How Air Purifiers Can Double The Quality Of Your Home Air.
Janie S Manne
Air Purifier: An air purifier is best described as a device designed to eliminate pollutants from the air in any part of any building. Pure air is proven to be good for those that suffer from asthma and those susceptible to allergic reactions. If you're considering purchasing an air filter you may find the following helpful.
Who will Benefit Most from Air Purifiers?
Relief for those who are susceptible to air-borne allergens - including dust, pet hair, pollens, mould, dust mites and smoke particles. House cleaning is reduced due the amount of dust it will remove from the air. Low energy use and electromagnetic emissions mean a safer environment. Which Type of Air Purifier is Right for Me?
What Air Purifier Should I Choose?
Different air filters do different jobs so it's paramount that you understand your personal air purifying needs. Where you need to filter out large particles in the air, then a HEPA filter would be your first choice. These can remove over 99% of 0.01 to 0.3 micro-metre particles. They are, however, unsuitable for particles less than 0.01 micro-metres. Use a pre-filter before the HEPA filter for when you need to eliminate very fine particles.
Air particulates of 0.3 micro-metres or more are best extracted with an HVAC at MERV 13 or larger. If you are wanting to extract powerful chemicals and strong odours then it is suggested you use activated carbon filters and then follow this up with a HEPA filter to remove the smallest particles. Moulds, bacteria and viruses should be removed with photo-catalytic oxidation (PCO) - this is quite often incorporated with HVAC systems.
Ionizer air purifiers operate with charged electrical surfaces to bond to air impurities. These are very effective for large size homes, however, they do emit small amounts of ozone which is environmentally unfriendly so they are much less popular. A further suggestion for larger full size houses are Ozone Generators - these are excellent for removing strong odours that are not easy to remove with other types of air filters. They generate large amounts of ozone gas and are only suitable in unoccupied properties.
What to Look for When Shopping for an Air Purifier?
Some of the things you should be looking for include making sure the air filter does not produce any unhealthy gas by-products, generates a low level of noise, how often the filters need to be replaced, level of power consumption and that the visual aesthetics are to your liking. Most air purifiers generate very low levels of ozone gas and, with the exception of Ozone Generators, are perfectly safe air purifiers to use. Be careful not to buy an air filter that is described as HEPA-type, HEPA-like or 99% HEPA as these are not true HEPA filters as far as govt standards are concerned.
U S Consumer Reports recommends air purifiers, air cleaners or air filters for your home and your office - particularly where people experience allergies or asthma. If you're looking for more detailed information on this topic then I unreservedly recommend the U S Environmental Protection Agency and its Science Advisory Board directive called Indoor Air Quality.
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