Category: Air Purifiers

How Often Should You Run An Air Purifier?

Have you recently purchased an air purifier and are wondering where to put it or how long to run it. Air purifiers are expensive and definitely want to get your money’s worth after you’ve bought it.

How often should you run an air purifier?

24/7. Environmental allergies like pollen do not take a break so be prepared to leave your air purifier on all the time during allergy season.

Air purification is an important part of maintaining a healthy environment in your home or office. Breathing clean air use as important as drinking clean water and eating nutritious foods.

Often people purchase air purifiers because they are health conscious and want to have the cleanest home possible for themselves and their families.

But you can argue that more often than not, air purifiers are not even on your radar till you come into a local situation where you are getting unexplained sneezing fits or headaches.

Or you’re just sick of dealing with pollen season.

The point is is that there is a variety of reasons people purchase air purifiers and not every reason requires the same type of air purifier or placement or length of time to keep it on.

But all air purifiers do not use the same types of technologies.

Is it safe to run an air purifier all the timeIs it safe to run an air purifier all the time?

Yes. When you use the standard 3 filter air purifier that combines a pre-filter with a HEPA and a carbon filter then you are completely safe to leave it on 24/7.

If your air purifier relies specifically on HEPA and carbon filters, then you can turn it on and leave it on and not think nothing about it after that till it’s time to change the filters.

But…

If your air purifier on the other hand uses oxidation, then you’re probably not going to want to leave it on 24 hours because of the byproduct of ozone being created in the oxidation process.

What!

A lot of people will click out and run away at the mere mention of an air purifier creating ozone.

But the truth is that some of the best types of air purifiers for sanitizing the air and reducing germs in your home do create some ozone as a byproduct. It is a fact.

As an example, photocatalytic oxidation is a technology that can reduce mold spores up to 99 percent and has been proven to destroy airborne viruses.

These air purifiers require a different approach to how long they should be left on.

Though most of these air purifiers do not create a dangerous level of ozone, ozone has a odor at a very low level.

Should I leave my air purifier on when I'm not homeShould I leave my air purifier on when I’m not home?

Yes, unless you’re one of the people that likes the smell of ozone and believe me, plenty of people do, running ionic and oxidation air purifiers is best when you are not home.

Set a timer for to come on when you’re not home and to turn off an hour or so before you get home. That way, your air is being disinfected and you’re not dealing directly with the byproduct of ozone or the smell of it.

Can I use the air purifier with the window open?

Not efficiently. Running your air purifier with the window open is going to greatly reduce the capacity of your unit to clean your air.

For the most part it is exactly the same effect as you get when you run your air conditioner with the windows open.

The mixture of the outside air with the indoor air causes your air conditioner to be much less effective.

You’re not cooling the air and you’re causing the electric bill to spike.

It’s the same thing with an HEPA air purifier, if you open the doors and windows then you were basically just repopulating your air with contaminants. And your air purifier can’t really make any headway.

Ionic air purifiers don’t work with the windows open either but not for the exact same reason.

Ionizers emit ions into the air. the ideal is that when ions come in contact with airborne pollutants, they become too heavy to float and fall to the surface.

But opening the windows with an ionizer running will basically suck all the ions they were intended to clean the air out the window.

It is a waste of money to run an ionizer with the windows open.

Most of the time air purifiers are bought as an afterthought. you don’t even think about needing one until you come across something in your air giving you fits.

Hindsight is 20/20 and had you known that you were going to have issues with certain allergens in your home, you could have made a lot better decision.

But if you’re in the market for an air purifier and wondering where to place it when you get it, why not consider purchasing an air purifier that has a built-in sensor but automatically turns the air purifier on and off as needed.

Smart air purifiers are the latest greatest in the world of air purification. They usually incorporate three or four different technologies that operate in concert together to ensure that you have clean air all the time in the room that you want it.

These are purifiers are equipped with air quality sensors the communicate with the air purifier to turn on and off only as needed and when there is pollutants identified in the air.

Smart air purifiers are also connected to your phone so that you can monitor your own air as well as schedule and check your air quality anytime you want to.

Another alternative if your home is equipped is to use in duct air purifiers in your HVAC.

The HVAC is actually given as a reason many times to keep your air purifier running 24/7. It is because the ductwork in the average person’s house is usually quite filthy.

Placing photocatalytic or plasma in duct air purifiers into the HVAC is a way of cleaning the air in the entire home with only one or two air purifiers.

How often do you run and induct air purifier is based on the cycling of the air conditioning and heating system.

Summary.

You should run your air purifier 24/7 during allergy season as long as you’re using a HEPA filtering air cleaner.

But if you’re using an air purifier that employees oxidation, then setting a timer and running when you’re not home is a better solution so that the air purifier can disinfect your air while you’re not there and you can come home to clean air without the worry of ozone.

Also running an air purifier with the windows open will greatly water down the ability of the air purifier to work.

Air purifiers are made to clean the air in closed areas with specific square footage. They are not designed to clean the whole outdoors.

Finally, if you haven’t bought an air purifier yet, there are more efficient ways and better technologies available that will clean your air and keep up when to turn it on and off all on their own.

You should check out the world of smart air purifiers and in duct air purifiers for your HVAC.

That’s the smartest way to know how often to run your air purifier.

Do Air Conditioners Purify Air?

Having an air conditioner is an indispensable part of living in today’s modern culture.

Can you imagine that the indoor air conditioner has only been around since the early 1900s?

Many of the architectural designs we admire, high ceilings for instance, came to be out of necessity define ways to cool off the air inside of the house.

But these days,  only a little over a hundred years later, many of us cannot stand to be outside in the summer separated from the cool air indoors.

But as building techniques have grown into highly sophisticated ways keeping our homes sealed up, we now have a different problem of our indoor air being polluted.

Breathing clean air is as fundamental a need as being able to cool down or heat up indoors.

It would be great if the same appliances and machines that cool and heat our air we’re also responsible for cleaning our air.
But is that even a possibility?

Do air conditioners purify air?

Air conditioners function mainly to cool off the air in a home but they do work slightly as an air purifier in two ways.

1. They filter the return air.
2. They reduce the humidity can facilitate mold growth and house dust mites.

Do I need an air purifier if I have ACDo I need an air purifier if I have AC?

Yes. Though your AC can help clean your air through the return vent and keeping the humidity down to a small extent, your typical indoor air quality is much worse then what the air conditioning is able to combat.

Though your AC does have a filter, the primary reason it is there is not to purify the air but to keep dust pollution from getting into your air conditioner.

And though you can purchase HEPA filters that capture much more air pollutants then the typical AC filter,

You have to remember that the AC requires a free flow of air to function properly. Using a dense filter like HEPA for your AC we’ll put a lot of strain on your machine and require much more energy to work.

