Indoor air quality is something many homeowners don’t think about—until they notice symptoms like sneezing, headaches, or lingering odors. With modern homes becoming more airtight for energy efficiency, pollutants can accumulate faster than ever. But the question remains: how often should you test your home’s air quality?

Understanding the frequency and best practices for air quality testing can help you protect your family, improve comfort, and even extend the life of your HVAC system.

Why Air Quality Testing Matters

Your home can harbor a variety of contaminants that affect your health and comfort:

• Dust and allergens: Pollen, pet dander, and dust mites

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): From cleaning products, paints, and furniture

• Mold spores: From excess moisture or leaks

• Carbon monoxide: From gas appliances

• Particulate matter: From cooking, candles, or outdoor pollution

Testing your indoor air helps identify these issues before they become serious health or safety concerns. It also allows you to take action, whether that’s improving ventilation, upgrading filters, or addressing moisture problems.

How Often Should You Test Indoor Air Quality?

The answer depends on several factors, including your home’s age, occupants’ health, and local environmental conditions. Here’s a breakdown:

1. Every 12–18 Months for Routine Testing

For most households, testing once a year, or at minimum every 18 months, is sufficient. This keeps tabs on general indoor air quality and ensures your HVAC system and filters are performing as expected.

Tips for routine testing:

• Choose a professional air quality service that measures allergens, VOCs, and particulate matter.

• Consider scheduling tests seasonally, particularly after winter heating or spring pollen season.

2. After Major Home Renovations

Painting, new flooring, or remodeling projects can release chemicals and dust that affect air quality. Testing after these changes helps identify hidden risks like VOCs or fine dust.

3. When You Notice Symptoms or Issues

If family members experience unexplained allergies, headaches, or respiratory issues, it’s time to test, even if it hasn’t been a year.

4. If You Have High-Risk Occupants

Homes with young children, elderly residents, or individuals with asthma or other respiratory conditions should consider more frequent testing, every 6–12 months, to ensure the air remains safe.

5. After Water Damage or Mold Concerns

Any leaks, flooding, or persistent damp areas can contribute to mold growth. Air quality testing in these scenarios can confirm whether spores are present and guide remediation.

Signs Your Indoor Air May Need Testing Sooner

• Persistent musty odors

• Increased allergy or asthma symptoms

• Dust or particles visibly accumulating faster than usual

• Discolored spots on walls or ceilings (possible mold)

• Frequent condensation or high humidity indoors

Recognizing these early warning signs can prevent long-term damage to your home and protect your family’s health.

Steps to Maintain Healthy Air Year-Round

Testing is just the first step. Maintaining healthy air involves proactive measures:

• Change HVAC filters regularly: At least every 3 months for standard filters; more often if you have pets or allergies.

• Use HEPA air purifiers: These can remove fine dust and allergens from common living areas.

• Ventilate when possible: Open windows or use exhaust fans to reduce indoor pollutant buildup.

• Control humidity: Keep indoor humidity between 30–50% to prevent mold growth.

• Schedule professional HVAC maintenance: Regular inspections ensure your system isn’t contributing to poor air quality.

Partner with Colair, Inc. for Air Quality Testing

Understanding your home’s air quality and knowing how often to test it is essential for a healthy, comfortable living environment. At Colair, Inc., we specialize in comprehensive indoor air quality assessments tailored to your home and family’s needs.

Whether it’s routine testing, post-renovation checks, or addressing specific concerns, our experts provide actionable insights and solutions to keep your air clean, safe, and comfortable year-round.

Protect your home and family today. Contact Colair, Inc. to schedule an air quality test and take control of the air you breathe.

As spring arrives, you might notice your allergies acting up even when you’re indoors. The sneezing, itchy eyes, and congestion don’t have to be an inevitable part of the season. Pollen, dust mites, and pet dander can build up inside your home, especially when windows are left open to enjoy the warmer weather. These allergens can disrupt your comfort, affect your sleep, and make your daily routine harder to enjoy. However, with the right steps to reduce allergens and improve your indoor air quality in Mission, TX, you can create a healthier, more comfortable space. Advanced air filtration systems, regular HVAC maintenance, and humidity control are just a few tools that can help you breathe easier all season long and beyond.

