As temperatures rise and wildfires become more common, it's crucial to consider the air quality in your home. When you turn on your A/C during a wildfire, you may be unknowingly circulating harmful particles throughout your living space. This is where air purification comes in to save the day.

How do wildfires affect indoor air quality?

When wildfires burn, they release a variety of pollutants into the air, including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds. These pollutants can infiltrate your home through open windows, doors, and even cracks in the walls - even if the windows are closed. The smoke and ash from wildfires can linger in the air for days or even weeks, leading to poor indoor air quality.

At their least dangerous, these particles can irritate your eyes, throat, and lungs. But they can also exacerbate existing respiratory conditions like asthma or COPD. Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke can even lead to serious health issues, even to people without pre-existing conditions.

How do you measure indoor air quality?

Indoor air quality is a crucial aspect of maintaining a healthy living environment. Many apps and your local municipality will issue readings for air quality in your area. But if you want to know specifically the quality of the air inside your home, you can invest in an air quality monitor. 

Air quality monitors are devices that measure various pollutants and particles in the air, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon dioxide, particulate matter, and more. These monitors provide real-time data on the air quality levels in your indoor space. Having one installed will let you know when the air quality during a wildfire is deteriorating, and it will also help you know when it's improving after the event has passed.

What can you do to improve the indoor air quality?

While a wildfire is raging nearby, an air purifier can help filter out harmful particles from the air, providing you with cleaner and healthier indoor air. This will help to protect you, your family and any pets from the harmful effects of the smoke and fire.  

By running an air purifier while your air conditioner is on during a wildfire, you can significantly reduce the amount of smoke particles circulating in your home. 

It's also important to note that an air purifier is always a good idea, even if there isn't a fire burning. Emissions from cars, factories and other pollutants are lingering in the air - a purifier is the best way to protect your home from what's outside.

Running an air purifier is particularly important if you're running an A/C at the same time, as the A/C might be inadvertently bringing in that polluted air from outside.

Can your A/C act as an air purifier?

Unfortunately, most traditional air conditioning units don't have air purification capabilities. If your home has central air, you are able to find third-party filters that can be installed into the vents to purify the air before it enters your space. If you're using a window A/C, you might consider upgrading to a July unit. Not only does it look great, but July has specially-designed Carbon-Activated Purifying Filters, that are specifically designed to capture the harmful particles from smoke and fire - for the first time ever in a window A/C!

No matter what type of filter you use, remember that it will need to be changed regularly, so make sure that you read the manufacturer's instructions carefully.