And though air conditioning coils work much like a dehumidifier, relying on the air conditioner alone to reduce the humidity in the house during the hot summer months also causes the AC to work on overload. Which makes your bill higher and the efficiency what’s your air conditioner work lower.

The air conditioning function of your HVAC unit is also responsible for much of your bad indoor air.

What do I mean?..

The climate inside of your HVAC is moist and it is dark. And there can be actual standing water inside of the drip pan located by the condenser coils.

Standing water in a moist dark area is the ideal environment for mold to grow.

If you have mold inside of the duct work of your AC, then every time your unit cycles, it dispenses mold spores throughout your home via your duct work.

And then the same moldy air gets pulled into your return vents where the cycle starts over again.

Another problem your AC poses to the indoor air quality in your home is dust mites.

If your duct work is dirty, then you have a built-in home for dust mites.

Dust mites also flourish in humidity.

and how humidity is one of the main reasons the air conditioner is running Non-Stop in the summer.

A vicious cycle..

Long story short. Indoor air quality is not best left to an air conditioner to manage.

Air conditioner with air purifier?

With most combo type devices whether it be a humidifier / diffuser or air conditioning and air purifier all-in-one combo, the result is usually subpar.

Most of these machines do completely different jobs and shoving all the parts for both inside a box is not the best ideal.

The portable air conditioner with a built-in air purifier usually means one of two things:

1.  It contains a HEPA filter that can filter out smaller particles as the air is being pulled into the air conditioner.

2. Or the purifier itself is an ionizer

Using a HEPA filter in the slot where the normal AC filter goes will capture a little more of the airborne contaminants then the typical filter but it cannot do anywhere as much as having a dedicated filtering air purifier.

Plus the exchange of air that an air conditioner requires to work properly does not happen easily when the air filter is extra dense like a HEPA.

The result will be much like running the air conditioner with a dirty filter which limits its ability to cool dramatically.

A portable or window air conditioner with a built-in ionizer is a better idea but it doesn’t exactly make for all the components of a good air conditioner or a good air purifier.

The problem is is that ions have a very short life and they have a even shorter life when they are blown by a fan.

The air condition will have to be kept on it the lowest fan setting for the ionization to have a real effect on the room.

But…

Ionizers inside of a HVAC air conditioning unit can be a much better idea.

Specifically ionizers that use photocatalytic oxidation or plasma.

Placing these air purifiers directly into the ductwork and the plenum of your HVAC can extremely limit the amount of mold and germs, as well as dust mites that are distributed by your AC and heat every time your air handler kicks on.

This is the best way that your air conditioning can actually be your air purifier and efficiently work as a air purifier and air conditioner.

Summary.

Can your air conditioner purify air?

Yes your air conditioner does have some slight air-purifying function because it does contain a filter that captures dust pollution before it is pulled into the AC.

Also air conditioners have a dehumidifier effect that help reduce moisture in the air which can facilitate dust mites and mold spores.

But air conditioning is not an air purifier and does not have the capacity to manage indoor air quality or efficiently combat indoor air pollution.

Though there are a few portable air conditioner and air purifier combo available to the public, they are fundamentally flawed and do not cool or clean the air, either one efficiently.

But if your home is outfitted with central heat and air, the opportunity for you to have an air conditioner that efficiently cleans the air is available.

In duct air purifiers, specifically photocatalytic and plasma in-duct air purifiers can efficiently clean the air inside of your ductwork as well as clean the air that is returning to your unit to be redistributed.

Hopefully as time moves forward, this type of air purification will be built in to each central heat and air unit that is being installed.

We’ll see…

 

Can An Air Purifier Cause Dry Throat?

Having a dry throat is not fun. Especially when you’re sleeping good and you have to wake up because of that hacking feeling. Or you’re dying of thirst.

There are many reasons you can experience a dry throat and most have one thing in common, the air is dry.

There are many machines in the house that all related to the quality of the air and affect the air in some way. Air conditioners and heaters, humidifiers and dehumidifiers, and diffusers.

Air purifiers are another one of them, so how can you know if it’s the air purifier that is at the source of your dryness?

Do air purifiers cause dry throat?

No. A dry throat is normally symptomatic of the air being dry which has nothing to do with an air purifier. Air Purifiers Clean the the Air Only. They do nothing to add or take way moisture.

There is fundamentally only two types of air purifiers, one being a mechanical reverse fan style, and the other being a ionic.

1. HEPA air purifier

The mechanical air purifier is basically a fan that pulls air through a filter or a series of filters to capture pollutants such as pollen and pet dander as well as dust mites and hair.

There is not one single component that can in anyway pull moisture out of the air.

2. Ionic air cleaners

Ionic air purifiers basically polarize dust and other airborne contaminants so that they become too heavy to float in fall out of your breathing air.

Again nothing to do with adding or taking away moisture from the air.

The air conditioning and heating is more likely the culprit causing your air to dry out. Humidifiers and dehumidifiers are machines brought in to combat poor indoor humidity levels.
A humidifier is to add humidity, and a dehumidifier is to reduce the humidity.

Air purifiers are for cleaning the air it have nothing to do with adding or taking humidity out of the air.

Air purifier sore throatAir purifier sore throat?

Having a sore throat is symptomatic of a cold or flu. An air purifier is a device that removes allergens and dust from the air. It does not have any function that could cause a sore throat.

Virus and Voc air purifiers can help reduce the capacity for germs and bacteria to move inside your home.

Do air purifiers make your eyes dry?

No. Although dry eyes can be a symptom of air blowing into your eyes, air purifiers draw air to a filter and not directly towards anyone in general.

But..

Placement of the air purifier.

The purpose of an air purifier is to eliminate harmful airborne contaminants from your air.

Many of these contaminants are known allergens such as dust mites, mold spores, pet dander, and pollen.

And these allergens have many symptoms that come along with breathing them. Sneezing, dry or watery eyes, dry and sore throat, headaches, etc.

If you have a HEPA air purifier for instance, the function of the air purifier is to pull the contaminants from the air into the HEPA filter inside of the air purifier.

So..

if you are putting the air purifier next to your bed or your easy chair or anywhere that the air is being pulled toward you as well as the air purifier,

It should come as no surprise that the air directly around the air purifier would be extra polluted,

And you would be breathing and experiencing some symptoms related to that bad air because of where you are in relation to where the air purifier is.

Why is my air purifier making me sneeze?

Again..

Air purifier placement

If you are located near your air purifier, then the air purifier is drawing allergens to award you as well as itself.

it only makes sense that the air around the air purifier will be extra Dusty and have a higher level of allergen contamination.

