Staying healthy during the holiday season can feel like a monumental task. Image from here.

Very soon, regardless of how or what you do or don’t celebrate, you’ll likely have some time off and be spending the majority of it indoors with family in that warm and dry, recycled air filled with their bacteria. Mmm. It’s usually only a matter of time in the winter before someone gets the flu or a terrible cold, and naturally everyone else in the family panics about getting it, especially if there are small children or a pregnant family member in the house. Beyond physical sicknesses, there’s always someone that buys bags of chocolate candies and double fudge-covered cookies to keep you occupied. Clean eating becomes inevitably more difficult during the holidays.

Instead of just leaving you and your family’s health to chance, there are some things you can do to ensure your holidays are full of health. Read more »

You may be losing money and wasting energy on heating and air conditioning and might not even know it. Today we have a Happy Havens Q & A with someone who literally wrote the textbooks on this topic: Ronnie J. Auvil, featured in this photo with his book Indoor Air Quality Solutions.

Air quality is important in every home, but it can be difficult to understand how to make an effective system that saves both energy and money. And most of us don’t usually have any kind of heating and air professional or air quality specialist to help us in making these decisions for free. ”HVAC” is short for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning. After working in the field for over 30 years, Ron Auvil has some sound advice for controlling air and saving money as homeowners along with some cutting edge technologies. Read more »

Did you know? Dehumidifiers are often used for disaster relief due to flooding. This large commercial dehumidifier was used when the IRS building in Washington D.C. was flooded to help it dry faster. Many people also use them indoors after painting a room to make it dry faster.

With the tragic onslaught of Hurricane Sandy, there going to be a lot of flooding, mold and water damage. Many of us have seen the shocking photos of flooded Manhattan and New Jersey. While safety and emergency evacuations are the highest priorities, many are now looking ahead to the monumental task of rebuilding and repairing their cities. Heavy-duty commercial dehumidification is a crucial first step in removing flood and water damage. This post is dedicated to recovery and rebuilding for the victims of 2012′s Hurricane Sandy, also known as the “Frankenstorm.” Read more »

Get ready for winter and to enjoy your time snuggled up indoors with these fall cleaning tips.

It’s finally fall! That means pumpkin spice lattes, caramel apples, Halloween and Thanksgiving, along with beautiful leaves and cool weather. Not to mention my birthday was this month!

But as the indoors start to become a cozy shelter from the winter cold, it’s probably time to do some fall cleaning and get rid of some dust in the air and make your house a bit livable for some wonderful nights in front of the fireplace (or the TV under a blanket drinking hot cocoa browsing Facebook and Pinterest, pretty much the same thing). Read more »

Did you know you can actually go green by reusing water from household chores and appliances like dehumidifiers to water plants?

When people hear “gray,” they usually think of losing their youthful hair color. Luckily, that’s not what’s going on here.

When you think about it, everyday household chores are using up a lot of precious water. Between laundry, doing the dishes, water for baths, flushing toilets, garbage disposal, and other appliances like dehumidifiers, the average American is using 50-100 gallons of water per day. That’s a lot, considering fresh water is such a scarce resource. Read more »

Evil dust bunny is hoping you don’t learn vacuum types. Or for that matter, ever use one again.

They’re fluffy, evil, and composed of all those secret hairs that fell off your head when you weren’t looking. They also probably steal your useless pocket lint. These evil nose-twitching lagomorphs are under your bed, couch, and behind the curtains, plotting viciously how to take over your home.

Luckily, an effective vacuum can be your sword and shield to banish those little lint balls forever.

Obviously, vacuums aren’t really…optional. It’s a pretty essential home appliance. But are you getting the right kind of vacuum for the type of space that you are living in? Choose your weapon wisely: Read more »

Breathe in, breathe out…ahhh.

So you’ve decided to purchase a dehumidifier to improve the air quality in your home. When you bring home your new moisture-extracting baby, what should you expect? How do these things work and what features do they have, anyway?

Dehumidifiers use a fan to pull in air over two sets of hot and cold refrigerated coils, pulling out the moisture in the air as if you were wringing it with a wet wash cloth. The general factor that sets dehumidifiers apart is how many pints of water they can extract per day. Read more »

Here’s a cute little dehumidifier helping dry out a freshly painted room. An interesting use, eh? The basic function of a dehumidifier is to drain excess moisture from the air and store it as water, which has many health and home comfort benefits.

“A dehumidifier? What’s that? Don’t I have enough appliances already?” you may be asking. “How do I even know if I need a dehumidifier?”

Your child or someone you love may be plagued by allergy problems and you feel like you’re losing the battle against the invisible microorganisms at the root of the problem. How can you fight what you can’t see? Well, if your home or apartment feels stuffy, has0 dust-filled or moldy air, or just you have allergies that just won’t seem to go away, it may be time to attack the problem head-on and invest in a dehumidifier.

Better air quality means better health for everyone. It can be the difference between waking up in the morning feeling irritated and groggy and feeling fresh and alive. Read more »