Defending Your Home Against Seasonal Allergy Triggers

Your HVAC system plays a crucial role in managing indoor allergens that cause discomfort. Installing HEPA air filters in your system creates a powerful barrier against microscopic particles that traditional filters might miss.

These specialized filters can capture nearly all microscopic particles, including pollen, pet dander, and dust mites as small as 0.3 microns. For maximum effectiveness, replace your filters every one to three months, or more frequently during peak allergy season.

Don’t forget to clean or replace filters in other home appliances such as vacuum cleaners and dehumidifiers. These filters can harbor allergens and reintroduce them into the indoor environment.

Improving Your Indoor Air Quality

Learning how to reduce allergens in your home this spring requires more than just filter changes. Air purifiers offer an excellent supplementary defense against springtime allergens, delivering a comprehensive approach to indoor air quality improvement.

You can integrate modern air purification systems with your existing HVAC setup or use them as standalone units in high-traffic areas. These systems actively clean your air by removing particulates, neutralizing odors, and in some cases, killing airborne bacteria and viruses.

Controlling your home’s humidity levels is another essential step for pollen and dust reduction. Maintaining proper indoor humidity levels plays a major role in mold and mildew prevention. Use exhaust fans in bathrooms and kitchens, run dehumidifiers in damp areas, and ensure proper ventilation to maintain cleaner indoor air.

Professional Solutions for Allergy Relief

Regular HVAC system maintenance is crucial for minimizing allergens in your home environment. Professional technicians can identify and address issues that might compromise your system’s ability to filter air effectively.

Trained professionals offer several specialized services that target allergen sources throughout your system. Here are the key services that can improve indoor air quality:

• Comprehensive maintenance includes cleaning components like evaporator coils and condensate drains.
• Professional air duct cleaning removes accumulated allergens that have built up over time.
• Whole-home air purification system upgrades and germicidal UV lights can be installed directly in your HVAC system for optimal protection.

Breathe Easier By Improving Your Indoor Air Quality in Mission, TX With Colair Inc. This Spring!

Implementing these strategies helps you reduce allergens in your home this spring, allowing you and your family to enjoy an allergy-free season. At Colair Inc., we understand how crucial a healthy indoor environment is for your family’s comfort and well-being. We specialize in advanced HVAC solutions designed to tackle even the toughest allergen challenges, ensuring you breathe easier all year round.

Our comprehensive maintenance services are tailored to address the unique needs of homes in Mission, TX. Whether it’s optimizing your air filtration system, sealing duct leaks, or managing humidity levels, our certified technicians bring the expertise needed to deliver effective, lasting results. We don’t just fix problems—we proactively safeguard your indoor air quality to prevent future issues and keep your home feeling fresh.

Don’t wait for allergens to take over. Contact Colair Inc. today at (956) 255-2409 to schedule your professional HVAC service. Take the first step toward a cleaner, healthier home this spring. Our team is ready to provide trusted solutions that make a tangible difference for your home and your family.

As the seasons shift, keeping your home’s air fresh, clean-smelling, and irritant-free is a real challenge. Autumn and winter’s chill brings dry air with it, and in spring, pollen sets off a cascade of sniffles and sneezes.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to improve indoor air quality by staying one step ahead of seasonal changes.

Change Your Air Filter

This tip applies no matter the season. Air filters trap debris so it doesn’t float through your home’s air, but they get seriously filthy fast. That’s why pros recommend changing your filter every three to six months. The thinner your filter, the more often you’ll need to change it.

If you have a reusable filter, give it a good scrubbing and let it dry before replacing it.

Fall Cleaning

Fall is an excellent time to do some deep cleaning. The weather’s mild, so you can throw open the windows and let fresh air in while you work.

If you want clean air, start from the ground up. Carpets harbor all sorts of nasties, from pet dander to dust. Carpet cleaning freshens things up and eliminates unpleasant odors.

Air duct cleaning is a wise investment, too. If it’s been a while since you looked in your air ducts, they’re probably full of dust bunnies, pet hair, cobwebs, and maybe even rodent droppings. Don’t want to get your hands dirty? Call Colair Inc. for air duct cleaning and get more tips on how to improve indoor air quality.

Add a Humidifier or Dehumidifier

Overly dry or humid weather can make your home’s air uncomfortable. On top of that, non-stop high humidity can trigger mold growth, causing air quality and your health to plummet. Once mold sets in, getting rid of it can seem impossible.

