The Risks Of Letting The Outdoors In
Letting a little of the outdoors into your home might sound like it has a ‘refreshing’ notion about it. Get some fresh air in there, let the air circulate, and stop being so cooped up. However, when you care to maintain the boundaries between your home and the outside world, you’re going to start sharing a home with all the risks that living outside entails. Here are a few of those risks you should be most concerned about.
Raising the tissue budget
Over half the homeowners in the country have allergies, so perhaps the biggest risk that letting the outside in freely has is in introducing more allergens into the home by allowing dust and pollen in the from the outdoors. No-one wants to spend all their time in their home sneezing their way through a box of tissues a day. But closing the windows isn’t enough to stop such allergens from finding a home in your own, either. Most of them we bring into the home by staying in the same clothes we wore outside and bringing our shoes in with us. Be more vigilant in stripping off that allergen-ridden clothing and washing it as soon as possible.
Dampening your spirits
There’s one allergen we didn’t mention in particular because it has implications that are even more dangerous for the home. Homes susceptible to mould and damp risk a lot more than causing you to sneeze. Without sealing the home with tools like caulking and aerolite insulation in the attic, you could be letting a lot more moisture in the home. The roof, where the wind and rain are most likely to penetrate, carries the greatest risk of that happening, so get it inspected every season without fail. One cracked tile is enough to give you a serious damp problem.
Feeling energetic?
Failing to keep your home separated from the environment outdoors might have even greater implications for your budget, too. In particular, the energy bill used to heat and cool the home. In summer, it might seem counter-intuitive to close the windows and seal the home, but it will help you spend a lot less money on the AC. If you seal the room you’re in, you can cool it down with a fan to save you the need of having to pay more to keep the AC running throughout the home, too.
Uninvite those houseguests
One of the skin-crawling of risks is the chance that you’re letting a lot more pests in the home. Woodlice, insects, even rodents would love to get inside the home. So, keep them out by sealing any cracks or holes around the home such as in your plumbing pipes and vents. By trimming shrubs and bushes around the home and keeping the surroundings clear of any leaves, twigs or debris, you give pests fewer havens in the direct vicinity of the home as well.
Feel free to give your home a fresher outdoorsy feel. Introduce a houseplant. Decorate with more natural materials. Just be aware of the real risks of the letting a little too much of the outdoors in.
