Fight Pollen Season with Filters
In central North Carolina, we have five seasons, Spring, Summer Fall, Winter, and Pollen season. As I write this, we are in the depths of pollen season. Take a look at this photo I took of a glass-topped table on my screened porch. Believe it or not, the glass on the table is actually clear. The “frosting” you see on the glass is pine pollen. I wrote the word “pollen” with my finger three days ago when the pollen was already quite thick. Now, with more pollen falling every day, the letters are becoming harder and harder to see. Yes, those are really piles of pollen on my mahogany decking. We get so much pollen, you can see tracks in the road. There is a fog of pollen when the wind blows that looks like a rain storm is coming. It’s like mini-snow.
The regrettable thing is that during pollen season, which lasts up to four weeks, the temperatures are perfect. It would be so nice to turn off the air conditioning, open the windows, and let in the fresh air. But if we did that, everything in the house would be covered with pollen, just like my table and deck in the photo. But there is a product available to help out, while maintaining good indoor air quality.
PollenTec makes pollen-proof screening. The fibers are woven very close together to block pollen and other dust. Yet, air can go through the screen. When air goes through the screen, it creates a static charge and even the very fine dust and pollen we can’t see gets attracted to the strands of screen fiber and clings there. Once a year, or so, you take the screen out of the window and hose it off to clean away all of the trapped pollen and dust.
I have one of my bedroom windows set up with this pollen-proof screening and it works well. I would suggest that you don’t want to use this pollen-proof screening on a window that is a “view window.” The tight weave of the screen fibers makes everything outside seem a bit out of focus. But for windows that provide primarily light and air, these are perfect.
Treat yourself to some fresh spring air, even during our famous pollen season. And when the season is over, don’t forget to clean or replace your heating and air conditioning filters. That will add life and efficiency to your mechanical equipment.
Read more about windows and screens here.
I hope this information is helpful to you. You might want to get yourself a copy of my best-seller, Designing Your Perfect House. It is chockfull of valuable tips and advice that will save you many times the cost of the book on your house building or remodeling project. You might also like The Well-Centered Home: Simple Steps to Increase Mindfulness, Self-Awareness, and Happiness Where You Live. It will show you how to make your home a happy place.