Dust mites and pollen are known to aggravate your sinuses and cause allergic reactions such as sneezing,

if the air purifier is doing its job, and you are sitting next to the air purifier, then you are pulling those sneezing inducing allergens to toward yourself.

Can air purifiers cause headaches?

No. Air purifiers are machines that remove much of the allergens in the air that cause headaches.

But the air purifier itself does not have any component in it that would cause a headache.

But there is a couple of exceptions

a. Where are you sitting in relation to the air purifier?

Remember that air purifiers draw airborne contaminants into a filter.
if you were sitting too close to the air purifier, then the air around you is probably extra contaminated with headache causing allergens.

b. Ozone.

If you have a air purifier that creates ozone as part of its air purification process,
ozone has somewhat of a bleach smell to it, and just like breathing and smelling bleach would give you a headache, ozone can do the same.

Does an air purifier make you light-headed or dizzy?

No, air purifiers are made to reduce the allergens thay can be associated with lightheadedness and dizziness.

Do air purifiers make your eyes drySummary

Air purifiers are made for the good of mankind.

Their function is to reduce indoor air pollution and remove the contaminants from your air that cause you to have different symptoms including dry eyes and throat, sore throat and dizziness.

But there is a couple of things that may cause you to have an adverse reaction to an air purifier.

1. You’re sitting too close to it.

Air purifiers or continually drawing bad unhealthy air to their selves. If you are sitting or sleeping next to your air purifier then it makes sense that you are drawing that bad air to yourself as well.

2. Your air purifier creates ozone.

Ozone can have a pungent bleach smell that can give you a headache if you’re around it too long. Also breathing ozone is also known to be a lung irritant and could cause a congestion type symptom.

If you feel like your air purifier could be the cause of your problem, the simple thing to do is turn it off for a while or a day or two and see if symptoms stop.

Most of the complaints about air purifiers making people sick do not have to do with air purification at all but rather dry air in the home or office.

Though an air purifier is a good ideal anytime over the year because breathing clean air is as essential as drinking clean water and eating nutritious foods,

If your air is too dry, many of the symptoms related to dry air are not something an air purifier can fix.

Dry throat, dry eyes…

It may be time to invest or pull out your humidifier.

Are Air Purifiers Loud?

Air purifiers are machines are you typically want to have on as much as possible. To make sure that you’re breathing healthy air anytime you are in your home.

But that poses a challenge because so much of our life needs to be done without a layer of background noise going on from a loud appliance.

Are air purifiers loud?

HEPA air purifiers can be so loud that they are considered to be a white noise machine as well as an air cleaner.

How loud an air purifier is depends on, what type of air purifier it is, what size is the air purifier, and whether or not the air purifier is set on high or low or in between.

Air purifier noise levels range from very  loud when you’re talking about using a HEPA air purifier on high to very quiet when using a ionic air purifier with the fan turned off.

Loudest Air Purifiers

HEPA air purifiers are the most common air cleaners on the market and they tend to be a little on the noisy side.
They are often marketed as having a blanket of white noise to help your baby sleep.

Loud air purifier for sleeping.

A loud air purifier for sleeping is not the worst idea. I personally like to have some sort of white noise or rain sounds playing while I am sleeping. Not only does it block out other sounds, it helps you sleep more soundly.

But that being said, there are also much of the time when having a white noise machine running is not opportune at all.

Even watching TV with something running behind you all the time can be a challenge.

Unfortunately the only thing you can do with a HEPA purifier to turn the sound down is the put it on low or cut it off.

Quietest air purifiers

The quietest air purifiers are

1. Ionic air purifier.

Though some ionizers come with a small fan to help push the ions further from the machine, the fan is not much bigger or noisier than a computer fan.

But most ionic air purifiers are completely silent.

But ionic air purifiers, even though being very quiet, are not the best for sleeping.

Why?..

a.  Ionic air purifiers create a low level of ozone that can be an annoyance to smell when you are trying to relax or sleep.

Though ionizers can be very effective at reducing airborne allergens, they are better when you turn them on for a little while, then turn them off to let the smell dissipate.

b. Blue light.

Another annoyance about a ionic air purifier that makes it less desirable to sleep by is the blue light that shines from the air purifier.

Some people can sleep with the lights on, TV on, and train driving through the living room.

But not me. I like it dark when I’m trying to sleep. I’m not a night light type of person and having a blue light from a ion air purifier illuminating the ceiling when I’m trying to sleep is not for me.

2. Induct

Having the air purifier inside of the HVAC (heating ventilation air conditioning unit) is the ideal way to get a whole house air purifier that is completely silent.

The amount of air pollution coming from the ductwork in your home might surprise you.

The HVAC unit is actually one of the main sources of indoor air pollution your home can have.

The quality of your air can be impacted greatly when you have dirty and moldy duct work.

In duct air purifiers or a great way to ensure that the are coming from your heating and air system is clean and that your unit is circulating clean air.

You can also have an effect on the way you sleep, especially if you have any underlying conditions like sleep apnea.

Summary

Most appliances make some level of noise. With air purifiers it’s pretty easy access whether you’re looking at a lot of noise or not.

Air purifiers that use filters as their primary method of cleaning air are going to be louder by nature. Especially if they are designed to clean a large area.

Remember that a HEPA air purifier is essentially a large fan but pulls are through a filter. It takes a large motor to be able to pull the air from a large room through a filter. It’s going to be louder.

HEPA air purifiers are also widely marketed as white noise machines.

Air purifiers that use ionic technologies  are going to be quiet because they are simply generating ions or illuminating a germicidal bulb.

Though they may have a small fan, the fan is generally the size of a fan in a laptop and is considered to be whisper quiet.

The best way to get absolute quiet air purification is to play spin doctor air purifiers into your HVAC system.

Not only will you get complete silence with your air purifier, you will turn your HVAC and ductwork into a whole house air cleaner that provides clean air and cleans the air circulating back into the machine, and back into your house etc.

 
 
 
 

How Long Do Carbon Filters Last?

Activated Carbon filtration is one of the best ways you can safely reduce odors in your home but it can be hard to determine how long an activated carbon filter will continue to adsorb odors and smells as well as chemicals and gases.

How long do carbon filters last?

Carbon air filters last anywhere from 6 months to 12 months. Carbon water filters can last 12 months. Carbon is sold by the weight. The heavier the weight, the longer the carbon will be effective.

Activated carbon filters, once they are done, are pretty much just done.

Rinsing is not effective because the amount of area throughout the porous filter and it is the activation of the filter that causes chemicals and odors to be attracted to it.

Unfortunately the activation of carbon requires excessive temperatures in the range of 900 degrees.

