How Purr-fect Is Your Home?

Over half of households in the UK have pets, bringing many owners companionship and happiness. Although these pets can bring joy, they can also bring unwanted allergens, which can highly affect the home’s air quality.

There is a common misconception that keeping our pet’s hair short will help reduce allergy symptoms, but this is often not true. The majority of pet owners are actually allergic to pet dander, which has no correlation to the length and/or type of the pet’s fur. Pet dander alone can cause allergic reactions, but fur can also absorb pollen, mould and many other allergens.

Pet dander is equivalent to human’s dandruff – it is composed of tiny specks of skin that flake off. As animals lick themselves and flecks of dried saliva and pet dander combined, it causes irritation to people that are sensitive to allergens. Compared to most airborne allergens, such as dust mites, pet dander is smaller and lighter in weight. It also lingers in the air, on bedding, furniture and other surfaces.

Without proper ventilation, pet allergens may build up and have an impact on the pet owner’s health. Common symptoms include congestion, sneezing, and wheeziness. Other symptoms include watery eyes, eczema, rashes and other skin irritation. Constant exposure to these conditions could be extremely uncomfortable and have a detrimental effect on overall health.

There are many ways of reducing the amount of pet dander that gets released into the air, including bathing and brushing your animals regularly. Also, by keeping your pets away from the furniture, off carpets and bedding, and cleaning all surfaces regularly, to eliminate dander from settling.

If you spend your live constantly cleaning, not allowing your pets to be in certain areas of your home and/or on certain furniture…is there really a point having a pet?

Another way is to lower concentrations of pet allergens and other harmful VOCs in the air of the home. This can be done by installing a high-quality ventilation system to reduce allergy symptoms and improve the overall quality of the air in the home.

The Ingenious Air® Small Duct System is an intelligent climate control system that has an optional high specification air purification module. It removes harmful pollutants including pet dander and VOCs. It also removes disease-causing viruses and bacteria, allergens, dust and odours.

Additionally, the system can add up to 100% fresh air ventilation with heat recovery ventilation. This can further improve air quality and save energy. At the same time, it provides a safe and comfortable indoor environment with clean, purified air.

Reference: Aubrey Gewehr. (2018). Zehnderamericacom. A Pet’s Effect on Indoor Air Quality, Retrieved 22 March, 2018.