Perhaps not known to many, air conditioners act like a refrigerator and only cool down the air in the house. The term conditioner is often mistaken and they really serve no other purpose but to cool the air. On the other hand, whole house air purifiers work to help improve the quality of air within homes. Whole house purifiers are able to filter airborne particles anywhere from germs, bacteria, pet dander, mold spores and also keep the household fresh of odors from tobacco smoke and chemicals.
Apart from that, certain house air purifiers are also able to create and distribute ozone around the house. Ozone emitted by home air purifiers react with the contaminant particles in the air and turn them into ash that can be swept away later.
Apart from that, carbon filters used in these whole house air purifiers help to eliminate the presence of odors. Another problem which most households have is the presence of molds. These air purifiers that are made specifically to generate ozone would be extremely efficient in removing formed mold. Recently, there has been a controversy surrounding the efficiency of utilizing ozone in whole house air purification, as it is doubtful on the safety levels of the ozone generated.
While air conditioners are able to cool the air more efficiently, whole house air cleaners will ensure the air is clean with no harmful bacteria or wastes. Having pure and clean air will ensure that every person that lives in the house be safe from potential diseases which air conditioners cannot deter.
Ozone air purifiers work by releasing ozone into the air. Ozone is a molecule that has three atoms of oxygen as opposed to oxygen that has only two atoms. The additional oxygen atom in ozone has the ability to separate from ozone and attach itself to molecules of harmful contaminants. When this happens, the chemical composition of the harmful particles changes and becomes such that it is not harmful to breathe anymore. This is the basic principle on which ozone air cleaners work.
Features Of Ozone Air Purifiers
They contain an ozone generator that releases ozone into the air for purification.- Ozone purifiers are filter-less purifiers.
- Ozone air purifiers do not require the air to be circulated within the purifier for purification purposes.
- They emit a peculiar smell that is due to the release of ozone.
- It can be available with other purification technologies incorporated into one air purifier.
Ozone Air Purifier Benefits
- Since an ozone air purifier does not need the air to be circulated through a main air filter, it can purify large amounts of air in a considerably shorter amount of time than most other air purifiers.
- They help to not only remove but destroy harmful bacteria, organisms, and chemicals in the air.
- They are especially effective in removing gases and horrible odors such as cigar smoke, kitchen fumes etc from the air.
- These air purifiers are very effective for use in pubs, saloons, and bars, where there is a lot of pollution due to cigarette smoke and other contaminants. In such places, an ozone purifier can make the air cleaner and free from any unpleasant smells.
- They can reduce the presence of mold spores from the air and can thus help to minimize asthmatic symptoms, hay fever, allergies etc.
Many people notice how the natural air, feels and smells, so much more clean and pure, after lightning storms and heavy rain. This is because, due to the lightning, ozone or activated oxygen is released into the air, which makes it feel so much purer. An ozone air purifier can duplicate that kind of feeling in your home or office, by releasing the same type of activated oxygen molecules into your indoor air.
What Is An Ionic Air Purifier?
Ionic air purifiers (also known as ionizers) have something that is known as a negative ion generator. This generator releases negative ions into the air. The negative ions thus released, attach to molecules in the air and change the polarity of such molecules. Once these molecules and harmful particles become charged, they attract other such particles and join to them. This continuous joining makes the particles too heavy to remain in the air, and they either fall to the ground or become attached to positively charged surfaces such as furniture, walls etc.
Once these particles are removed from the air, they can easily be removed from the area by regular cleaning and vacuuming. Many of these air purifiers have collection plates as well, which attracts the heavy particles and collects them on the plate instead of letting them fall to the floor.
Features Of Ionic Air Purifiers
- They do not have any filters that need to be changed or replaced continuously.
- Ionizers have collection plates to gather the particles that fall out of the air, and these plates are very easy to clean.
- Ionic air purifiers have in-built fans for superior circulation of air and can release negative ions even on the other side of the room from where the Ionic air purifier is located.
- These purifiers remove particles as small as 0.01 microns from the air.
Benefits Of Ionic Air Purifiers
- Ionic air purifiers are not very expensive.
- Ionizers help to rid the air of all kinds of harmful particles, bacteria, dust, smoke etc. Even though they do not actually kill the molecules, they remove them from the air and deposit them on other surfaces from where the harmful particles can easily be vacuumed away.