But fortunately activated carbon is readily available and does not cost a mint.

A little explanation on what and how a carbon filter works will help quite a bit when your determining how much time you can expect to get out of a carbon filter.

Carbon or charcoal filters as they’re called pretty regular,  can be compared to a sponge.
In the same way that a sponge has millions of tiny pores, a carbon filter is comprised of an area with millions of tiny pores to.
But unlike a sponge that absorbs water and completely fills up, a carbon filter adsorbs contaminants.
That essentially means that they are attracted to the surface of the filter pores and do not fill up the pores but create a film that over time will not allow four chemicals, odors, and gas to adhere, to the filter anymore.

There are more than one reason why a carbon filter will last longer in some cases and have a short life in other cases.

1. How polluted is the area you’re using the carbon filter in?

Does carbon filters are primarily for gases and odors, they do not fare well with dust.

Though Most air cleaners come with a pre-filter to keep any larger debris from clogging up the HEPA or the carbon, they will not do and 100% job.

If you’re using the carbon filter in a dusty area,  you can expect the filter to get clogged and have a shorter life.

2.  Humidifier sediment

If you’re using a air purifier with a carbon filter in the same room as a humidifier, you may have more than one problem getting a good result out of your carbon.

Not only does a carbon filter not work well in humidity, if you are using a humidifier, the same white settlement  you see in the bottom of a humidifier could be getting into your carbon filter and clogging it.

a. Carbon filters do not work with humidity very well because water droplets will fill the porous filter and do not allow the gases and fumes to adhere to the walls of the pores of the filter.

In other words, water clogs up carbon.

b. If you were using a humidifier to add humidity to your room, the water that you add to the humidifier is typically tap water and tap water has many chemicals that turn to sediment when the water dries.

If you’re using the carbon filter in the same room with the humidifier that is using tap water to humidify the room, then the sediment from the hard water can end up in the pores of your activated carbon filtration device.

It’s the same concept but you get from using a carbon water filtering process.
How clean or how dirty your water is is going to affect the life of your carbon filter.

Fortunately it’s a little easier to know when your water carbon filter is going out because the sediment from the impurities in the water will clog up your filter and cause your water pressure to go down.
Also the taste of your water will become noticeably different.

2.  The size of the filter compared to overall square footage of the room.

If you’re using a small air cleaner in a larger room, you can expect your filters to get dirtier faster than if you were using the smaller unit in the more appropriate smaller area.

Filters that are designed to cover area is 100 square feet are not going to be able to do the same job in an area that is 200 square feet.

They are not going to perform as well and they are not going to last as long because of the volume of air going through and past the filters.

The appropriate filter in the appropriately sized room will have an impact on how long you can expect your carbon filter to last.

3. The quality of your carbon filter.

Activated carbon is measured by the pound. Even the filter that is in your air purifier is rated by how many pounds of activated carbon it has in it.

Some carbon filters contain 5 lb of activated carbon where other carbon filters contain anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds of activated carbon.

The life of your carbon filter is also determined by how many pounds of carbon the filter contains.

If you have a smaller air cleaner, then the probability is that you have a filter that contains less activated carbon.

But that is not always the case because certain air purifiers are specifically made for chemicals and odors which may mean that that specific air cleaner has a carbon filter that contains a higher weight of carbon.

In any case, the weight of your carbon will help you decide the amount of time you can get out of a charcoal filter.

How can you tell when it’s time to change a carbon filter?

1.  It simply is not doing its job.
If the odors that you are using the filter to diminish are starting to get strong again, it’s probably time to start looking at a new filter.

Although if you are in the area all the time, then there is a possibility that you have become nose blind and do not even notice the smell anymore.
If that’s the case then bring another person into the room and see if they can smell it.

2.  Carbon filters that are going bad don’t smell sweet anymore.
Have you ever noticed that sweet smell the carbon filter has when you first buy it? Some compared it to cake.

But one way you can tell that you’re activated carbon is beginning to not be effective anymore is that sweet smell of the carbon itself is not there anymore.

Summary

Activated carbon is an amazing way to reduce odors as well as chemicals and gas and your air and in your water.

But they are not a filter in the traditional sense and for that reason it can be tougher to know when it is time to replace the filter.

One of the main reasons it may be time to change the filter is that it is just not doing the job anymore.

But there are other indicators that you can look for that will help you decide whether it is time to change or activated carbon filter.

Some of these include the quality and weight of your filter, the size and weight of your filter compared to the area you are trying to treat, and the filter does not have the sweet smell that carbon is known to have anymore.

Unfortunately activated carbon is not the type of filter that you can rinse off very successfully. And the activation of carbon requires high heat in the range of 1000 degrees.

Replacing is really the only option.

 

Do Air Purifiers Help With Smell?

Dinner lingering in the air from supper last night, diapers sitting in the trash can that should have been taken out yesterday, cat litter that your daughter was supposed to empty last week but somehow can’t break away from her phone long enough to do so.

Household odors can build up fast. And making the time to do housework is not always the easiest thing to do.

Do air purifiers help with smell?

Yes. As long as an air purifier is using either carbon filtration or photocatalytic oxidation technologies.
HEPA filters will do very little to remove  odors.

Getting rid of bad smells and lingering odors is not something any air purifier on the shelf is going to be able to do very easily.

Especially overpowering smells like fried fish and cigarette smoke, or strong odors like gas fumes or turpentine.

Most air purifiers feature HEPA filtration as their main air cleaning technology and though HEPA is the best at filtering out allergens like pollen and dust mites, the molecules that makeup average household smells are too small to be captured in a HEPA filter.

But there are a few other different technologies that will help breakdown and absorb the air particles that produce lingering smells.

Do air purifiers help with smell4 types of air purifiers that get rid of odors

1.  Activated Carbon or charcoal filtration

What is carbon filter in an air purifier?

The carbon filter in an air purifier is a spongy, very porous filter that absorbs
the tiny gaseous molecules that make up odors.

First. activated carbon and activated charcoal are the exact same thing.

Charcoal is a popular carbon substance so the two terms are used interchangeably.

Carbon is a extremely permeable material that attracts and retains VOCs (volatile organic compounds)

The filter is kind of like a charcoal sponge that is been activated with oxygen to attract molecules.

And being like a sponge, it is so porous that the molecules that are drawn into the spongy area get stuck inside of the filter.

The molecules were talking about are airborne particles that are smaller than .03 microns. Namely gases and chemicals that are responsible for bad odors or smells.

Carbon filters are always part of a filtration system that usually includes a HEPA filter and a larger pre-filter to capture the airborne debris that would clog the tiny pores if it were not filtered first.

