How ventilation can help alleviate Hayfever symptoms indoors

How ventilation can help alleviate Hayfever symptoms indoors

By Ruth MacEachern

Product Manager

If you are one of the 15 million or so people in the UK who suffer from hayfever, summer can be a miserable time thanks to the effects of your allergy.  Streaming, painful eyes, a constantly runny nose, and a feeling of being bunged up means that you can’t enjoy the warm weather outdoors without taking daily antihistamines to lessen the symptoms.

The hayfever season in the UK lasts from May through until September, and there are multiple peaks as different plant species release their pollen at different times.  Sufferers will often make decisions about whether to go out on a particular day based on the local pollen count, but even on relatively low pollen days outdoors, people with hayfever may still find themselves suffering indoors if pollen levels in their home have been allowed to build up.

How Does Pollen Get Inside your Home?

Pollen levels are high outside on days when the air is still and the weather is warm, but pollen grains are so light that they can easily get into your home.  There are many different routes into your home:

Through open windows

Leaving your windows in the summer makes it easy for pollen to build up inside your home.  As the air flows inwards through windows, it can be difficult for the pollen to escape, and it can become attached to bedding and pillows where it can cause a reaction and make sleep difficult.

On Clothing and Shoes

If you go outside on a day when the pollen count is high, grains can easily become attached to your clothes and shoes and then carried into your home when you return.  The pollen on your shoes can be left in any room in the home, and if you place clothes on your bed when you get changed, grains can be left on your pillows.  If you suffer from hayfever, it’s a good idea to change out of your clothes in a room away from where you sleep such as your bathroom and leave your shoes by the door when you enter your home.

On Your Hair

In the same way as pollen can be carried on clothes, it can also find its way into your home in your hair.  During the summer months, shower and wash your hair after coming back into your home to avoid carrying the pollen into different rooms.

Reducing the Amount of Pollen in Your Home

Good ventilation is the most effective way of reducing the amount of pollen in your home.  Positive Input Ventilation Systems (PIV) filter air coming into your home, which means that you get fresh air throughout your home without needing to leave your windows open.

Good ventilation will also help to stop condensation in your home by reducing humidity levels after you bathe or cook.  Lower levels of condensation will prevent damp from forming and creating mould problems which can also be a source of allergens.

Find out More

If you are suffering from hayfever and would like to find out more about how improved ventilation can help, more, enter your postcode below to find details of your local ventilation specialist.  They can visit you, provide a free home survey, and give you advice about the best way to improve your indoor air quality.