For humidity control and allergens reduction, consider installing a humidifier to combat bone-dry winter weather. Dehumidifiers slash humidity during the balmy summer months. Ideally, you should shoot for a humidity level of 40% to 60%.

Install an Air Purifier

No matter how clean you keep your home, you can’t fully get rid of microscopic bad guys like airborne bacteria, viruses, pollen, and particulates. That’s where air purifiers come in.

HEPA purifiers are a popular pick, and they can trap up to 99.7% of particles. The main downside is that you’ll have to change the filter regularly, just as you do your HVAC filter.

UV purifiers are another excellent choice, particularly for the immunocompromised. They use UV light to kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

If fresh-smelling air is your main concern, get a purifier with an activated carbon filter. These filters work wonders at wiping out odor-causing bacteria and debris.

Schedule HVAC Maintenance Today

Want to learn more about how to improve indoor air quality? Reach out to the pros at Colair Inc. We’re your one-stop shop for the fresh, odor-free air you crave. From air duct cleaning to heating and AC maintenance, our experts do it all.

Call Colair Inc. at (956) 581-5212 to schedule service today.

Last Modified On: 8/8/2024

If your home is well-insulated yet suffers from poor air quality or stuffiness, ventilation improvements are essential. Inadequate ventilation can lead to the accumulation of harmful gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), posing significant health risks. Moreover, without proper air exchange, excess moisture can build up, potentially causing mold and mildew issues. This not only compromises your health but also increases indoor humidity, overworking your HVAC system. Consequently, your air conditioning may endure greater wear and tear, leading to increased maintenance costs. Enhancing your home’s airflow is critical to mitigate these risks and promote a healthier, more comfortable environment.

How Does Proper Ventilation Boost Your Home’s Comfort?

Professionally installed ventilation systems, such as the ones offered by Colair, Inc. in Mission, Edinburg, and McAllen, bring air into your home with filtration rather than through cracks and leaks. Such systems are designed to prevent too much moisture and to keep the air cleaner.

What Types Of Ventilation Are There?

There are three main types of ventilation:

• Natural ventilation from windows, doors, and cracks
• Spot ventilation using exhaust fans
• Whole-house ventilation with duct systems and fans

Natural ventilation is the easiest, but it can result in problems such as making your air conditioner work harder, thereby raising your electrical bills. Spot ventilation is easy to implement but is less effective than whole-house ventilation.

Ways You Can Help Yourself

There are things you can do on your own to improve air ventilation in your home. Use exhaust fans regularly, such as in the bathroom after a shower or in the kitchen while cooking. When the temperature and humidity outside is right, you can open a window and turn on fans to get air moving. You can also get humidifiers that are easy to set up and will help prevent mold.
You should make sure to take care of water leaks too. They can lead to mold within your walls and insulation.

Turn To Us

If you live in or around South Texas, and are experiencing difficulty with humid air or your air conditioning system, then you can get help from Colair, Inc. We offer heating and air conditioning services and more. Contact us today for more information.

As spring unfurls its canvas, painting the world with vibrant colors and life, it brings with it a less welcome guest: poor indoor air quality.

The dance of pollen in the breeze and the awakening of dormant molds are not just markers of this season of renewal but are also culprits in turning our safe havens into hotbeds for allergens and irritants.

However, not all is lost in this seasonal shuffle; with mindful steps and strategic measures, we can reclaim the sanctity of our indoor air, ensuring it’s as fresh and invigorating as the spring air outside.

Essential Spring Cleaning Tips for Better Air Quality

An essential step towards reclaiming the sanctity of your indoor air quality lies in the thorough washing of curtains and upholstery—those silent harborers of dust. Moreover, carpets and rugs act as unintentional traps for pollutants, necessitating a deep clean to uproot the embedded adversaries.

Amidst this cleaning crusade, replacing HVAC filters emerges as a non-negotiable act to ensure that the air circulating within your abode remains untainted.