2.  Photocatalytic oxidation

Photocatalytic oxidation or PCO for short is a technology that is very effective at reducing VOC’s. Which are the underlying cause of odors.

Vocs are generally what are considered to be the indoor air pollution that is caused by chemicals, and gases. Unwanted smells fall into this category.

PCO is a scientific process of combining ultraviolet light with titanium oxide and moisture.

The result of the process is what is called hydroperoxides.

Hydroperoxide is the gas form of hydrogen peroxide.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because hydrogen peroxide is a very popular antibacterial solution that is sold to pour onto a cut or an abrasion to keep it from getting infected. or to help kill the infection if it is already infected.

If you were able to take a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and spray or mist it on every airborne contaminant that is in your breathing space , you would essentially be doing what a photocatalytic oxidation air purifier does.
By creating a blanket a virtually millions of hydrogen peroxide ions and dispersing them through a room, the PCO process is able to disinfect your air much the same way as hydrogen peroxide is used to disinfect a wound.

Photocatalytic oxidation air purifiers do not require filter replacements either.

But since they do require ultraviolet light to work, the PCO module has to be replaced once a year or so.

Photocatalytic oxidation is also considered a ionic air purifier that creates ozone as a byproduct.

Most people might shy away when they hear but ozone is part of the process.

But photocatalytic oxidation is such an amazing technology for reducing germs, bacteria, and viruses, as well as odors,
It would be well worth looking into even using PCO is a secondary air purifier to run when there is no one home if the ideal of ozone is to scary or if the smell of ozone is too pungent.

Photocatalytic air purifiers or also used in induct air purification.
Houses equipped with HVAC systems can place induct PCO air purifiers into the ductwork of the central heat and air system and virtually turn the heat and air into a whole house air purifier that is rated high for mold spores, 

viruses, and odor removal. and since most HVAC units are either in the basement or the attic , any ozone created in the PCO process dissipates before it reaches the ambient air.

3. Ozone generators

When you’re talking about heavy odors like third hand smoke that has been woven into the tapestry of a home and seemed to be part of the smell of the home itself, an ozone generator is like pulling out the big guns for strong odor abatement.

Ozone generators are not meant to be used in the vicinity of people, pets, and plants.

Though there are some ionic air purifiers that create ozone as a by-product and may not be considered dangerous for the amount of ozone they manufacture, that is not the case when you are using ozone specifically to reduce odors.

Ozone would not be considered a domestic air purifier but you can run to get rid of the smell of fried fish that you just cooked last night.

It is considered an odor abatement method to get rid of heavy odors that can’t be dealt with with everyday house cleaning or even opening a window to air out the lingering smell of trout.

Ozone, also called activated oxygen will basically oxidize every airborne contaminant in a room that it is used in.

It is used a great deal in house flipping and or hotels that are reconstituting smoking rooms into non-smoking rooms.

Because ozone travels in basically the same paths as cigarette and cigar smoke, it is able to get into every nook and cranny that is hiding the tobacco odor.

Cigarette smoke also has a tar residue that helps it cling to every item in a room, including the carpet, drapes, and walls.

Ozone even breaks down the tar residue that is trapping the cigarette smell.

Many people use ozone generators for mold abatement but though ozone will kill every airborne molecule in the room including on surfaces, it can’t get under the service or behind the walls where the mold is originating.

It is the same for pest control, though it will rid the room any insects that it is used in, it does not get behind the walls and it does not treat the original problem.

If you had mold or insects before you use the ozone generator, if you did not address the problem behind the mold spores and creeping pest, you will still have the same problem after you use the ozonator.

4. Plasma air purifier

Plasma air purifiers are also a very effective technology for reducing odors.

The process of using cold plasma is an air purifier is about splitting oxygen molecules into both positive and negative ions.

As the negative and positive ions are emitted from the machine they immediately snap together because of polarity.

Any air pollution including vocs that create odors are trapped inside the newly formed ionic cluster and fall to the surface.

Some multi-tech air purifiers use plasma to create air pollution clusters better than pulled into a filter and captured.

Plasma is also a very popular induct air purifier option that can help keep your ductwork clean for much longer then typical HVAC filters or even media filters.

Summary


Are air purifiers worth it?

Air purifiers can get rid of smell as long as they are equipped with the right technology to do so.

The technologies that are best for removing odors from the air are:

Activated carbon filtration, which uses a spongy filter to absorb and trap odors and gases.

Photocatalytic oxidation, which uses the scientific process to create hydrogen peroxide ions that oxidize any pollutant in the air including the molecules that create odors.

Ozone generators. Ozone generators are for heavy odor abatement and not used in the vicinity of people.
They are very effective at getting rid of long-standing permanating smells.

Plasma air purifiers. plasma air purifiers create negative and positive ions that combined around airborne pollutants to create clusters that are too heavy to float while oxidizing any live bacteria trapped inside the cluster.

Carbon filters are the only technology that do not use ozone or create ozone as a byproduct.
But they also do nothing to kill or neutralize viruses and bacteria so it’s worth checking out every type of air purifier.

My personal opinion is that both can be used safely as long as you do so according to the guidelines and instructions. A full spectrum odor air cleaner should give you every option and capacity to get the job done.

What Are the Side Effects of HEPA Air Purifiers?

Most air purifiers available to the public use a HEPA filter as their primary cleaning technology. But what are some of the pros and cons of this technology?

What are some of the HEPA Air Purifier Side Effects?

Negative

    • Require costly replacement filters
    • Regular maintenance
    • Noisy
    • Do not filter VOCs or Viruses
    • Do not filter odors
    • Cover a small area only
    • Do not work well for in duct systems

Positive

    • Capture particulates as small as .03 microns
    • Completely safe
    • No ozone by-product
    • Very good at reducing pollen, mold spores, and pet dander

A HEPA or high-efficiency particulate absorber is a super-dense filter  engineered to capture particulates as small as .03 microns.

Nowadays because of copycats filters that are not capable of capturing particulates as small,

the new appropriate name for a hepa filter is True HEPA

This is to differentiate from companies that call their filters HEPA but do not operate on the same level.

If it doesn’t say True HEPA,  be aware that it might not be the same thing.

Pros of HEPA air purifiers

1  They capture particulates as small
as .03 microns.

This includes most household allergens what dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, and dust.

Most indoor allergies related to air come in the form of one of these types.

2.  Completely safe

Because a HEPA air purifier is basically a large fan pulling air through a filter, there are none of the issues related to electronic air purifiers that create ozone.

3.  No ozone

HEPA air purifiers do not create ozone as a byproduct. Many of the worries related to machines that create ozone can be bypassed simply by choosing HEPA instead of ionic.

