It probably sounds a little odd, but at least in one sense, you’re better off living in an old, drafty house vs. one that’s sealed up tight as a button.

Tightly sealed homes, with little fresh air circulation, give rise to “Sick House Syndrome.” That’s when the inhabitants are susceptible to all sorts of indoor air pollutants that simply have nowhere else to go except inside your lungs.

How do you know if you have an indoor air quality problem?  These are the usual warning signs:

  • blog• Frequent headaches
  • • Dizziness
  • • Nausea
  • • Chronic achiness
  • • Inability to concentrate
  • • Shortness of breath
  • • Tightness in your chest
  • • Eye and throat irritation
  • • Blocked or runny nose
  • • Onset or worsening of allergy and asthma symptoms

The good news is, there are plenty of ways to improve the quality of your indoor air and start breathing a whole lot easier in the process.  Here’s one such method:  stock up and take good care of indoor plants.  But not just any indoor plants since certain varieties are known for their ability to clear the air of bacteria and other toxins, including:  formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and benzene.

It’s well known, for example, that many people keep Aloe Vera plants on their kitchen window sill for their soothing and healing properties.  But Aloe Vera isn’t alone in its ability to trap airborne bacteria and force them into the soil where they serve as plant nutrients, thus removing them from your living environment:

  • • Arrowhead Vine
  • • Boston Fern
  • • Chinese Evergreen
  • • Croton
  • • Dracaena
  • • Peace Lily
  • • Philodendron
  • • Pothos
  • • Spider Plant

At Burton, there’s plenty we can do to improve your indoor air quality. By installing a whole-house air filtration system, for example, we can help you rid your home of more than 99% of dust, chemical byproducts, pesticides, mold, bacteria, and literally hundreds of other airborne pollutants.  That’s a lot of year-round relief as whole-house air filters work in conjunction with your heating and cooling systems.  For more information or to request an in-home air quality consultation, contact Burton today, your Omaha indoor air quality specialists.