- They release thousands of negative ions into the air, so even if the fallen particles are disturbed and come back into the air, the continuous release of negative ions helps to rid them from the air once again.
- They remove all kinds of odors from the air as well.
- They have a very quiet operation and will not disturb you due to excessive noise.
Indoor air cleaners act to filter out contaminants in the air which contains particles that are hazardous and harmful to the respiratory system. There is a wide variety of indoor purifiers available in the market, each of them with their own unique traits and physical dimensions. Most of them are equipped with HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate) filters, which are tested by of the Department of Environment. In fact, international air filter standards are used for the testing of the HEPA filter in order to maintain product quality and efficiency. This is why HEPA filters are very popular throughout mainstream indoor air purifiers.
These HEPA filters help give the ability to indoor air purifiers to remove 99.97% of particles from the air, up to a size of 0.3 micron. However, these filters have to be changed regularly in order for the air purifier filter to maintain its effectiveness and efficiency in cleaning indoor air. However, if the air purifiers are equipped with electrostatic charged plates in addition to the HEPA filters, then the frequency of change can be reduced.
Finally, indoor air purifiers are also equipped with charcoal filters to filter out the smell and odors from the air, such as tobacco odor, in order to release only fresh-smelling air-flow into the room.
Buying a home air purifier does not entail just going to a store and asking for an air purifier for your home. Although it is a relatively simple task, you need to consider the following, while choosing a home air purifier.
Things to Consider: Finding the Right Home Air Purifier
- The enormity of your health problems: Since home air purifiers are typically bought to clean indoor air so as to have a healthier body, your health problems will be an important consideration when choosing home air purifiers.
- If you have light allergies, then you can make do with a cheaper and smaller home air purifier, but if you have serious allergy problems, then a similar purifier may not work for you.
- If you are asthmatic, you need an air purifier that has a gas filter. A gas filter helps to remove smells and gases from the air, which are a leading cause of asthma attacks.
- If you are sensitive to chemicals and react badly to them, your choice of home purifier will depend on whether or not your body reacts with the different materials used in different types of air purifiers.
- Area to be purified: The size of the room that needs an air purifier will determine the size of the device. If you want to purify the air in your entire home, then you can choose from in-duct air purifiers, or portable air purifiers that can be moved from room to room.
- Technology used: There are various technologies used in different house air cleaners. You can choose from ozone air purifiers, filter-less air purifiers, UV air purifiers etc. The choice will depend on what type of allergens you want to get rid of, and also if you need to remove odors along with other contaminants.
- Cost: Your budget will determine your choice to a great extent. If money is not a concern, you can go in for a top-of-the-line purifier with multiple purification technologies. If you do not want to spend a lot of money, you can choose a small portable home purifier according to your immediate needs.
The amount of pollution in and around your home, the number of people living in the house, whether or not you have any pets, are all miscellaneous conditions that will also affect your choice of air purifiers for your home.
Biozone Commercial Air Purifiers
Commercial air purifiers by Biozone for instance are perfect for industrial uses where large spaces of heavily contaminable areas need to be kept in control. Several units of Biozone ATC 3 for instance, are able to cover up to 14000 square feet of space, which is sufficient to maintain the air quality within industrial factories that are prone to air pollution. Nevertheless, commercial units cost a lot more than their domestic counterparts and could rake as high as $2000 per unit. As expensive as they are, these indispensable products yield great importance in ensuring a better place to work or stay in.
IQAir Air Purifiers
Commercial air purification systems are of the utmost importance in hospitals and dental institutions. Certain commercial purifiers by IQAir like IQ Air Dental Pro and IQAir CleanRoom are designed specifically for use in hospitals and dental institutions that require the cleanest and purest of air. They help to maintain fresh air quality which in turn promotes a healthier environment for the staff and especially the patients. Having perfect air quality does not just eliminate risks on contamination in areas of the hospital; it also serves to prevent infection control. In emergency wards, ICU units and critical rooms, the quality of air is extremely crucial in order to create an environment that is conducive towards the patient’s recuperation and therefore is an issue that is dealt with seriously.
Clean air purifiers are designed to filter out 99.97% of particles found in the air, up to 0.3 micron in size. Usually, they use HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate) filters, which have been tested by the Department of Environment for its quality. Additionally, international standards are applied to these filters in order to ensure that consumers get clean air from their purifiers.