Replace HVAC Filters to Ensure Clean Air Circulation

Amid the blossoming flora and the gentle warmth that signals the arrival of spring, there lies an invisible intruder that can mar the beauty of the season: poor indoor air quality. Within the veins of your home, the HVAC system works tirelessly, circulating air to maintain comfort. Yet, without regular maintenance, it can become a conduit for distributing allergens and pollutants throughout your living space. Replacing the filters in your HVAC system, provided by esteemed services such as Colair, stands as an essential, yet often overlooked, step in ensuring the purity and healthfulness of the air that envelops you. This simple act, akin to changing the guard at the gates of a fortress, ensures that the air circulating within your realm remains pristine, safeguarding your health against the invisible threats that spring may usher indoors:

Component	Recommended Action	Benefit
HVAC Filters	Replace every 3 months	Improved air quality, reduced allergens
HEPA Filters for Air Purifiers	Check and replace as indicated by the manufacturer	Enhanced removal of fine particulates
Air Ducts	Schedule cleaning every 3-5 years	Decreased dust and pollutants circulation

Identifying Common Springtime Allergens in Your Home

Recognizing signs of mold growth, awakened by winter’s lingering dampness, becomes your first step in safeguarding your health against these clandestine threats. Simultaneously, awareness of pollen, stealthily infiltrating through every crevice, window, and door left ajar, pivotal in charting a course for cleaner air.

Recognize Signs of Mold Growth From Winter Dampness

As you navigate through the thaw of winter into the embrace of spring, be vigilant for muted whispers of mold growth within your sanctuary, a clandestine invader nourished by the damp remnants of colder days. The subtle, musty odor that seems to linger without a source, paired with visible specks or patches of green, black, or white on your walls, ceilings, or corners, signals the need for immediate action to preserve the sanctity of your indoor air and safeguard the health of your home’s occupants.

Be Aware of Pollen Entering Through Windows and Doors

As the cloak of winter lifts, revealing the vibrant tapestry of spring, your home becomes vulnerable to an influx of pollen, an uninvited guest that breezes in through open windows and doors. This silent intruder, invisible to the naked eye, can transform your sanctuary into a battlefield for those with sensitivities, turning breaths of fresh air into a source of discomfort. Vigilance in monitoring local pollen forecasts and keeping your home’s barriers securely closed during high pollen counts serves as a protective measure to maintain the sanctity of your indoor air quality.

Understand Pet Dander’s Role in Indoor Air Quality

In the tapestry of your home, pet dander weaves itself into the very air, playing a significant yet often underestimated role in determining the quality of your indoor atmosphere. These microscopic flakes of skin, shed by cats, dogs, and other furry or feathered pets, can linger in the air, settling on surfaces and becoming entrenched in carpets and upholstery. As such, understanding the importance of managing pet dander is crucial for maintaining an environment where air flows freely, unpolluted by the invisible remnants of your beloved pets’ presence.

Keep an Eye Out for Dust Mites in Bedding and Furniture

In the realm of your home, where tranquility should reign supreme, dust mites orchestrate an invisible presence, stealthily embedding themselves in bedding and furniture. Like uninvited guests that linger far beyond their welcome, these microscopic beings feast on flakes of human skin, proliferating in the warm, humid conditions that spring ushers in. Vigilance in regularly washing bedding in hot water and ensuring furniture is thoroughly vacuumed can cast these unwelcome intruders out, restoring the sanctity of your indoor environment.

The Importance of Proper Ventilation in Spring

Within the walls of your home, everyday activities unleash moisture and allergens into your living environment. Employing exhaust fans emerges as a vital strategy, particularly in kitchens and bathrooms, where humidity can otherwise spiral into a haven for mold and mildew.

Use Exhaust Fans to Remove Cooking and Bathroom Humidity

In the ballet of daily domesticity, your kitchen and bathroom emerge as unexpected protagonists in the epic of indoor air quality. Deploying exhaust fans in these spaces acts as a silent guardian, whisking away the excess humidity and airborne pollutants that accompany cooking and bathing rituals. This seemingly simple step is a giant leap towards preventing the stage for mold and mildew’s unwelcome performance, ensuring your home’s air remains as invigorating as a crisp spring morning.

Incorporate Cross-Ventilation Strategies to Refresh Indoor Air

Embracing cross-ventilation strategies stands as a beacon for purifying your household atmosphere as the season transitions into spring. By strategically opening windows across different rooms, you create an invisible dance of air currents, which effortlessly carry away the stale, allergen-laden air and replace it with the fresh, invigorating essence of the outdoors. This seamless exchange not only rejuvenates the indoor air but also connects your living space with the revitalizing energy of spring’s natural renewal.