4. Very effective.

HEPA air purifiers are very effective at reducing common household allergens like dust mites, pollen, pet dander, and mold spores. Many vacuums come outfitted with HEPA filters also. In fact vacuuming with a HEPA filter will help your air purifier do its job tremendously.

5.  Can run all the time.

Unlike other types of air cleaners that require a room to be aired out after using them, a HEPA air cleaner does not create anything that can pose a threat and can only be a benefit for those looking to breathe better.

Cons of HEPA air purifiers

1. Require costly filter replacements

Because HEPA filters are engineered to be so dense, they are not really considered reusable.

Though there are some techniques that my make the filters last a little longer, they still require regular exchanging.

One of the problems is that you really don’t know how nappy a HEPA filter can get till you use it for a while.

A lot of stuff like grease and grime that don’t come off, get stuck deep down in the fibers.

2. Regular maintenance.

Though most of your general appliances do not require regular attention, most machines related to anything to do with air typically have to be maintained in order to keep working efficiently.

A True HEPA air purifier is no exception. To make sure the machine works properly, requires regularly cleaning and exchanging the filters.

3.  Noisy

HEPA air cleaners are known for being quite noisy. They can be so loud that they fall under the noise machine category.

A lot of advertising that HEPA air cleaner companies use to promote air purifiers, includes language like ” a blanket of white noise to help your baby sleep.

Good news if you’re looking for a combination air purifier /white noise machine.

But to be fair, there are different methods of moving air through fans that require multiple small quiet fans rather than one or 2 larger fans.

It’s worth it to look into how loud the machine’s going to be before you purchase it.

4.  Do not filter vocs or viruses

Though the high efficient particulate absorber filter is known for its capacity to be able to filter out particulate is smallest .03 microns, there are many airborne pollutants that are smaller.
These include:

a. VOCs (volatile organic compounds)

Vocs or what you consider to be the chemical type air pollution. They include things like adhesives, cleaners, fuels, and off-gassing from construction products. Strong fumes and odors.

Crafting rooms where are there are a lot of paints and paint thinners being used,
as well as nail salons wear there are a lot of polishes and nail polish remover is are being used,

All examples of air pollution that a HEPA filter cannot absorb.

b. Bacteria and viruses

HEPA filters just do not have any way of breaking down or neutralizing germs and viruses.

There are claims that HEPA filters can become a germ farm when they are not regularly swapped out.

Also to be fair, there are very few, if any air purifiers that use HEPA as their only air cleaning technology.

Most cleaners you see these days, come with the way to ensure that the filter machine does not become a live source of germs.

5.   Working a small area only

Because of the way a HEPA air purifier operates, they are much more efficient for a small square footage.

You can imagine the difference between pulling the air from a small bedroom through a filter compared to the difficulty of pulling the air from a large living area through a filter.

It is going to be much easier to get a good result in a small room.

6 . Do not work well for induct systems

Indoor air purification has been rapidly moving towards using the HVAC as a whole house air purifier.

The reason is because placing an air purifier inside of your central heat and air unit can supply clean air to the whole house as well as clean the air before it is distributed back through the house.

Though it is possible and they do sell HEPA filters to use in your regular HVAC replacement filter slot.

The density of the HEPA filter is so tight they do not allow the free flow of air that the HVAC requires to work efficiently.

And also even though they do have a residual effect on helping keep dust out of the air,

HVAC filters are primarily in place to keep dust out of the air handler and protect the machinery.

Smart HEPA air purifiers

HEPA is only one air cleaning technology and though most air purifiers use it, it is usually combined  with at least one or two other technologies.

Smart air purifiers use multiple technologies in concert together to oxidize and filter out contaminants in the room based on sensors measuring the air quality at all times.

These cleaners cycle on and off only when needed which expands the life of a HEPA filter considerably.

and also cuts down on the noise that an air purifier makes considerably.

They also do everything connected to a smartphone app so what you can remotely control or schedule your air cleaner or simply find out how clean your air is at any given moment.

Summary

HEPA air filters are the industry standard in indoor air purification but though they do have an amazing capacity to filter most airborne particulates, they also have their problems.

They are generally very noisy and they don’t do much for odors or fumes.

Plus a HEPA air purifier requires purchasing and exchanging filters in it for the life of the air purifier

What Is Best Type Of Air Purifier For Allergies?

If you’re looking for an air purifier for your home,

to help control the  symptoms relating to pollen and dust allergies,

than you probably already know how much of a task it can be.

With the number of vendors and different types of air purifiers,

plus the vast amount of information related to air purifiers it can seem insane.

But there is no substitute for being well informed before making a purchase.

So here goes and we’ll try to keep it simple.

What Is Best Type Of Air Purifier For Allergies?

Are air purifiers worth it?

The first type of air cleaner is the HEPA air purifier.

HEPA air purifiers are easily the most popular and they are so, simply because they work.

Most air cleaning appliances are at the very least combined with a HEPA filter.

And most rely on Hepa as the major part of their purifying capacity.

High-efficiency particulate air filters or HEPA has been around since the 40s.

As a technology it is used in many industries including vacuum cleaners and HVAC filtering, and others.

HEPA air cleaners will filter up to 97% of allergens, including, pollens, spores, and bacteria in your air space.

But HEPA Purifiers do come with a couple of downsides.

One is the only work well in a small area. Being that the air machines really amount to being a large fan that sucks air through a filter, the larger the space, the less likely you are able to get all the air repeating through the filter efficiently.

Secondly, they are noisy.
 So noisy that many companies spin the noise as a blanket of calming sound to help your baby sleep. Thirdly is the replacement parts. You will be buying replacement filters regularly, for the life of the air purifier.
Are air purifiers worth it?

Second to HEPA is the Carbon filter. Carbon filters are almost never sold independently as an air purifier but as a secondary filter in HEPA machines.

Where as  HEPA are capable of filtering particulates as small as .03 microns, they will do nothing for other types of pollutants such as chemicals from aerosols, gases,  and cleaners.

This type of indoor air pollution is known as vocs or volatile organic compounds.  Their size is around the range of .1 microns. Much too small for a HEPA filter.

Carbon filters are the standard for absorbing VOCs.

Which means that they are also very good at absorbing odors, since odors are in gas form.

Carbon filters are typically made out of charcoal and are more like a porous sponge than they are a filter.

The downside to these is:

1.  Small areas only
2. They have to be replaced regularly for the air cleaner to function efficiently. 

The next type of  allergy air cleaner is an ionic air purifier or air ionizer as it is also called.

There are 4 technologies in which air purifiers can use ions to clean the air. They are:

1. Negative ion generators
2. Photocatalytic oxidation
3. Plasma
4. Electrostatic Precipator

The first is the negative ion generator.

