Indoor air is often more polluted than outdoor air. Here’s how winter weather causes more indoor air pollution and what you can do about it.

Increased Carbon Monoxide Levels

During the winter months, your home can see higher carbon monoxide levels due to a faulty furnace, fireplace, and other appliances that burn fuel. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) states that November, December, January, and February are the months with the highest incidences of carbon monoxide poisoning. The lack of air circulation combined with faulty appliances can be deadly to you and your family. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning includes headache, weakness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and chest pain.

Circulating Dust and Dirt

Is the air that you’re breathing clean, or is it full of dust and dirt? If you have a lot of dust inside your house, that dust is being recirculated and put back into the air you breathe. This can be especially problematic if you or someone in your family have conditions which affect their breathing such as allergies, asthma, COPD, chronic bronchitis, or other health problems. The dust in your home and ducts may exacerbate other health problems as well. Keeping your home clean is certainly a good idea.

Dusting and vacuuming frequently will cut down on some of the dust in the air, but if your furnace air filter is dirty, your furnace isn’t running clean, or you have dirty ductwork, those can contribute to more dust and dirt in your home.

More Exposure to Indoor Air

But dirt, dust, and carbon monoxide aren’t the only hazards in your indoor air. You’re breathing the chemicals from cleaners, VOCs or volatile organic compounds, and spores from mold. All these pollutants in your air can make you very sick. In fact, normal things such as carpeting and furniture often outgas some pretty noxious stuff, and you and your family are breathing it in all the time.

Another cause of air pollution in your home is something called the “stack effect.” Warm air rises, which causes air from the lower levels of your house move into the upper levels. The stack effect is the same type of movement of air you see in a chimney. This air movement causes a compounding of problems when it comes to pollution. Air from your basement and crawl spaces move upward into your living areas, bringing with it all the dust, mold, and chemicals with it.

There’s also radon gas — a deadly type of radioactive gas that causes lung cancer. Radon is found naturally in the soil in many places. When homes are built in an area with natural radon, the gas has nowhere to go except into the home. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that one out of 15 homes have radon gas levels above the recommended limit.

Temperature Inversion

Lastly, many places around the country experience what is known as a temperature inversion. That’s where a layer of warm air sits above a much colder air and forces it downward. The cold air becomes trapped–along with all the air pollutants–and makes the air outside more polluted, as the gases and particulates have no place to go. So even with fresh air, your home can have smog, carbon dioxide, and smoke linger inside.

How to Tell if You Have Poor Indoor Air

• Headaches
• Stuffy nose/ Sore throat
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Itchy, watery eyes
• Feeling sick

How to Fix Indoor Air Pollution

• Have your furnace maintained and checked out by professionals before winter weather hits
• Change all filters in your furnace to ensure cleaner air
• Have professionals clean out your ductwork
• Install carbon monoxide sensors on every floor of your home to alert you to possible danger
• Have your home tested for radon and have it mitigated if the levels are high
• Keep your home clean and dust free

Keep your family safe during the winter months by investing in a top-of-the-line heating system. Discuss your options with a specialist from iHeartAmana, we’re here to help. Specialists are people who can work with you to identify the problem and provide a solution. We can be a part of the solution. Indoor air quality is important to every home, especially in the colder months.

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Indoor Air Quality and How it’s Measured

Air quality in general refers to the amount of fine particles, gases, and other pollutants mixed into the air. Naturally, indoor air quality measures the state of air trapped inside a specific space like your home. Whether you’re considering indoor or outdoor air quality, fewer pollutants are always better. The pollutant level is measured in many different ways, with various tests required to understand what exactly you’re inhaling with every breath.

Pollutants to Measure

Some pollutants, such as car exhaust, must travel into your home from the outdoors. Yet there are many other potential contaminants that develop inside. A leaking pipe or humid bathroom leads to mold growth that sends irritating spores into the air. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and dust generated by dust mites and building materials all lower indoor air quality as well. Furnace and fireplace fumes are common combustion related pollutants commonly found in homes. From biological to chemical related pollutants, there are dozens of reasons to test the air in your home.

How to Measure These Pollutants (and When)

Most homeowners look into in home air quality testing when a family member develops chronic allergies or they discover a condition that might have released pollutants. For example, discovering an ongoing mold infestation when renovating a bathroom or removing carpet may call for a mold-specific air quality test.