Apart from that, other elements also come into place within clean air purifiers. Amongst this is the inclusion of electrostatic charged plates into the clean air purifier to charge the filter and therefore clean the air even more effectively. Also, most air purifiers are also equipped with charcoal filters to get rid of the odors from tobacco smoke and other smells in the air, in order to release fresh-smelling air blown into the indoor environment.
Finally, additional features which are used to kill bacteria and viruses include the use of Ultra Violet rays (UVA and UVB) which are emitted within the clean air purifier unit to kill bacteria which cannot be filtered out by the HEPA filter. Furthermore, most clean air filters run on low energy and therefore can be turned on 24 hours a day without causing an increase in electricity consumption.
Features To Help With Relieving Allergies
With this, when shopping for an air purifier for allergy relief, it is important to get one that comes with a HEPA air purifier filter. This is as HEPA filters have gone through stringent international testing standards through the Department of Environment’s filter test program, and therefore maintain certain quality standards in filtering out particles. In fact, HEPA air purifier filters can filter out to 99.97% of particles up to 0.3 micron in size. This will definitely get rid of mold, dust, pollen and pet dander which are common causes of allergies.
However, some higher priced air purifiers for allergy relief are equipped with up to five layers of different types of filters to provide ultimate allergy relief. Some of these allergy relief air purifiers include UV lamps that emit UVA and UVB rays in order to kill harmful pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Apart from that, carbon filters also make up part of the air purifier in order to eliminate odors, chemicals as well as tobacco smoke.
Finally, there is a wide range of allergy relief air purifiers available in the market, starting from a few hundred dollars up to the thousands. This is because different locations, such as hospitals and factories, require different levels of allergy relief due to the difference in allergen densities in the air.
Here we have put together some air purifier reviews of some of the top air purifiers available in the markets. This is an unbiased and objective view, which should help you in making the right choice.
- ORECK XL Professional Air PurifierThis air purifier from Oreck is a very nice looking and attractive-to-the-eye system, which is of course the first thing that we noticed about it. On using, it was very silent and also did an efficient job of air purification. It is a nice compact unit and perfect for those who hate bulky looking appliances.On the negative side, the fragrance feature, which is a very nice addition, would have been much better had it actually worked! Also had some price issues with the supplier, even though the unit was ordered from the Oreck website.
- Friedrich C-90A Air Purifier ReviewThe Friedrich uses an electrostatic plate for air purification, which is very effective, but does generate a very small amount of ozone. It has an activated carbon filter that efficiently removes unpleasant odors and fumes. It is a filter-less air purifier, thus your maintenance expenses will be low.The Friedrich can be quite noisy, and could have been a bit better in the looks department. All-in-all, a good buy if you do not have very acute allergy problems.
- IQAir HealthPro Air Purifier ReviewThe price of this air purifier did make us go ‘ouch’ but the cost is definitely worth it. Even though it is one of the more expensive air purifiers in the markets, it is a very good buy because of its super high efficiency in getting rid of particulates and other harmful microorganisms. The filter change indicator is a good addition.The only negative, if you can call it that, would be its price.
- Honeywell HEPA 50250 Air CleanerVery good air purifier, provided the space is not more than 300 sq.ft. It is also very quiet and reasonably priced. It does lack a bit in style, but overall, a good buy for small areas.
Hopefully, our reviewing of major air purifiers will help you.
That’s where air purifier filters come into the picture. In fact, air purifier filters are economical and effective to help sieve out hazardous particles in the air. Also, many air purifiers in the market use HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate) air purifier filters which have been tested by the Department of Environment. Also, international standards are applied to these filters and test programs and procedures ensure that the quality of the filters are never compromised.
These filters act to remove 99.97% of air particles which contaminate the air, and therefore only clean air will fill your room after filtration. However, the HEPA air purifier filters, although very effective, have to be changed regularly in order to maintain its quality. On the other hand, if the air purifier has an electrostatic clean system with charged plates, the cost of replacing the HEPA air purifier filter can then be reduced.
There are many ways in which an air purifier system works to clean the air. The absorption method removes the larger particles of smoke from tobacco and odors but cannot filter finer particles. However, another method which utilizes a HEPA air purifier filter as a fine screen has the ability to filter out particles as small as 0.3 microns. As the purifier filter does not filter out chemicals, it therefore has to be combined with other types of filtration methods, such a hybrid filter which consists of electric charged plates as well as a HEPA air purifier filter.