As we hunker down getting ready for winter and more time spent indoors, the question of whether to buy an air purifier will be on a lot of people’s minds.
In addition to polluted outdoor air, even the cleanest homes and workplaces can have other airborne particles, including dust, smoke, mould spores, pollen, pet dander, dust mites and even harmful chemicals from household cleaning products.
But buying an air purifier should be about more than having clean air in your home. It should be about how clean air helps improve your health and comfort.
3 Benefits of Air Purifiers
The basic benefit of an air purifier is simply the pleasure of breathing clean air in your home. Here are just a few more advantages to consider.
Helps Reduce Symptoms of Allergies and Asthma – By reducing the number of allergens and other irritants floating around the living space of your home, your air purifier also helps to reduce allergy and asthma symptoms, including sneezing, coughing, wheezing, and irritated eyes, nose and skin.
Helps Your HVAC System Work More Efficiently – While your HVAC system has an air filter, it has a lot of work to do. Air purifiers help to reduce that workload, which means you won’t have to bother with filter replacement as often, and you won’t have as many issues with your HVAC equipment.
Less Cleaning of Your Home – With less dust and dirt in the air, you won’t have to clean your home as often.
Different Types Of Air Purifiers
There are two basic configurations of air purifiers. First, room-size purifiers are only large enough to clean the air in one room at a time. Household air purifiers work as part of your HVAC system and have a high enough clean air delivery rate to purify all the air in your home.
While there are many different types of household air purifiers, these are the most effective.
- HEPA Air Filters – High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) air filters capture up to 65% of particles between 1.0 to 3.0 microns in size.
- Electrostatic Air Purifiers – These germicidal air purifiers trap up to 95% of particles in the air and use an electrical charge to kill or inactivate them.
- UV Air Purifiers – UV light kills mould and bacteria. UV air purifiers will eliminate the mould and bacteria in your HVAC system.
To learn more about air filters for your home, check out our recent post “The Importance of Changing Your Home’s HVAC Air Filter”.
