Working Toward Cleaner Indoor Air? Houseplants That Can Help You Do the Job

Growing houseplants can help you have cleaner indoor air. A study by NASA has found that several common varieties of plants can help improve the quality of air in your home.

Plants fight indoor pollution by removing toxins from the air through the process of photosynthesis. These plants are known to absorb benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene, among other unwanted materials in your air. These chemicals may be in your home from building materials, particle board and laminated counters. Synthetic carpets and fabrics can also off-gas pollutants into your home environment. Newer homes are better insulated and more draft free, so the pollutants remain inside rather than passing through to the outside. NASA recommends 15-18 medium sized plants with air-purifying abilities are needed to clean indoor air in an 1,800-square-foot home.

Commonly available air-purifying plants include dracaena, golden pathos, peace lily, spider plants and snake plant. Other favorites such as ficus, Boston fern and aloe vera are also useful. Many of these plants are from tropical environments and have evolved to thrive in the light filtered through tree branches. They can live in low-light conditions, so you can have plants scattered around the house and not just in your sunniest window.

Living plants make an important contribution to cleaner indoor air, but there are other effective ways to accomplish this as well. Inspecting your HVAC air filter on a regular basis and having annual professional maintenance on your heating and cooling systems will help you achieve good indoor air quality.

To learn more ways to improve your home’s air quality and energy efficiency, please contact us at Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions. We provide superior services to the Orlando area and Central Florida.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about indoor air and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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