Each main type of indoor air pollutant requires a separate test. Some tests focus on gases like carbon monoxide and radon, while others measure the amount of dust particles, VOCs, pollen, cigarette smoke, and other indoor air pollutants. Consider ordering a set of complementing tests to get a broad spectrum measurement of your current indoor air quality. Repeat the tests any time you discover signs of mold or dust accumulation, or if a family member suddenly experiences an increase in allergy symptoms or sinus infections.

How to Improve Air Quality

If any of the indoor air quality testing you perform reveals pollutants, you can start with some inexpensive improvements to address the issues. Start by directly addressing the cause of the pollution. For example, hire a mold remediation team for water damaged parts of the home. Once you’ve tackled the sources of indoor air pollution, replace all of the filters in your air conditioning and heating systems. New filters trap dust and other pollutants before they can spread. Finally, control the humidity of the home. A whole house dehumidifier prevents mold and mildew growth, addresses excess moisture created in the bathrooms and kitchen, and costs little to run.

Looking for more products to improve home air quality? Contact one of our specialists to discuss your options.

AVXC20 High Efficiency Air-Conditioner

With an efficiency of up to 24.5 SEER, this air conditioner helps control humidity during the hottest parts of the summer. Variable speed compressors improve energy efficiency for affordable performance.

AMP-BSRB Furnace Riser

This sturdy furnace riser fits our standard models.

Manufactured from 20 gauge steel, this open sided frame encourages air flow around the heating equipment for improved performance. Install a matching Clean Comfort CleanFit air cleaner to improve indoor air quality from the furnace onward.

AM11-3225-5 Clean Comfort Media Air Cleaners

Control air pollutants and trap as many dust and mold particles as possible with this high performance air cleaner system.

Multiple size and depth options are available to match your existing furnace, air conditioner, and heat pump systems.

By addressing the root causes of air pollution, you can quickly get any kind of quality issues under control. Combine testing every few months, or at least once a year, with a proactive approach to discover moisture issues and other sources of indoor air pollution. Upgrade your heating and cooling equipment as well with the help of an experienced Amana technician.

The post How to Test Your Indoor Air Quality (And How Often) appeared first on I Heart Amana.

What Causes Dry Air in the Winter?

When wintertime comes around, so does dry air. But why does your home get so dry in the winter? One reason is that cold air doesn’t hold as much moisture as warm air, so it is naturally drier outside. Couple that with your furnace pulling in outside air and heating it, which further dries out what little moisture remains.

Problems Associated with Dry Air

What kinds of problems can you have with dry air inside your home? Dry air can seriously affect your health as well as cause damage to your home.

• Static shock: Unpleasant to the touch, it can also harm electronics such as computers, smartphones, and other devices.
• More colds: Without enough moisture, your respiratory system becomes drier and unable to purge itself of unwanted bacteria, viruses, and other foreign matter. You get sicker because you’re body isn’t able to properly defend itself.
• Nosebleeds: Your nose is likely to become dry, which makes it itchy and more susceptible to nosebleeds.
• Dry skin: Dry air in the wintertime leads to drier skin, including chapped lips, chapped and cracked hands, and flaking and itching all over.
• Dries out your home: When the air is dry, your house loses moisture in vital areas such as its wooden frame members, door jams, and window frames. Your home can start shifting and you may have trouble closing doors, opening windows, and have uneven floors. Too much drying can seriously affect the structure of your home.
• Dries out your possessions: Dry air doesn’t just affect you and your home; it also affects your possessions. Your furniture can dry out—leather, vinyl, and wood can crack, stuffing can become less resilient, and your possessions can become brittle.