Leverage Air Conditioning for Filtering Outdoor Allergens

As the spring air flourishes with the buzz of rejuvenation, it also ushers in a cascade of outdoor allergens that threaten the sanctity of your indoor environment. By leveraging the sophisticated filtration capabilities of your air conditioning system, particularly those serviced by the adept hands at Colair, you create an invisible shield that meticulously scrubs the incoming air. This strategic move not only tempers the burgeoning warmth but also ensures that the breaths you take indoors are devoid of the seasonal pollen and particulates lurking outside, maintaining a haven of health and comfort within your abode.

Schedule HVAC System Maintenance Before the Season Peaks

Before the crescendo of spring reaches its peak, orchestrating a symphony of blooming flora and vibrant life, ensure your sanctuary remains a bastion of purity by scheduling an HVAC system maintenance check. A professional tune-up from a reputable service like Colair not only optimizes your system’s efficiency but also assures that every breath you draw within your home is filtered through the lens of health and comfort, devoid of spring’s allergenic whispers.

Although the spring season is notorious for plaguing those sensitive to allergies, the fall can be just as troublesome. There’s little you can do to reduce your exposure when you’re outdoors, but you have several options when you are inside your home. Let’s look at the types of allergens that can affect you and what you can do about them.

What Are The Most Common Fall Allergens?

Tree pollen is a concern in the spring, but in the fall, your allergies are most likely acting up because of ragweed. Ragweed is a plant that is found throughout North America. These plants are especially active during the autumn season. Mold spores and dust mites can also set off allergies while cigarette smoke and fumes from various products can trigger or worsen allergic reactions. Here are three things you can do to protect yourself.

1. Replace Your HVAC Filter

Along with causing your system to run inefficiently, dirty HVAC filters will not be able to perform their primary task of capturing allergens and other pollutants. Keep your indoor air quality at the best level possible by regularly changing your HVAC filter.

2. Schedule A Duct Cleaning

Your ducts are responsible for air flow in your home but can also become a hiding place for pesky allergens. Having your ducts inspected and cleaned on a regular basis will ensure that your respiratory system will not suffer from allergens.

3. Schedule HVAC Maintenance

A yearly HVAC maintenance visit in the fall will help ensure that your system runs in the most efficient manner possible while working to remove pollutants and allergens from your home. If you are a homeowner in the Mission, Edinburg, and McAllen TX areas, and you would like to set up HVAC maintenance, reach out to Colair to schedule a visit from one of our friendly and knowledgeable technicians.

At Colair, we offer a full range of heating and cooling solutions for your home as well as commercial HVAC services. We have a 24-hour emergency AC repair service and provide a 100% satisfaction guarantee for our workmanship. Contact us today to see how we can help you.

 

We all know that keeping our families safe is a top priority. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s extra important to ensure that you’re providing a safe environment for your children, spouse, parents, or even just yourself. The coronavirus is a potentially life-threatening virus that has already claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Still, there are some simple steps that you can use to protect your family during this especially critical time in the world.

Keep Your Kids In The Backyard

Your children in Mission are going to online classes, and their schedules might allow for some time to play outside. While you still should let your children get fresh air and exercise, now isn’t the time to let your children play with the neighbor kids. The coronavirus is an especially easily transmitted virus, and the ways that children play makes it especially likely that they could spread germs to each other. Instead, set up a unique activity to keep your children entertained. Keep them within a fenced-in area or in the garage if leaving the yard is just too tempting when they see their best neighbor friend outside.

Wipe Down Your Home’s Surfaces

Doorknobs, countertops, and other hard surfaces in the home are touched all the time by family members. Even if you and your family in Mission have been isolating for the last few weeks, you need to think about the few times that you’ve gone out for groceries or other essentials. The novel coronavirus can live on hard surfaces for many hours. So even if you went shopping the day before, you might have brought the coronavirus into your home on the outside packaging of your food.

Put Off That Trip To Grandpa And Grandma’s

Keeping your family safe includes protecting your aging parents and grandparents who are living in another house in Texas. Sure, the kids don’t have to go to a traditional classroom right now, but that doesn’t mean that it’s time for them to go for a sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. Visiting other households in Mission and in Texas, in general, puts your children at risk of catching something from your parents. It also makes it more likely that your children could pass on the coronavirus to your parents. Instead of going to visit Grandpa and Grandma at their house in Texas or anywhere that they might live, have a family get-together over Skype, FaceTime, or Facebook.

