Air Purifier? What the heck is that?

What is a portable Air Purifier and Why Should I Invest in One?

Unless you’ve got a particular personal interest in air purification, you’d be forgiven for conjuring up a strange image in your head when trying to imagine what an Air Purifier is.

Let us help.

No – it’s not a type of sponge that you wave in the air in a mime-like motion to fly-swat air particles. I mean, you could do that if you wanted to, but you might get a few funny looks if you do. This being said, an Air Purifier does do exactly what its name would suggest.

As the self-proclaimed ventilation experts (we’ve got plenty of customers who would agree!), we like to be vocal about the importance of good ventilation and air quality. In previous posts we’ve spoken a ton about the risks associated with poor indoor air quality (IAQ), but – just in case you’re new around here – let’s recap on some of the issues caused by contaminated or polluted air:

• Nausea
• Dizziness and headaches
• Sinus problems
• Coughing, wheezing and sneezing
• Allergies
• Fatigue
• Breathlessness (anyone with pre-existing conditions such as asthma or any other respiratory problems are particularly high risk)
• Irritation of the senses: eyes, nose, throat
• Skin sensitivity flare ups

As we can see, the list is substantial, and when we consider the types of air contamination we come across in our everyday lives, any way of reducing our inhalation of this contamination is a welcome solution as far as we’re concerned.

So, what causes this kind of pollution?

Well, it depends. Got pets? Then you’ll know that malting season isn’t fun. Pet hair can cause all kinds of issues - not just for those with allergies, but for anyone else in a household where the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are clogged up with it. And what about the smell that is sometimes associated with pets, too? We’re not suggesting that your home stinks, but we’d be in denial if we didn’t acknowledge the fact that our four-legged friends aren’t out here smelling like Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, right?

Then there’s the opposite end of the scale. We all love a clean house, but unfortunately our HVAC systems don’t love the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are sometimes present in our cleaning products. We’re talking acetone, formaldehyde and ethanol, amongst others. The nasty chemicals that make stuff clean but that don’t do our health – or our ventilation systems – much good at all.

Then there’s pollen and other natural air pollutants; if you or anyone you know suffers with hay fever, you’ll know how a high pollen count can cause havoc for your sinuses and set your eyes off streaming.

We could continue here, but instead let’s focus on the positives: an Air Purifier can help to achieve air purification in your home and can help significantly extend the life of your HVAC system, whilst keeping it running efficiently.

“Yes, I understand, but what does an Air Purifier actually do?”

Okay, so we’ve covered that it’s not a sponge, so let’s clear that image from your mind.

An Air Purifier is an attachment that’s fitted to the ductwork of your HVAC system. The attachment uses air purification filters to produce negative ions, which retrieve contaminants from your indoor air. These contaminants are positively charged particles and when they bond with the negative ions produced by the Air Purifier’s filter, they create larger particles that can no longer float around in the air – and so they fall. These large (much heavier) particles are then sucked up and end up in your air filter, therefore clearing the air of pollution, whilst pushing clean air back into the space. And the facts don’t lie: some Air Purifier can remove up to 99.97% of airborne particles!

Because of the unique functionality of an Air Purifier (in so much as the negative ions ultimately “hunt down” the contaminated air), the process of air purification results in a reduced risk in airborne illnesses being transferred between people in the same household. If someone in your house is sick, it’s all well and good cleaning and disinfecting everything any time they touch it (and what did we say about the VOCs in cleaning products?!), but how much more efficient is it to have the Air Purifier working with you when it comes to the air purification process?

As previously mentioned, an Air Purifier will also increase the running life of your HVAC systems by intercepting dust and dirt before it gets stuck in the filter on the larger system. Like any household appliance, the more you look after and properly service your HVAC system, the better it will perform for you and the more years you’ll get out of it.

And then – not that you could possibly need any more reasons as to why an Air Purifier is a freakin’ great investment – these units also help to remove up to 99% of contaminants from surfaces as well as the air. Door handles, kitchen worktops – you name it.

“So Air Purifier are all about air purification and making the air cleaner. If that’s the case, then what is an air purifier?”

The key difference here is that an air purifier kills contaminants whilst inside the purifier itself, so the cleaning of the air happens inside the device as opposed to having to go back out into the air throughout your home in order to clean it. This being said, an air purifier can only eliminate airborne pollutants, whereas an Air Purifier will do a good job of scooping up the fallen dust and contaminated particles which have landed on the floor or other surfaces in your home.

An Air Purifier tends to be a lower maintenance option than an air purifier as the filter found in a purifier will need replacing more often and is more expensive than the types of filter found in an Air Purifier.

Both are worth the investment, but which is right for you?