Air purifiers have become a common household solution to removing harmful and irritating allergens and pollutants from the indoor air that you breath.
Dust, pollen, mold, germs, bacteria, soot, ash, and gases commonly find their way into the indoor air that you breathe every day. The chemicals used in construction materials and household objects can release irritating and possibly dangerous gases into the air in your home through a process called out-gassing. Other irritants come in through open doors and windows or can be tracked in on your clothes or shoes. As they build up in your home, they can become the source of allergy attacks and other physical conditions. If you commonly find yourself suffering from allergy symptoms in your home, you could benefit from owning an air purifier.
There are a wide variety of air purifier technologies to chose from to improve the indoor air quality of your home. Some can be had cheap and others are more expensive, and some start off cheap but end up costing hundreds of dollars to operate. To get the best solution, you need to know the best air purifier technology for the job.
The most effective solution to purifying the air in your home often involves a system that uses a combination of technologies and even a little common sense housekeeping.
Start your home air quality improvement process by regularly dusting and vacuuming your home. These simple steps will remove many of the large particles of hair, dust, dirt, and dander that build up in a home over time. When you let the housework slip, every time the heating and cooling systems turn on, they stir up the dust and blow it around the room – right where you breath!
A second simple step is to regularly check the filters in your heating and cooling system. These filters are designed to trap the larger particles and will not help with the small stuff – but they still help. Most people neglect the regular maintenance of the furnace. It is also wise to inspect the ducts once a year. If dust has built up inside, consider hiring a duct cleaner to clear them out.
Once you’ve tackled the easy stuff, it’s time to move on to more specific air purifier technology. There are three basic concerns to address: removing odors and gases, killing germs and bacteria, and removing particles.
Removing odors and gases can be done using charcoal filters. If this is a significant problem in your come, look for a filter based system that includes an activated charcoal filter.
Killing germs and bacteria can be accomplished using air filter systems that include and ultraviolet light. The radiation from an ultraviolet light kills living organisms and renders them inert. However, it does not remove them from the air. So, you still need a system that includes another form of filtration for particles.
Removing particles is best done with woven filters. The most efficient filters are HEPA (High Efficiency Particle Arresting) filters. They can trap most of the particles in your air. HEPA filters can be very expensive to replace, so look carefully at the cost of additional filters. Also look for air filter systems that use a two stage filter. This allows a cheaper filter (which is often a reusable filter that can be cleaned) to capture the larger particles and saves the HEPA filter for the tough stuff.
Finally, you may want to include a smaller ionic style filter to use in your bedroom. They are generally quieter and can be used close to your bed. Many allergy sufferers swear by the effectiveness of ionic air purifiers. But, be cautious. Most ionic air filters release ozone into the air as a byproduct of the air purification process. Cheaper units can release very high amounts of ozone which can trigger attacks in asthma sufferers. Read the labels carefully and stick with the better known brands.
Suffering from asthma and allergy attacks in your home can be a thing of the past with a little planning, a little housework, an a few well chosen air purifier products.