I remember constantly feeling uncomfortable in our house when I was growing up.
- We lived right on a swamp and the air was humid inside and out.
As a kid with a host of different respiratory allergies, I often struggled to breathe in that house both through my nose and through my mouth. We didn’t have air conditioning and only relied on fans and open windows even when the temperature outside climbed into the 100s. I remember sweating in my room and struggling to breathe because the heat and humidity would cause mold to grow in the house. The air quality inside my family home was horrendous in retrospect. Nowadays I go to great lengths to ensure that my indoor air quality is as good as I can make it with my limited financial resources. I not only use my air conditioner year round, but I also have a dehumidifier and an air purifier. This prevents too much humidity from accumulating and from airborne contaminants from building and threatening my respiratory health. Beyond that, I get hot easily so I’m using my air conditioner constantly. If I was asked to quantify the number of times I run the air conditioner throughout the year, I would be at a loss for words. It’s such an integral part of my life that I cannot even imagine living without one at this point. Needless to say, I’m a huge proponent of everyone using indoor climate control, even if it’s just heating or cooling systems that provide air ventilation to an indoor space. That goes a long way towards benefitting respiratory health.