One of the ways of combating indoor air pollution, is to lower the amount of air exchanging between the inside and the outside. The principles are the same as weather proofing used in countries with very cold weather.

Weather Sealing your Doors

In any door, there is a gap between the door and the jamb (frame, चौखट). This gap can be reduced by applying EVA foam tape on the jamb. EVA foam tape isn’t easy to find online in India. Amazon has some rather expensive 3M adhesive foam tape. Tolexo has industrial foam tape. If you step into any industrial area such as Mayapuri, you will find loads of this tape in different thicknesses and widths.

The next thing to do is seal the gap under your door. Any carpented will do this for you. Strips of different types – rubber strip, brushes – are available at hardware stores. It takes a few minutes to screw one under your door.

I look forward to finding a vendor who can deliver this stuff in India.

Weather Sealing your Windows

If you are OK with keeping your windows closed all the time (which is really the only reasonable option for those of us living in Delhi/NCR), then just use masking tape to cover the gap between your window and the frame.

You can apply masking tape on both the inside and outside. Most ecommerce sites and hardware stores sell masking tape in India.

Door Closers

Door closers will significantly improve the performance of your air purifier. Opening the outside door of a room can make the PM2.5 shoot up by 100 ug/m3 in under 30 seconds. You should install door closers on all of your outside doors. On the inside doors too, door closers will help keep the AQI good in the room you are running your air purifier in, compared to the rest of your house.

Energy Efficiency

Sealing your house will reduce the amount of air exchanged with the outside world. Apart from reducing the amount of pollution that comes in, you will also reduce the amount of heat you exchange with the outer world. This reduces your air conditioning and heating bills, apart from the amount of energy and filter replacements consumed by your air purifier. All this energy and material saved will help the environment – and thus improve air quality for someone, somewhere. Do your bit for the environment by weather proofing your house.