Home Improvement Projects That Promote Better Health
Each year when January rolls around people set goals to lose weight, save money or spend more time with family and friends. But what goals are set for the home? With Americans, on average, spending approximately 90% of their time indoors, it’s clear that improving the indoor environment of the home should be taken into consideration. With a few home improvement projects, homeowners can reduce energy costs, improve the home’s aesthetic and take care of their health, too.
Here are the hottest trends to improve happiness, remove toxins and add a touch of nature to any space for a healthier home environment.
Tubular Skylights
Natural light is an important improvement that not only affects the livability of the home but also physical and mental wellbeing, too. Sunlight produces serotonin, sometimes known as the happy chemical, leaving us feeling more energized, happy and well-rested while fighting and reducing stress, anxiety, depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Additionally, experiments conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security show most viruses can quickly be destroyed by sunlight.
One of the fastest and most affordable ways to add natural light to any room is to install a tubular skylight. Cost-effective, energy-efficient and eco-friendly, a tubular skylight harvests natural light at the rooftop, transfers it down a highly reflective tube (which bends up to 90 degrees and can be up to 70 feet or more long) and distributes it evenly into an interior space through a diffuser at the ceiling — on both sunny and cloudy days — with virtually no maintenance. This is a simple and effective way to bring beautiful natural light into the home with no heat or cold transfer. Best of all, it only takes about two hours to install.
House Plants
House plants are a modern go-to home accessory not only because of the way they can spruce up a room, but also for the ways they benefit physical and mental health. Plants can be used as nature’s natural air filters. One commonly cited NASA study found a number of common house plants are useful in absorbing harmful gasses and creating clean indoor air. Additionally, a study published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that participants who took part in a planting task felt calmer, more comfortable and more relaxed than those who completed a tech-related task. By adding a few indoor plants, they can work wonders to reduce stress and improve indoor air quality in the home, while enhancing the home’s décor.
Solar-Powered Attic Fans
Heat and moisture are the home’s enemies because mold loves to grow in warm, dark and moist conditions. To create a healthy home environment, hot air needs to be vented from the attic. This will keep living spaces comfortable, air conditioning units from overworking and roof structures and materials from deteriorating. With solar-powered attic fans, moisture can be neutralized and the system can drive out heat, increasing comfort in the home, lowering utility bills and prolonging roof life.
Whole House Fans
We tend to think of air pollution as something outside, but scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes can be more polluted than the outdoor air. One way to improve indoor air quality is to let fresh air in and push out unhealthy air. Unlike air conditioning, whole-house fans don’t just recirculate the air in the home; they work by continuously replacing the unhealthy air in living spaces with fresh air, removing germs, pollutants and stale indoor air to improve air purity and create a healthier home environment. Additionally, during the warmer months, this improvement helps cool the home and attic by up to 30 degrees, allowing the home to stay much cooler the following day (the principle of Thermal Mass Cooling). So overall the costs to keep the home cool are dramatically reduced, especially as compared to air conditioning, not to mention being healthier. Whole house fans will leave occupants in the home feeling refreshed, cool and comfortable with clean, fresh air at a touch of a button.
House Water Filtration
It’s obvious that water is essential. We use it daily to stay hydrated, cook and bathe. What isn’t so obvious is what’s hiding in the water that we use every day. That is why improving water quality in the home is another top priority for better health. Whole house filtration systems remove bacteria, heavy metals and chemicals from the home’s water system to ensure safer drinking water, healthier showers and prolonged pipe life. If this option is too expensive, opt for a kitchen water filtration system that can be easily installed under the sink.
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