If you are looking to buy a new home air purifier, check our tips that will help you make an informed decision.

Air purifiers have become an essential component in many households today. Home air purifiers filter out allergy-provoking substances, such as dust mites, chemical and organic odors, pet dander and plant pollen. These devices are especially good when a person has a suppressed immune system and is more susceptible to infections. It's a proven fact that home air purifiers help in such medical conditions as allergy, asthma, and hay fever.

A home air purifier draws in air, filters out the dust, pollen, bacteria and scent molecules, and then emits the clean scentless air into the room. The air would not be completely pure and sanitized, but it would contain significantly less dust particles and allergens.

There are several types of filters used in home air purifiers. Filters with added activated carbon - similar to the one used to treat food poisoning - serve as pre-filter, which captures large particles. Then, HEPA filter absorbs small particles. Some purifiers add a natural organic filter that neutralizes volatile compounds from household chemicals or smoke.

Less common filter types used in home air purifiers are electrostatic or ion filters that attract particles by static electricity and therefore can create unnecessary electric tension in the household. Hybrid purifiers employ more than one particle-collecting method. The fairly new method used in home air purifiers is ozone filter that filters the air and purifies it with ozone. However, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that ozone generators can be harmful to people affected by asthma. Many experts think that ozone is generally ineffective against air pollution.

HEPA-certified filters are most common in home air purifiers. The next generation of filters is ULPA (ultra-HEPA) filters that remove close to 100% of particles. Uncertified HEPA-like filters have proved to be less effective.

All homes and offices have different air conditions which depend on the age of the building, materials used in the construction, and a number of plants nearby. That's why is impossible to predict the effect of home air purifier on the overall air quality. In general, dust and pollen particles are usually filtered, at least as much as tobacco-smoke particles.

When choosing an air purifier, look at the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR). This rate indicates how many cubic feet of air is cleared of airborne particle. Smoke is considered a smallest particle, dust is medium and pollen is the largest one. The higher the CADR rating, the less time your new air purifier needs to remove particles from the room.

Even though air purifiers can become a holy grail for many allergy sufferers, experts suggest that no one should rely only on air purifiers while trying to keep the air at home healthy and clean. The best strategy to achieving breathable air in your home would be to use an air purifier along with natural window ventilation.



By: Kirsten Whittaker

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Air- purifiers are devices that clean and filter the air. It helps in air-purification by freeing the air from all types of pollutants and contaminants. Air-purifiers are beneficial for people with asthma as the allergy inducing particles like dust; pollen and mold spores do not get released into the air. Air purifiers are basically used in the hospitals, work sites and homes to protect people against suffering from pollen, pet dander, tobacco smoke, dust mites, viruses, molds, bacteria and a huge amount of industrial and household chemicals.

Components of air-purifiers

The air-purifiers use a number of technological approaches to clean the air so that you can breathe easily. The different components of air-purifiers include electrostatic filters, ozone generators, HEPA [High efficiency Particulate Air] filters, ion generators, ultraviolet light and various other modern methods to get rid of both large and miniscule particles. The air-purifiers work in several ways. They either operate by drawing in air via a fan, cleaning the air and then re-releasing it again. Or they work by actually sending out "purifying agents" throughout the room.

Types of air purifiers and their benefits

Different air purifiers make use of different air purification techniques like mechanical filters, electrostatic charges or ionizers and adsorbents like charcoal. Often the additional setups in the air-purifiers include germicidal UV light and the emission of ions into the air to react with contaminants, making them harmless enough to breathe.

However following are the different types and benefits of air-purifiers:

§ HEPA air cleaners - use very thin, paper like material to filter out almost 99% of dust particles and are the best way to clean the rooms from the dangerous airborne particles that can cause allergies.

§ UV light air cleaners - also known as ultraviolet air purifiers, they can effectively neutralize microorganisms like germs, viruses, molds and bacteria from the air. These purifiers work with emissions of light and breaking organic molecular bonds of germs and viruses. However activated carbon air filters are the best way to clean air infected with allergens, smoke particles and odors.

§ Electrostatic air-filters - these purifiers clean your whole house by purifying the air in your home or in office. They work by filtering almost 98% of the dangerous pollutants from the air that passes through your cooling and heating system in your house and office. These purifiers contain an electronic filtration machine that cleans dust, cigarette smokes, smog dust particles and spores of mold.

§Ozone air purifier systems - they are designed to clean all types of unwanted and stale odors from your home. More than cleaning allergens or chemicals, these are ideally used for irritating odors and getting rid of them.

§ Ionic air purifiers - these are one of the best purifiers as they help you to get rid off very fine dust particles. They purify the indoor air by negatively charging the polluted and allergen air. When this negatively-charged polluted indoor air passes through the ionizer, the allergens gets gravitated to the negatively-charged metal collection plates in the air purification machine and sticks to the plate. This clears the air perfectly.

§ Carbon air filters - if you want to clear the air off chemicals, gases, cigarette smokes and other odors, then activated carbon air-purifiers are your best option.

Purchase an air-purifier to make the air fresh, create a healthy environment and breathe with relief.



By: Barney Garcia

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