These air purifier generate and emit negative ions into the air stream.

The ideal is that negative ions attract positive ions, which in this case are the airborne allergens.

When the negative ions cluster with the positive ions, they become to heavy to float and fall from the ambient air. (the air you breathe)

The obvious downside is the amount of dust that is left on surfaces.

The “surfaces” in this case are usually the closest wall and the air purifier itself.

There is a phrase to describe this  phenomenon called “grey wall syndrome”.

Nothing like having your own phrase to describe your inadequacy.

Also negative ion generators do nothing to neutralize or capture the allergens,

so they are technically still in the room and can be easily stirred up back into the breathing space.

There are certain environments where negative ionizers work well such as a small air purifier on your work desk.

But these units are not made to work in large spaces,

and do emit a small amount of ozone which makes multiplying the amount of units it would take to clean an entire house or business unsafe.

Photocatalytic oxidation is the second type of method which ionization works well to reduce indoor air pollution.

Photocatalytic oxidation or PCO generates ions through a process of combining ultraviolet light with a catalyst coating made of primarily titanium oxide.

The effect is much like covering the air with a blanket of hydrogen peroxide ions and disinfecting the air in the same way that pouring hydrogen peroxide on a abrasion disinfects the wound.

This technology is known for being extremely effective for eliminating mold spores.

It covers a large area and is also way cheaper to use than a HEPA type air purifier because it is a filter less technology that does not require the regular exchange of filters.

Unlike negative ion generators, PCO machines not only create ions that make indoor air pollutants too heavy to float, they also oxidize and neutralize allergens, making them dormant.

The downside is they also create a small amount of ozone.

That is probably one of the reasons you find this technology being combined with carbon filters and plasma technologies.

The third type of ionization air cleaner is Cold Plasma.

Cold plasma works by creating both negative and positive ions and omitting them into the air.

Because of the polarity of the disrupted ions they immediately attract and become one ion combining with anything that gets in the way.

This amounts to the air becoming its own filter.

Sounds amazing simply because it is amazing. Cold plasma is the wave of the future.

The process of cold plasma does not create any ozone and it is effective at absorbing VOCs like formaldehyde.

The fourth type of ion air purifier is the Electro static precipitator.

This is an older technology I am mentioning because it still remains in the the air purification consciousness of the public.


These type of ionic air purifiers had plates in them that were negatively charged to collect the positive polluted ions that were pulled through the machine.

The plates had to be cleaned regularly for them to work.

The usual air purifier hype was that you could simply wipe them off as ai routine when turning your air purifier on and off.

But consumers quickly realize that wiping off meant, scraping.

They also had the typical problem of ozone building up inside the machine.

With Technologies like cold plasma now available,

Electrostatic precipitators, hopefully have become dinosaurs left in the Past.

GOOD RIDDANCE

The fifth type of air cleaner that is used to rid allergies from your air is the UV germicidal lamp.

Ultraviolet light will eradicate anything that it is targeted on.

But because it is impossible to target a UV lamp on the air itself, they are normally included as a secondary method to help keep your HEPA filter from becoming a germ farm.

Another popular method for using UV is to place the ultraviolet light above the coils and the drip pan in your heating and air handler.

This helps kill the bacteria and mold breeding in these dark areas before they ever has a chance to enter your house through the vents of your system.

Even though some UV lights do emit a low level of ozone,

It’s generally agreed the ozone dissipates quickly enough that placing uV or photocatalytic oxidation air purifiers in the hVAC system as an induct air purifier does not pose any risk of symptoms brought on from exposure to Ozone.

Ozone is not recommended as a domestic air cleaner because can be harmful to your lungs when breathed.

Ozone however is very good at destroying any type of air pollution in an industrial setting.

As a commercial air cleaner it is great for  remediation, clearing out second and third hand smoke from vehicles and houses.
As well as an excellent mold solution.

As long as it’s not used as a domestic air purifier in the vicinity of people.

You can think of ozone in much the way you think of bleach. If you douse bleach everywhere  in your bathroom, even though you will kill every germ in there, you will not be going in there for a while because you will not be able to breathe if you do.
Same with ozone.

And if you live in California, you are out of luck, because ozone generators are illegal to sell there.

Finally, and probably the best suggestion for a room allergy air purifier is a multi tech air purifier.

There are many different air purifiers on the market that can combine many different Technologies all in the same box.

The trick is to find the right combination of technologies that work well in concert together.

Not all Technologies work well together. So just buying an air purifier that has every technology may not be the right thing unless you know what each technology does well and use it for that reason.

Most reputable air cleaner companies will have a good explanation of why each technology is combined.

The best of these multi-tech air purifiers are using an on board air quality sensor to measure the air quality in your room.

and then implement the technology that it will take to clean it properly.

They even come with an app so that you can check your air quality and turn your air purifier on remotely anytime you want.

The best whole house air purifier solution is the induct air purifier.

One of the most frequent questions I hear is whether or not one air purifier will work for both the upstairs and downstairs.

The truth is that it is hard to get an air purifier to work outside of one room only.

If you are using stand alone air purifiers and want to clean the air in the whole house,

you will need air purifiers throughout the house.

Or you can carry one air purifier from room to room and let it run a few days in each. Not a suggestion that too many people want to hear.

If your home is set up to do so,

The best answer is to place an induct air purifier in your HVAC system and clean the air the vents in your home.

Most people do not realize that the central heat and air system in their house is also one of the main culprits when it comes to producing allergens and introducing them to the Airstream.

This is because of the environment within the air handler itself. We’re talking about a dark and damp room. Which are the perfect environment and ingredients for mold and mold spores to flourish.

So the air handler becomes not only a source of mold spores flowing through your air, it also redistributes air throughout the house which means that if there is any pollution in one area of the house it will now be evenly distributed throughout the house.

One in duct air purifier placed in the proper area of your HVAC is a great solution for  whole house allergy air purification.

They not only purify the air inside of your vent work so that your machine is distributing clean air, they clean the air coming in from the outside.

What Is an Ionizer Fan?

When you’re talking about a fan ionizer, you have to differentiate between a fan that has an ionizer feature and an ionizer that uses a fan. Also closely related to those is an air conditioner ionizer.

These are all very closely named products that make it very easy to get confused about what is what and what they do.

So let’s break it down a little bit.

What Is A Ionizer Fan?

A Ion fan or a fan ionizer is generally a tower fan that has a ionizer feature included.Its primary function is to blow and cool the air like any other fan but it comes with a small brush ionizer that can emit negative ions into the air while the fan is running. An ionizer with a fan is an air ionizer purifier that includes a fan as a means to help move ions further into a room. Its primary function is to clean the air in a room and it does nothing to cool the air.

