Air Purifiers: What to Look For?

Answer 1

The air inside a typical home is far from being pure and clean. In fact, there are plenty of harmful and irritating particles floating in the air including pollens, mold, dust, pet dander, and smoke. Allergy sufferers are particularly affected by these airborne particles that worsen existing respiratory problems. Of course, healthy individuals should also take measures to purify the air inside their homes.

There are several options available for purifying air inside homes and buildings. There are portable and permanently installed air purifiers. Portable air cleaners are designed to clean the air of a single room, while whole house air cleaners filter out the entire house. The major difference between the two types of systems is the price and capacity.

Whole house air purifiers must be integrated into a forced air heating/cooling system. If your house has a different heating and ventilation system, then you’re out of luck and must look for alternatives. Additionally, these systems must be installed professionally by HVAC specialists. This is an expensive air cleaning system that may be out of many homeowners’ budgets.

The most viable solution is to use a room air purifier. It is compact, portable, inexpensive, and offers powerful purification for small spaces up to approximately 200 square feet. This type of air purifier is typically equipped with a fan, a permanent HEPA filter, pre-filter, and ionzer. The fan ventilates the air throughout the room while trapping particles. The permanent HEPA filters does not require replacement, but rather regular cleaning. The filter can be washed with water to easily remove all of the dirt and dust that has collected. This cleaning procedure is recommended to be done at least once a month. The built in ionizers release charged electrical particles which attach themselves to the airborne pollutants. This makes it easier for the purifier to trap the dust.

When shopping for air purifiers, there are some specifications consumers should be aware of. Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR), is an indicator of how much pure air the unit releases back into the room. There are actually three separate CADR ratings; pollen, dust, and smoke. A CADR rating between 100 and 300 is sufficient for most standard size rooms. Another specification that’s worth considering is micron rating, which refers to the size of the microscopic particles an air purifier can trap. Some of the best units can trap particles as small as 0.3 microns in size.