As you might imagine, indoor air quality (IAQ) is a hot topic right now due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the threat of variants. But, even before this current global crisis, there was concern in the scientific community about the healthiness of our indoor air. In fact, studies have shown that many of us have poor IAQ that is more polluted than the air outdoors. Contaminated indoor air often contains dust, mold, allergens, toxins and other pollutants that can harm your health. For these reasons, many homeowners have made the decision to install an air purifier in their home. In this article, we will look at three pro air purifier tips to help you make an informed decision.
1. Whole-House vs. Room Air Purifiers
The very first choice that any homeowner will need to make is whether to choose a room or whole-house air purifier for their home. In fact, there are many types of air purifiers on the market in a wide variety of sizes. But, some of the smaller units may be too small for your rooms or house and finding the right size is extremely important. To make the decisions a little easier, let’s take a look at the two main broad categories, they are: portable or room units and whole-house air purifiers.
Portable Room Air Purifiers
This type of air purifier is a unit that doesn’t weigh much, which means it’s easy to move around from room to room. As long as you have a power outlet in the room, you can use this type of unit. This is a cheaper way to clean air, but these units are less powerful and they usually can’t clean as much air as you would like. Another drawback to this type of air purifier is that it needs frequent cleaning and maintenance to work efficiently. Most people only have one or perhaps two portable air purifiers, which means they don’t clean the air in other parts of the home. So, if you have a home office or bedroom and you don’t need cleaner air in other areas this may be good enough to meet your needs.
Whole-House Air Purifiers
As the name suggests, a whole-house air purifier cleans all the air in the home at the same time. So, no matter where you are or if you are moving around the home you will always breathe easier. The typical format for this type of system is an installation inside the existing ductwork system. This air purifier will remove a wide variety of contaminants, such as: dust, dirt, mold, odors, smoke, allergens and more. If you have people living in your home with pre-existing breathing illnesses and asthma they will benefit from this type of system.
2. System Sizing and Extra Features
Now you know the two basic types of air purifiers, it’s time to take a closer look at some factors that will help you to make a final choice.
The Air Purifier Size
The first consideration is the size of your home and the areas where you need to clean the air. A portable unit needs to be sized for the room where you will use it most and this should be clearly displayed when you look at the specifications. Ideally, you want an air purifier that can clean the room without being too large because larger units are noisier and they consume more energy. This is a tradeoff and you can already see a problem when you consider a portable air purifier. Unless all the rooms in your home are approximately the same size you’re unlikely to get a single unit that’s efficient to use in every room.
The CADR Rating
Another thing to look out for is the Clean Air Delivery Rate or CADR rating. Every air purifier has a CADR rating for dust, pollen and tobacco smoke. Without getting too technical, you want the highest CADR rating that matches your budget. The better the CADR rating, the more quickly the air cleaning will be. Generally speaking, it’s fair to say that a mid-sized or large home will be a good match for a whole-house air purifier. This is because every room will be covered at all times and you won’t need to worry about moving a portable unit that’s poorly matched to individual rooms.
Extra Features
The best home air purifiers have some extra features to further improve the performance. Some of the best examples include: ionizers, variable fan speeds, UV lights, HEPA filters, carbon filters and more. The exact features you choose will vary depending on your individual needs but all of them will improve the IAQ. The main allergens that trigger an allergic reaction are: pollen, mold, dust mites and pet dander. If you have anyone in the home suffering from asthma or some other pre-existing respiratory ailment they will benefit from a whole-house air purifier with some or any of these extra features. Every room in the home will have fresher, cleaner and purer air that is easier to breathe.
3. Air Purification Methods
There are a few different air purification methods to consider, they are:
Ultraviolet (UV) Purifiers: These use a UV-C wavelength of light that destroys the capability of a microorganism to replicate. This effectively eliminates bacteria, viruses and other pathogens.
Activated Carbon Purifiers: This filtration media has a larger surface area compared to its relative size which makes it ideal for filtration. The media is extremely porous and it can capture high quantities of airborne contaminants.
Ionic Air Purifiers: These generate ions in the air, this attracts pollutants and their weight is increased. This causes the pollutant ions to fall into a collector or onto the ground for easy cleaning when you vacuum.
Central AC Purifiers: This is a whole-house purifier connected to a HVAC system to kill bacteria, mold, viruses and other pathogens.
High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filter: This is a pleated mechanical filter that can collect up to 99.97% of particulates down to 0.3 microns. But, you must be careful to get a genuine HEPA filter because a “HEPA-like” or “HEPA-type” filter is not as good.
If you’re interested in an air purifier for your home, contact your local certified HVAC specialist today.