Arm Your Home For Haze Season
Fires in Indonesia and Malaysia are blowing haze around the region. Here are ways you can protect your home now
This week the Straits Times is again reporting that haze, caused by the burning of regional forests in preparation for palm oil production, is upon us. The haze period of 2015 was the longest on record. This year, haze conditions are predicted to worsen. Since we just can’t pack up and leave home for a super-long haze-free holiday whenever this season arrives, we need ways to keep the haze out of our indoor spaces. Here are five practical things you can do to breathe better at home.
If you can, get your windows cleaned, too – this will provide you a clearer view of the outdoors, even though it’s hazy. Imagine a hazy view + dirty windows = possible seasonal affective disorder (SAD) caused by the lack of daylight.
2. Brighten up with daylight-simulating bulbs
With the haze filtering our sunny skies, it tends to feel darker during the day. Change your light bulbs to those that simulate a daylight glow, or get brighter bulbs, to combat the haze’s cloudy ambience. Again, prolonged lack of daylight can cause seasonal affective disorder – and darker interiors can also strain the eyes.
With the haze filtering our sunny skies, it tends to feel darker during the day. Change your light bulbs to those that simulate a daylight glow, or get brighter bulbs, to combat the haze’s cloudy ambience. Again, prolonged lack of daylight can cause seasonal affective disorder – and darker interiors can also strain the eyes.
3. Get your air conditioner filters changed
We may be known as an air-conditioned nation, but there is no better justification to make our air conditioners work doubly hard than the dry, haze-caused heat.
SingHealth advises, “If using an air conditioner, clean the filters regularly and ensure that they are in good working order.”
So as not to stress out your air conditioner, make sure it’s been recently serviced and the filters are clean. You may want to check that your air conditioner has air purifying or ionising functions, and that they bear the Green Mark, so you’re purifying your indoor air while keeping your energy consumption low. Indoor air quality company Air & Odor Management (AOM) recommends HEPA filters in particular because these effectively capture particulate matter of 0.3 microns and above.
We may be known as an air-conditioned nation, but there is no better justification to make our air conditioners work doubly hard than the dry, haze-caused heat.
SingHealth advises, “If using an air conditioner, clean the filters regularly and ensure that they are in good working order.”
So as not to stress out your air conditioner, make sure it’s been recently serviced and the filters are clean. You may want to check that your air conditioner has air purifying or ionising functions, and that they bear the Green Mark, so you’re purifying your indoor air while keeping your energy consumption low. Indoor air quality company Air & Odor Management (AOM) recommends HEPA filters in particular because these effectively capture particulate matter of 0.3 microns and above.
4. Install indoor plants
Plants are natural air purifiers. In particular: bamboo palms, cornstalk dracaena, spider plant, gerbera daisies, heartleaf philodendron – are good at reducing VOC (volatile organic compounds) and purifying indoor air, and they’re low-maintenance. They also bring a touch of freshness and life to what could otherwise look like a cold, sleek interior. Aside from being natural air purifiers, they’re also natural humidifiers.
Plants are natural air purifiers. In particular: bamboo palms, cornstalk dracaena, spider plant, gerbera daisies, heartleaf philodendron – are good at reducing VOC (volatile organic compounds) and purifying indoor air, and they’re low-maintenance. They also bring a touch of freshness and life to what could otherwise look like a cold, sleek interior. Aside from being natural air purifiers, they’re also natural humidifiers.
And you don’t need to build a vertical garden in your home to enjoy the benefits that indoor plants bring. A couple of pots in strategic corners will also help!
Low-maintenance plants you can grow in pots
Low-maintenance plants you can grow in pots
5. Speaking of humidifiers, get one
The haze brings dry, smoky air from Sumatra and Kalimantan (Indonesia), and causes us to stay in air-conditioned interiors where the air is cool but also dry (and recycled). A humidifier balances that dryness out so you can hopefully avoid feeling dry too. It doesn’t hurt if you can find a humidifier that blends in with your decor!
A Guide to Indoor Air Purifiers
The haze brings dry, smoky air from Sumatra and Kalimantan (Indonesia), and causes us to stay in air-conditioned interiors where the air is cool but also dry (and recycled). A humidifier balances that dryness out so you can hopefully avoid feeling dry too. It doesn’t hurt if you can find a humidifier that blends in with your decor!
A Guide to Indoor Air Purifiers
(Not just a) BONUS TIP: When we’re haze-free and our tropical blue skies return, it’ll be time to throw open those windows and enjoy the outdoors. One way to truly protect our homes from the haze, for good, is to stop buying products from the companies identified to be involved with the illegal slash-and-burn in South East Asia, and to decrease our consumption of palm oil products.
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How do you deal with the haze? Share in the Comments section below.
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How do you deal with the haze? Share in the Comments section below.
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Check that the seals are impregnable so that the smoky odour, and more importantly the pesky particulate matter (specifically PM2.5, or those invisible pollutants that will actually cause you to get sick), cannot permeate your home.
According to SingHealth, Singapore’s largest healthcare group, children are “especially at risk during the haze because their immune system is still immature.” So it is recommended to keep doors and windows shut when the PSI reading reaches unhealthy values. Keep these shut when you’re not home, too.