It’s Healthy Home Month! – But what is a healthy home?
June is upon us, which if you didn’t know, is National Healthy Home Month in the U.S.
Obviously, we are big supporters of the healthy home movement, so we are adopting this celebration and time of awareness.
We thought this would be a great time to recap what it is exactly that makes a Home Healthy
according to The Superhome Movement and our personal philosophy. Here are some of the key factors for you to consider the quality of in your home:
Firstly, it’s going to cost you money. A house that is not airtight and, therefore, not energy-efficient means more money spent heating and maintaining your comfort.
Probably most importantly, living in a drafty home can have severe and sometimes long-term implications on your health and the health of your family. Suppose you have children or an older person in your home. In that case, you could be opening them up to elongated flu, continuous colds, respiratory issues, and bacterial issues if problems such as mould and mildew are left unchecked.
Along with airtightness, there are other basic methods to ensure the ventilation and air quality within your home is healthy and optimal, such as; Changing your AC filter and other filters within your home. That means your vacuum cleaner, dryer vent, extractor fans in the bathroom and kitchen.
Also, be sure to actively use kitchen and bathroom vents. Be sure to keep your heating and cooling vents clear of obstructions. Ducts require access to push that beautiful clean air out into the room and cycle it around to work efficiently.
Keep your carpets and rugs clean. Air pollutants and bacteria love to hide and cling to the fibres in carpets and rugs. Be sure to ambush those little henchmen with a vacuum cleaner regularly.
Bring the outdoors indoors with some air purifying plants! Elephant Ear and Aloe Vera are popular choices.
Wherever possible, keep furniture away from the walls. This allows for better air circulation and ventilation and will help fight against mould build-up in damp areas.
Hydronic underfloor heating systems are rapidly becoming a more popular choice for home extensions, renovations, and brand new constructions. This system uses water to heat the pipes beneath the flooring. It can be linked to practically any heat source from an existing boiler to newer, more sustainable methods such as heat pumps or even solar thermal energy.
So if you’re looking to reduce your heat loss, lower your running costs, all the while providing your new home with a superior warming system, then hydronic underfloor heating is likely the right decision for you.
There are lots of things you can do to ensure your water consumption is healthy and efficient for both you and the planet.
Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of natural rainwater, usually from a roof or similar surface. Rather than allowing rain to run off and be wasted, it is captured and transferred to a tank, cistern. As a general rule of thumb, harvested rainwater is only drinkable once it has undergone a disinfection treatment or purification process.
Greywater is water that has already been used at least once. A greywater system collects wastewater from washbasins, showers, and baths and sends the wastewater to be filtered and pumped into a storage tank. From this point, greywater is much that of the same as harvested rainwater. The water is now clean and useable and can be used for irrigation, household cleanings such as mopping and toilet flushing. But is not advised for drinking and bathing.
Energy recovery drains are a simple technology that can be added to your home. This copper pipe catches the hot water running down the drain and uses it to preheat the water going into your hot water tank. Currently, these systems are rare in New Zealand. We hope that with time and progression, these systems will become more readily available for homeowners.
There are two types of ways to feed eco-friendly energy into your home. The first is passive solar design wherethe strategies, techniques, and planned use of materials are taken into account when designing your house and are constantly ‘at work’ upon completion as they are built into the structure of your home. For example, south-facing windows to maximise the sun warmth in your home. Whereas active solar design is something you can choose to switch on or off and has capped consumption available. Active solar energy can be sourced from solar panels that convert the sun’s energy into a more useable form to power your home. So you can get on with your day, boiling the kettle or having a hot shower.
To discover the FULL list of what you can do to create a Healthy Home for you and your family, download your free Healthy Home Guide!