More and more homes in recent years have begun implementing house plants into their décor and lifestyle. Make no mistake, taking care of the plant babies in your home definitely requires some work, but it comes with benefits. Within the realm of HVAC, indoor air quality (IAQ) is extremely important to comfort. Generally speaking, most humans spend about 90% of their time indoors. This ranges from work, to home, to the gym, in the car, etc. Since these are contained spaces collecting dust & debris, there is always the possibility (and likelihood) of IAQ to drop. Having good air quality around you is probably more important than you realized. THE EPA estimates that IAQ is typically 2.5-5x worse in quality than outdoor air, contributing to over 50% of illnesses. We know of all the HVAC work we can do to improve this, but we should look at our botanical companions.
House Plants – The Original Air Purifiers
Don’t get me wrong, home comfort home improvements that technology has given us are great, but there’s something about plants. It dates back to the 1980s, with NASA’s Clean Air Study. This study helped bring awareness to specific house plants being able to remove toxic agents such as:
- Benzene
- Formaldehyde
- Trichloroethylene
- Acetone
- Ammonia
- Carbon Monoxide
House plants absorb these pollutants through their leaves and roots, a process known as phytoremediation. Over time, the air surrounding us is improved and quality of life simply goes up.
Different Plants Do Different Things
Depending on what elements are around your home, and what you’re suffering from, there are different plant solutions for different scenarios.
Spider Plant – A household favorite, the spider plant does well in handling carbon monoxide, benzene, styrene, among other chemical pollutants. Being aesthetically pleasing and great home décor is an added bonus to us, as they do a great job keeping your space clean.
Snake Plant – The snake plant is another very common, and extremely effective household plant for air quality. Extremely durable and robust, they’re also space efficient and great for removing most toxins that are present in homes. This plant is one of the few that handles xylene, a hazardous chemical that comes from many consumer products such cigarette smoke, gasoline, paint, etc. Essentially the fumes that are making you dizzy.
Peace Lily – Another very common plant, relatively inexpensive and great for dealing with benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde. These grow to a nice size of about 16 inches and also have really nice blooms in the early summer.
Boston Fern – A staple in many households, the Boston Fern removes a lot of the chemicals used in furniture cleaning products. Although it requires a lot of direct sunlight and consistent watering, this plant is highly effective at humidifying dry air in addition to hazardous chemicals.
Plants Are Not the Entire Solution To Your IAQ Needs
Don’t get me wrong, plants do serve a great purpose in your home working to eliminate these allergens and hazardous chemicals, but they aren’t a full solution. Over time you will eventually want to assess the wear and tear on your HVAC unit, but plants definitely make that timeline easier. Units naturally will have to do less and live a longer life if they aren’t overutilized. Ironically we can say this about our work lives too, as an overworked employee will break down over time. This is why we recommend still following best practices for your HVAC needs regardless of your plant situation.
Conclusion
Wrapping up all of the information mentioned above, we can see the impact of plants on your IAQ. Removing multiple hazardous chemicals seems like a no brainer, but it comes with some work needed. Keeping a plant healthy does take some effort, and for that reason people tend to shy away from an extra responsibility. However, they are easily worth the effort considering their long term value for your home. One thing we haven’t mentioned is the volume of plants recommended. NASA typically recommends one plant for every 10 sq feet, and obviously you don’t need to meet those – it provides an idea as to how many plants in a home are considered “ideal”. We consider them more of a smaller “hack” to getting your home comfort & IAQ as optimal as it can be.