Air Purifier: Facts and Buying Guide

What is an Air Purifier?

An air purifier is a machine that cleans and disinfects the air inside your home.  There are different types of air purifier that effectively eliminate air particles or dust, decrease the bacteria and fungi and reduce unwanted odors.

Air Purifier

What Are the Sources of Indoor Pollutants?

There are many sources of indoor pollutants and identifying them will help you decide whether you need a home air purifier.  Those houses with pets, cigarette smokers, which are under repair or construction or with indoor heating appliances, are advised to purchase an air purifier for their home.  Below are some of the indoor pollutants that are harmful to you and your family’s health:

• Micro-organisms including molds, fungi, mildew, bacteria, pathogens and viruses that thrive in high humidity areas and in poorly maintained air conditioners, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers.
• Biological Pollutants including dust particles, animal dander and pollen.
• Household Hazardous Wastes are materials that are toxic – Lead, Asbestos and Formaldehyde are some of these.
• Volatile Organic Compounds including paints, solvents, pesticides, herbicides, kerosene, disinfectants, cleaning supplies, adhesives, waxes, etc.
• Combustion Pollutants including gases or particles from cigarette smoking, heating appliances which burn fuel like burners, fireplaces, water heaters, clothes dryers and exhaust from vehicles and other activities like welding or soldering. The gases produced from the burning of fuels are carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.  These gases when inhaled are harmful to your health! 

What Are the Health Effects of Indoor Pollutants?

Biological pollutants cause allergic reactions and can trigger serious asthma attack.  Others are infectious diseases caused by bacteria and viruses.

Hazardous wastes and volatile organic compounds, on the other hand, may cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headache or nausea; long exposure may lead to high blood pressure, anemia, kidney disorders and even cancer.  For children, it may affect their mental development.

What Are the Things to Consider in Choosing the Right Air Purifier?

Choosing the right Air Purifier

Looking for an air purifier that looks best, of good quality and at minimal cost needs a lot of time for research and study and there are things you need to consider before buying one.  Aside from the price and the performance, some of the factors that you need to consider are the area of the room to determine the size and capacity of air purifier is needed, the maintenance costs like the frequency of filter replacement.   Sometimes filters to be replaced are more costly than buying a new air purifier.  Another thing is the cost of energy consumption, the noise level, product features and warranty of the product.

Before buying, try to compare the different types of air purifiers.  You may visit a store or do some research online.  There are product reviews on the internet that will help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of the purifiers available on the market today.

What Are the Types of Air Purifier?

Electronic Air Purifier

There are different types of air purifier developed by different manufacturers and knowing how they function is important in choosing the best purifier for your home.  Below are some of the purifiers available on the market:

• HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) Mechanical Filtration: This unit contains a HEPA filter, which has filter media or paper with very small openings.  It was originally designed by the Atomic Energy Commission to capture radioactive dust particles.  Only very small particles can pass through and it is good for filtering house dust, pollen, animal and mold spores.
• UV Air Purifier: This air purifier has UV filters and a UV lamp that emits Ultraviolet light which kills bacteria and viruses. These are often used in hospitals, schools, hotels and clinical laboratories.
• Ozone and Ion Generator: This type of air purifier produces ions (charged particles) to clean the air.  The ions and dust in the air combine, the impurities will then attach to surfaces.
• Electrostatic or Electronic Air Purifier: This purifier uses electronic cells to charge the particles in the purifier.  It has a fan that pulls airflow over the collector plates where impurities are captured.
• Charged media Filter: It is the same as Electrostatic Purifier in function; the only difference is that it uses a fiber filter instead of plates.  It is better because the fiber filter can collect even the tiny particles.
• Activated carbon Filter: This filter is good for eliminating odors from smoke and chemical fumes.

Shopping for the best air purifier really requires a lot of research and time.  You do not want to end up choosing a product that is not worth the money.  There are many options available so you have to think twice or many times before making a final decision!