How to tell if you have dry air

How do you know if you have dry air? You can measure the humidity levels in your home with a hygrometer (relatively inexpensive to purchase). Your home should have humidity in the range of 35 percent to 60 percent, with 40 to 50 percent being ideal. Other ways to tell include:

• You have static electricity
• You and your family are getting more colds and flu
• You and your family members have dry, itchy skin
• You or a family member gets nosebleeds frequently
• You and your family get more sinus infections

What You Can Do to Raise Humidity Levels

Dry air is a fact of winter, but you don’t have to endure it in your home. You can take steps to combat dry air. Here are some helpful tips:

• Keep a hygrometer in your house to know what your humidity levels are, so you can take action when it starts becoming too dry.
• Weatherize your house by caulking and sealing places where air leaks into your home. Caulk around windows, doors, and other areas where cold air comes in.
• Run humidifiers in rooms where you and your family spend the most time.
• Invest in a whole-house humidifier to ensure that once your furnace warms the air that it has enough moisture to make you feel better.

Once you’ve invested in a whole-house humidifier or taken another measure to bolster humidity levels in your home, you’ll feel it. Getting rid of dry air can make your whole house feel better, mentally and physically.

If you want to discuss your home humidity levels, contact a specialist today. Our network of specialists are people who can work with you to identify the problem and provide a solution. We can be a part of the solution. Indoor air quality is important to every home, especially in the colder months.

The post How to Keep the Dry Air Outside this Winter appeared first on I Heart Amana.

Fall Allergies

Much like the spring, the fall brings an abundance of seasonal blooms releasing pollen into the air. The last of the year’s grass pollen mixes with ragweed, one of the single biggest causes of fall allergy symptoms. Even mold spores get involved until the coldest winter temperatures finally wipe them out. Your immune system is also under greater stress as temperatures drop, aggravating your response to allergens and leaving you feeling fatigued.

How Your HVAC System May be Partly to Blame

Central heating and air systems can do a lot to support your other ragweed allergy treatment efforts because of the sheer volume of air they move. However, this means that dusty and dirty ducts also have the potential to exacerbate your symptoms. HVAC systems can trigger allergies due to:

• Mold growth inside of ducts without insulation, which results in moisture accumulation during cold weather
• Clogged and dirty air filters that add dust to the air supply rather than removing it
• Recirculation of indoor pollutants like cigarette smoke, soot, and pet dander
• Cracked and broken ducts that are sucking dusty air in from an attic or basement space
• Lack of ventilation, improper fresh air register placements, or a lack of humidifier during dry winter weather.

What You Can Do

You have many options for cleaning and optimizing your HVAC system so it minimizes your fall allergy symptoms.

• Replace all of the air filters, preferably with HEPA filters that capture up to 99% of all common household allergens
• Clean the ducts, or at the very least inspect them for dust and mold
• Buy a humidifier or add a whole-house humidification unit to balance out the drying effect of your heating equipment, which worsens allergy symptoms
• Clean the fans and blowers on your heating equipment
• Install high efficiency air cleaners that integrate into your existing HVAC system, which are much more effective than any freestanding unit.

Working with an HVAC specialist can also help you pinpoint specific fall allergens and how they’re entering your home. Discuss your HVAC system with our specialists here.

Ready to upgrade your HVAC system for more control over your fall allergy symptoms? Let us help by installing at least one of the following helpful projects to improve your indoor air quality all year round.

ComfortNet CTK04 – Temperature Control Thermostat

Our advanced control thermostat puts you in charge of the exact humidity level of your home.

Add air moisture in the fall and winter for fewer allergy symptoms, then keep the air dry in the summer to feel cooler regardless of the temperature.

HE Line of Evaporative Humidifiers

Regardless of the square footage of your home, we have an efficient evaporative humidifier to match.

Don’t let dry winter air cause sinus pain or sniffles. Restore the normal balance of humidity to your indoor air with one of our HE12A to HE18FM humidifiers.

AMHP-320-D Duct Mounted HEPA Air Cleaner

Go one step beyond the usual media air cleaner with this HEPA unit.

As a duct-mounted air cleaner, the AMHP-320-D cleans the air traveling through your ducts of all particles 0.3 microns or larger. Enjoy fewer allergy symptoms as pollen and pet dander becomes trapped in this unit instead.

With all of these tricks for improving indoor air quality in the fall, many homeowners have successfully improved their HVAC system performance in time for winter. Many scientific studies have shown surprising improvements in children with severe asthma with just the use of more efficient air filters alone. Imagine how much you can reduce your fall allergy symptoms just by making a few simple improvements to the heating and cooling equipment in your home.

The post How to Combat Fall Allergies With Your HVAC System appeared first on I Heart Amana.