The Flanders Heating & Air Conditioning Guide to Fall Allergy Season
Can you get allergies during the fall? You most certainly can! Allergens can strike at any moment. Although spring allergies can be more widespread, allergies in the fall are a substantial problem for millions of people. Here, Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning will help you recognize and overcome fall allergies. Unfortunately, the solution isn’t as easy as staying away from the pollen-filled world around your home. Fall allergy season finds several ways into your home. By identifying what leads to fall allergies, you can recognize the best ways to reduce them.
How to Learn More About Your Fall Allergy Symptoms
Figuring out your fall allergy symptoms can be trickier than it may seem. The symptoms of seasonal fall allergies are often discreet and mistaken for a slight cold. Coughing, sneezing and sinusitis are typical symptoms that develop in both fall allergies and the common cold. A healthcare professional is always the most dependable source for recognizing allergies. However, several common symptoms of fall allergies and sinusitis include:
- Itchy or watery eyes
- Sneezing
- Coughing
- Headache
- Fatigue or tiredness
What Causes Fall Allergies?
When figuring out what causes fall allergies in your specific case, there are many likely culprits. Dust mites and allergens can build up in countless places within your home. Most of these sources of seasonal fall allergies can be controlled with professional air quality services including those provided by Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning. That said, the most common sources of indoor fall allergies include:
- Airborne pollen
- Mold
- Dust mites
- Pets
- Wall-to-wall carpet
- Damp areas
- Indoor plants
- Stuffed toys
- Mattresses and other cushioned furniture
- Debris buildup in your air ducts
Solutions for Seasonal Fall Allergies
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America states that homeowners managing fall allergies can boost their air quality in three ways. First, you can limit your contact with airborne allergens within your home. This requires installing a whole-house dehumidifier, cleaning ducts and preventing your home from getting too hot. Second, you must ventilate your home, ensuring that airborne debris does not accumulate in stagnant air. Third, you might look at installing an air cleaner to clear allergens from the air. Learn more about these solutions below.
Control Your Home’s Humidity with a Whole-House Dehumidifier
When the air in your home strays from the EPA’s recommended humidity levels (30%-40% humidity), it provides a petri dish for mold, dust mites and numerous other sources of allergic reactions. With a whole-house dehumidifier, you have fine-tuned control over the humidity levels across your entire home. These modern dehumidifiers allow you to dictate the humidity in your home within 1% of the preferred levels, erasing the conditions for excess mold, dust mites, fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms.
Keep Your Air Clear With Ultraviolet Germicidal Lights
Ultraviolet germicidal lights purify the air in your home before it spreads through your ductwork. As the air flows out of your HVAC unit and enters the air ducts, it goes through a powerful ultraviolet light that deactivates contaminants before they can multiply. This system answers the question, “What is the best air purifier for allergies?” This system can quickly make your air noticeably cleaner. UV lights have been shown to eradicate half of the concentrated bioaerosols within their first 45 minutes of use.
Get Rid of Contaminants with HEPA Air Filters
When you favor a top-of-the-line air filter, you need a HEPA air filter that can remove 99.97% of the impurities in the air. Due to their unique design, these filters pull the most common sources of fall allergies from their air, like ragweed, pollen and dust mites. HEPA air filters also eliminate contaminants like:
- Tobacco smoke
- Dirt particles
- Pollen
- Ragweed
- Dust mites
- Assorted odors and airborne chemicals
Consistently Clean Your HVAC System’s Ducts
Traditionally, HVAC systems have not always done a thorough job getting rid of pollutants from the air. This means that debris routinely spreads through ductwork for decades. Over time, large quantities of that debris may accumulate inside your ductwork. This is why some people advocate for Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning and our duct cleaning services before turning on the heat for the first time in the fall. Taking care of this early in the season can minimize one of the most common sources of airborne pollutants inside your home.
The 10 Cities in the United States With the Most Difficult Fall Allergy Seasons
Most of the time, your location has a major impact on the intensity of your fall allergy symptoms. Fall allergies are identified to be worse in specific areas of the country compared to others. For example, ragweed (one of the most extensive sources of allergy-inducing pollen) is mostly found in the country’s eastern region as well as in the Midwest. That said, allergies can become a significant problem despite where you live. Here are the 10 most difficult cities for those dealing with seasonal allergies.
Getting Help From Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning
As you have now seen, the best strategy for dust mites and fall allergies entails an all-out assault on the pollutants and other debris in the air throughout your home. Your home will need a specialized approach appropriate for that home’s individual makeup and layout. With air quality experts all across the United States, Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning can help in almost every corner of the country. If you’d like one of our indoor air quality experts to help make your air as allergen-free as possible, call or fill out a contact form right away.
