Seven Reasons You Have Bad Winter Allergies In Your Home

When you think of allergy season, you likely picture the spring and fall. This is when pollen levels are high, and plants are sprouting or dying. While the spring and fall are known as high allergy seasons, you can have strong and severe allergies throughout the year. You can even experience horrible allergies inside your home in the dead of winter.

Some common causes of winter allergies include dust mites, mold, cockroaches, pet dander, rodents, recycled air, and evergreens. To reduce the risk of winter allergies in the home, ensure you have a clean HEPA filter in your HVAC system, or consider buying an air purifier. Maintain moderate humidity in the home, wash your bedding more frequently, and increase your cleaning schedule.

If you have allergies that only pop up in the winter, you’ll want to identify their root cause. This is the only way to get rid of unwanted allergy symptoms. Below is a list of the most common causes of indoor winter allergies, as well as the top ways to reduce their prevalence in your home.

Seven Common Causes Of Winter Allergies In The Home

1. Pet Hair And Dander

Pet allergies tend to become amplified in the winter months. This is due to breathing in recycled air and the fact that people and pets spend more time inside in the winter. Therefore, it is entirely possible to have a pet allergy that you never notice in warmer months, only to struggle with it throughout the winter.

2. Dust And Dust Mites

Dust mites and dust are two of the main causes of winter allergies in the home. Dust mites are tiny pests that live and eat dead skin cells and other particles. Therefore, they live in your bed and couches.

There is less air circulation in the home in the winter, and you also spend more time in bed and on furniture in the winter. This combination allows these tiny pests to thrive. Dust and dust mites can cause all sorts of allergy symptoms, including coughing, sneezing, itching, wheezing, and more.

3. Pine And Evergreens

If you celebrate Christmas with a large real tree and lots of evergreen garlands, you may be welcoming plants that can cause an allergic reaction into your home. These plants can cause all sorts of negative reactions, and for several reasons. 

You can be allergic to pine needles, sap, and even the turpentine these plants give off. If you notice an influx in allergy symptoms as soon as you decorate for Christmas, then consider swapping out your real tree for an artificial one.

4. Rodents

There is a long list of reasons why you never want rodents to find their way into your home, and allergies are one of them. One sign that you have rodents hiding in your home is new and potentially severe allergies.

Rodent hair, droppings, and urine can cause all sorts of allergies, including wheezing, itchy skin, as well as dry and itchy eyes. These pests tend to sneak into your home in the late fall and early winter to escape cold outdoor temperatures.

5. Recycled Air

Your home’s HVAC system, or its lack thereof, can cause and worsen existing winter allergies. If you don’t have an air filtration system or don’t change your filter often enough, then you will have far more impurities in the air. 

If you don’t have an air purifier or HVAC system, and instead rely only on natural airflow, there is a good chance you will have some type of winter allergy from all the old and recycled air you breathe in.

6. Mold

Mold can cause allergies throughout the year. While it grows more in hot and wet weather, you tend to feel the effects more when all your windows are closed and you breathe in recycled air. Mold is common in basements, homes with leaks, or bathrooms with poor ventilation. 

7. Dry Air

Dry air doesn’t trigger allergies, but it can significantly worsen them. Common winter allergy symptoms include dry eye, itchy skin, coughing, and sneezing. All of these ailments are worse and more intense when combined with dry and cold air — both of which are common in winter.

Eight Ways To Reduce Winter Allergy Symptoms In The Home

1. Maintain A Spotless Home

One way to reduce the risk of several winter allergies is to keep your home clean. Maintaining a spotless home will eliminate a lot of the root causes of winter allergies. It will get rid of lingering dust, as well as pet hair that has dander, and even insect and rodent droppings.

Keeping a spotless home also makes it less likely you will have rodents, roaches, and dust mites. 

2. Purchase An Air Purifier

Most winter allergies are caused by microscopic impurities in the air. If you purchase an air purifier for your home, you can remove the vast majority of allergens from the air. A high-quality air purifier can remove mold, pet dander, and pollen from the air.

An air purifier can also remove lots of other toxins from the air. If you live in a cold climate and must go months without fresh air, an air purifier is a smart purchase.

3. Allow Fresh Air In The Home On Nice Days

You may rarely (or never) open your windows in the winter due to cold outdoor temperatures. If you have a pleasant day in between cold snaps, however, you may want to let in some fresh air. Allowing fresh air to circulate into your home is a great way to air out the home. 

It also makes the presence of mold, dander, and other allergens less omnipresent. Just make sure you remember to close the windows before the sun goes down and the cold night air returns.

4. Keep Your Home At A Pleasant Humidity 

Humidity levels on their own don’t cause allergies, but they can certainly exacerbate them. If your allergies are causing itchy skin, a tickle in your throat, or coughing, then you should check your home's humidity levels.

Dry air can worsen most winter allergy symptoms, and dry air is quite common in homes in the coldest winter months. Find ways to boost the humidity in your home to around 50% if possible.

5. Keep Pets Clean And Remove Hair Promptly

If pet dander is causing your allergies to flare up in the winter, then try to be more diligent about keeping your pet groomed. Consider taking your pet to the groomer more frequently, and brush the dog if it tends to shed a lot. Keeping your dog clean and groomed can significantly reduce your pet-related allergies.

6. Wash Your Bedding And Towels More Frequently

Dust mites and dead skin quickly gather in your bedding, especially in the winter. Since dust mites are a major cause of winter allergies, consider washing your bedding more frequently. Washing sheets in hot water once a week can greatly reduce the prevalence of dust mites. Remember to wash your towels more often as well.

7. Change Your Air Filters And Use A HEPA Filter

If you have an HVAC system and notice a spike in your allergy symptoms in the winter, then your air filter may be to blame. Make sure your air filter is clean as soon as winter kicks in. Consider switching your filter to a HEPA filter, which helps remove more allergens and impurities than other filters.

8. Ensure You Have No Pests In The Home

Cockroaches and other insects can also contribute to winter allergies. If you notice evidence of these insects in your home in the winter, take immediate steps to remove them from the home. Use cockroach traps, or even consider professional pest removal if you can’t get rid of the infestation on your own.

Summing Up Reasons Why You Have Indoor Winter Allergies 

Winter might not be the first season you think of when you hear “seasonal allergies,” but winter allergies are no joke. A lack of humidity and airflow can make allergies caused by dust, mold, pets, and rodents far worse than normal. To reduce the prevalence of indoor allergies, keep your home clean, and use HEPA air filters, or even an air purifier. Ensure you have no pests or rodents in your home, and keep your pets extra clean and groomed.

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