It may seem counterintuitive, but your indoor air is usually much more polluted than the air outside your home! In outside environments, wind continually circulates the air, and local greenery filters and cleans it. Inside your walls, however, air can become stagnant, and can pick up pollutants such as cleaning chemicals, appliance fumes, dust, and even mold and mildew. There are a number of ways you can improve your indoor air quality, and investing in houseplants is one of the most pleasant.
Houseplants can offer a beautiful green accent in your home decor, provide a bit of extra oxygen, and also filter chemicals such as formaldehyde, ammonia, trichloroethylene, and benzene out of your indoor air. Consider these plants to help you breathe easier:
- Peace lily — These elegant flowering plants appreciate shady areas, which means that you can grow them in areas of your home that don’t get a lot of sun exposure.
- Boston fern — This leafy plant appreciates high-humidity environments and indirect light, so you might consider it for bathroom and kitchen areas where steam and water vapor are concerns.
- Snake plant — These plants prefer a bit of sun, so put them by a window. However, they also prefer drier environments, which means you don’t have to worry about watering them as frequently – and they have a reputation as hard plants to kill. If you have a guest room or another room that isn’t used very day, a snake plant might make a good decoration.
- Bamboo palm — These sun-loving plants can grow into living screens in front of windows, letting in light and warmth while still affording some privacy. Because they can grow easily to stand taller than a person, they can also filter a lot of air.
- Aloe vera — This succulent doesn’t just remove formaldehyde from your air – it can also be used on burns and minor wounds. Keep it in your kitchen as natural first aid.
If you have questions about air purification in your Indianapolis-area home, give us a call at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing!
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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