Improve Your Indoor Air Quality With Your Air Conditioning System

The novel coronavirus is transmitted through droplets in the air. It’s inconclusive exactly how long a smaller droplet will stay in the air. Still, the virus could more easily spread to other people in the family. Many HVAC filters and HVAC UV light systems can cut down on the number of particulates in the air and, thereby, reduce the amount of pathogens in the home.

 

 

 

HEPA filters are one type of filtration system that can cut down on a lot of pathogens in the air that you breathe. A Mission air conditioning service or two will get you on your way to cleaner home air. In fact, they’re often used in hospital settings. Still, the novel coronavirus is so small that even these filters can’t capture them. Another route is to use a UV light to kill viruses, such as the novel coronavirus. A UV light can break down the DNA of a virus so that it dies. Typically, the UV light is placed on a return air duct to kill germs. Getting a Mission air conditioning service for your home will cut down on the likelihood that your entire family will get sick if the virus travels into your home.

Give Your Bodies A Fighting Chance With Healthful Food And Exercise

You’ve probably already heard that the coronavirus is most deadly to people with certain pre-existing conditions. While you can’t get rid of diabetes, chronic lung disease, or heart disease, there are some things that you can do to fight off the coronavirus.

If one of your family members is retaining water, going on an all-natural diet that’s very low in sugar can reduce the water weight. This could be significant if your family member were to get sick with the coronavirus because excess water weight is a sign of inflammation. When your body is inflamed, it starts attacking healthy cells, and it also has more difficulties fighting off illnesses.

 

You should also make sure that you and your family are getting the vitamins that you need to have healthy immune systems. Make sure that you get plenty of fruits and vegetables in an array of colors. And if you’re not confident that you’re getting enough vitamins, consider taking a vitamin pill.

Exercise is also helpful for people who want to stay healthy so that they can fight off the coronavirus if they were to get it. For instance, moderate exercise can help reduce stress, which can make it more difficult for your body to fight off infection and illness.

Isolate Anyone Who Gets Sick

If you have several people in your Mission home, you’re all likely sharing bathrooms, a kitchen, and several common areas, such as the family room. If you have someone in your family who works in an industry that has been deemed essential, they can bring germs back into the home. Even if you don’t have someone in your household who works in a critical industry, you must get groceries every couple of weeks. With every trip that someone takes outside, there’s a possibility that they might bring the novel coronavirus back home with them.

 

So how do you protect other family members in your Mission home from this virus when someone has to go out? First, you should make sure that the family member who went out washes their hands right away when they get home. But you should also make sure that anyone who gets sick is quarantined from the rest of the family. It seems like a difficult thing to do, but you need to isolate the ill individual to protect the rest of your family.

If your partner gets sick, sleep on the couch in the family room or den until after their quarantine. If, for some reason, your child gets sick, someone will still have to spend more time taking care of them. Make sure that you’re wearing your protective gear and resist the temptation to give them kisses because they’re not feeling well.

Sanitize Doorknobs And Other Surfaces

Especially if you recently went out to the grocery store. You need to make sure that you take the time to sanitize any surface that you touched. One technique that you can use is to sanitize your hands before you even get in the car. The steering wheel and shift stick are both likely places where you could deposit the novel coronavirus if you touched something that already had the virus on it.

Use Personal Protective Equipment When Out

Protecting yourself from the virus when you have to go out is one of the best ways to protect your family. Another way to protect yourself is to wear personal protective equipment when you’re out doing your grocery shopping or anything else that you typically need to do. For instance, if you’re going to pick up some milk from the convenience store down the road or anything else that you would need, wear gloves. One of the most significant benefits of wearing a pair of latex gloves is that it reminds you not to touch your face. Plus, if you encounter something that has the novel coronavirus on it, you’ll just throw the virus on your glove out in the trash can.

Don’t Put Your Baby In A Mask

Sure, you want to protect your infant or baby, but you should skip putting a mask on them, which can make it more difficult for them to breathe. Very young children don’t have the coordination to take the mask off if it’s making it difficult to breathe. So keep a close eye on them.  If you really need to take them with you on your errands, zip up the cover on your baby carrier.

Stop Using Cash

You probably already know this, but cash has a lot of germs on it, and it’s challenging to clean paper bills. Do everyone in Mission a favor by not using money until the COVID-19 epidemic in our country is under control. If you think that giving out cash to the grocery delivery driver in Mission as a tip is a beautiful thing, sure, they appreciate the extra money. Still, there’s usually a straightforward way to tip them extra online. And if you’re concerned about getting the virus, paying for things with cash in stores means that the store attendant must use cash to give you your change. You can very easily avoid this by using your credit or debit card.

Wash Hands Often

One of the easiest ways to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus is to wash your hands often. Most of us were probably a little lazy about this point before the novel coronavirus made its way to our lives. But making sure that you’re washing your hands often can significantly reduce the likelihood that you’ll spread the virus.

 

 

Bring Hand Sanitizer To The Gas Station

When you need to fill up your car, you must touch a gas pump. Some gas stations might wipe down the handle occasionally. Still, most of their employees have plenty of other things to do other than wipe the handle after every customer. You can protect yourself by washing your hands inside the store after you pump your gas. Bringing hand sanitizer with you, though, eliminates the need to even go inside of the store.

Encourage Your Teenagers To Use FaceTime And Skype

If you have teenagers in your Texas home, they’re likely bummed that they can’t go out to see their friends right now. They probably already know how to use many of the video conferencing services available. So the next time that you hear your teenager whining about not being able to see their friends, tell them to get online.

Don’t Touch Your Eyes, Nose, Or Mouth

Since the novel coronavirus is a respiratory virus, touching these parts of your face will make it much more likely that you catch it. If you need to itch your eye or wipe your mouth, make sure that you thoroughly wash your hands before you do so. For things like putting in and taking out contacts, you should be washing your hands before you do that anyway, but if you’re not doing it, now is a great time to start.

Wipe Down Phones

We put our cell phones to our faces every day, and a lot of germs collect on the surface. And when you think about it, we’re also continually swiping and pinching the glass face. With all the attention that your phone receives from you, don’t be surprised if the novel coronavirus ends up on your phone. From there, not only could it get on your cheek, but it could also get into your eye, nose, or mouth because it’s so close to those parts of your face.

 

 

Understand The Care Of Relatives Who Receive Outside Care

If you have an aging parent or another family member who requires extra care, go to their home to check on them, and do extra chores. Make sure that you know what’s going on with their care, especially during this unpredictable time. Know about the policies that facilities are putting into place to ensure that your loved one isn’t meeting the coronavirus. If someone has been helping your loved one by going to their home, make sure that you know how the care provider is ensuring that they don’t bring a virus to your loved one.

Have A Backup Caregiver If You Take Care Of A Loved One

Many times, if a family member takes care of an older family member, there’s only one person who’s responsible for the duties. But you should really have a backup person in case you get sick. For instance, say that you’re the caregiver to your elderly parent with dementia who lives in your home. If you get sick, there needs to be someone else who can take care of your mother or father. Train your spouse, sibling, or another trusted adult on which kinds of medication they need and their other care needs.

Stay At Home

If you have family members that live in other houses, now isn’t the time to go visit them even if they’re lonely. If you have elderly parents who can generally take care of themselves and live alone or with their spouse, don’t visit them, but do stay in contact with them. Keeping up positive spirits when there’s a health crisis is still very important. If they need something such as groceries, you can have someone deliver them, or you can go get their groceries yourself. If you have someone from a grocery delivery app do their shopping, tell the deliverer to simply leave the groceries at the door. If you deliver the groceries yourself, resist the urge to go inside for a cup of coffee and a chat. Instead, tell them that you’ll call them when you get back home.

Keep Your Spirits Up With Social Contact

Taking care of your family during the COVID-19 crisis can mean a lot of things. Not only do you have to make sure that your children are safe, but also your family members who have special health conditions. Not to mention making sure the elderly in your life have what they need and stay away from other people. And not only do you have to take care of your family members’ physical needs, but you also need to take care of their emotional needs. Plus, you need to take preventative measures to ensure that you’re ready if you or someone in your family does get sick with the virus. There are plenty of ways that you can protect your family.

 

 

Making sure that your home is clean and as free of germs as possible by calling a Mission air conditioning service is an excellent start to the process.