Air Conditioner ionizer

An Air conditioning ionizer is an air purifier that goes inside of your HVAC air conditioner.

Its primary function is to clean the air inside of the ductwork and use the HVAC as a whole house air purifier.

How an ionizer works.

An air ionizer removes pollutants like bacteria, pollen, and odors from the air by adding a negative charge to molecules.

When emitted into the room, because of polarity, the negative molecules or ions attract the positive molecules (the pollutants in the air).

Then the newly-formed cluster of combined negative and positive ions become too heavy to float and fall to the surface.

This leaves the Ambient Air free of contaminants to breathe easier

but it also leaves the surfaces around the air purifier dusty.

Whether you have an ionizing fan that includes an ion feature or you have a air purifier ionizer, the premises the same. But the capacity to clean air between the two differs drastically.

Have you ever wondered what the ion setting on a fan is?

It is a button that activates a small ionizer or ionizing wire that is meant to clean the air as it’s blowing from the fan.

Does a fan with an ionizer work?

Yes but not very well. The reason is that negative ions have a very short life span  and need to be eased into the air rather than full-on blown.

A typical room fan is likely to cause the ions to dissipate much too rapidly before they have a chance to clean the air very well.

Compare that to a air purifier ionizer

A air purifier ionizer only has a couple of settings. Fan or no fan.

And the fan is very small and more like the fan on a computer than a fan that is meant to cool off a room.

Ionizers work best as simple negative ion generators that let the ions move at their own pace. Gradually making their way out into an area as a path is made.

When a fan is used on an air ionizer, it is there to help give the ions a little push to get a little more square footage out of a machine.

Cooling the air and cleaning the air are not the same thing and combining the two does not give the best results.

I honestly think that it is much better to use a fan to cool the air and a separate purifier machine to clean the air in a room.
fan ionizer

Are ionizing fans bad for you?

All ionizers create negative ions through either electric spark or UV which causes a small amount of ozone to be created in the process.

The ionizer on a tower fan creates a very low amount of ozone, and then the fan blows it away on the spot. Ozone dissipates very quickly and with the fan right on it, it doesn’t have much of a chance to be a hazard.

I have yet to see a tower fan with an ionizer, that list any warning in their instruction booklet, or give any actual quantity to the amount of ozone being created by the ion feature.

But

An air purifier ionizer with a fan has a much larger chance of creating enough ozone to cause discomfort or irritation to your breathing.

Since the primary function of an ionizer is to create negative ions, the likelihood of ozone buildup is much higher.

Most ionic air purifiers create much less ozone than what is allowed by the EPA.

But not all  ionic air purifier manufacturers follow the guidelines perfectly.

Ozone can build up and you should be aware of it.

Ionizers that are too strong should be treated more like an ozone machine that is meant to be operated when there is no one around. That includes pets.

Many ionic air purifiers have a “while you’re away” setting.

That is another way of saying that the setting is there to create a higher level of ozone and you need to be out of the house or office when it is in use.

Also set a timer to turn the machine off a hour or so before you’re going to be home to allow the ozone to completely dissipate before you get there.

Air Conditioning Ionizer

Have you ever wondered what an ionizer on a AC is?

An air conditioning ionizer or induct air purifier is made to be placed into the ductwork of your HVAC system.

The ideal is that the inside of your ductwork is full of bacteria and germs, as well as dust mites.

By placing ionizers in the ductwork, you clean the air before it ever has a chance to distribute the contaminated air into your Home or business.

This is the safest and most effective way to get a whole house air purification effect out of a ionic air purifier.


Are ionizers good for you?

An air ionizer used in the right way can be a great benefit to your health.

not only do they clear the air of harmful contaminants,

They create a atmosphere of freshness that can have an energized and relaxing affect on your mood.

Are ionizers bad for you?

Though ion machines have some great benefits when they are used correctly, they also have their ugly side when their not.

Ionizers are meant to be used for the exact square footage they were purchased. Placing an ionizer that was meant to cover 300 square feet in a closet will create way too much ozone for the area.

This is the reason to EPA discourages the use of ionizers as an air purifier.

And also one of the reasons why California has banned the sell of air cleaners that create ozone as a byproduct.

Ionizers that create too much ozone should just be labeled ozone machines or ozone generators and be happy about it.

Why would you try to sell me something that’s going to be potentially dangerous when you could tell me right out that I should only use it when I’m out of the house?

If you need an air purifier to sleep with, there are types of air purifiers that use no ozone and would be a better choice in that type of situation.Also you can keep a fan on you while you’re sleeping and not affect the capacity of the air cleaner at all.

Do HEPA Filters Remove VOC’s?

HEPA filters are the number one choice for air purification across most Industries.

Their capacity to capture particulates as small as .3 microns make them extremely efficient at removing pollutants and improving indoor air quality.

But what about pollutants that are smaller then .3 microns?

Do HEPA Filters Remove VOCs?

The answer is no. By definition, VOCs are gas type particles that are smaller than .3 microns. A carbon filter used in conjunction with a HEPA filter is the standard for removing vocs.

do hepa filters remove vocs?

Vocs are usually described as the chemical or gas air pollution that come from building Products such as adhesives, paints, acrylics, and so forth.

Crafting products, tobacco carcinogens, cleaning products also fall under this category.

Formaldehyde, generally agreed to be one of the toughest volatile organic compounds to remove, can in fact be absorbed by a carbon filter.

That point alone puts carbon filters ahead of the game and places them as the top technology for reducing volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Benzene and naphthalene are also adsorbed easily with the use of carbon filters.

But the problem with HEPA and carbon filters being the primary Technologies in these arenas is that,

Air purifier consumers have to unwittingly sign up for the filter of the Month Club in order to keep their machines working properly.

That and the fact that you are limited to using them and a small area primarily.

This makes the use of HEPA and Carbon filters in large buildings with multiple rooms like hospitals and schools very expensive to say the least.

Regardless of their limitations they  remain the industry standard. And Industry standard can sometimes be a barrier that is hard to penetrate.

Especially when the experts have their own HEPA air purifiers that they are touting.

But despite the political Riff Raff, other air purifying technologies are edging their way up because of their capacity to take on large areas without the need of multiple replacement filters.

In duct air purification or HVAC (central heat and air) air purification is the obvious wave of the future and one that HEPA is having a hard time keeping up with.

When it comes to improving air quality throughout multiple rooms and reducing the spread of germs over a large area,

Placing plasma air purifiers in the ductwork not only removes pollution at the source inside the unit,

They also removes the pollution being recirculated through the unit and redistributed back into the air you breathe.

This is a win-win situation and one that HEPA or carbon cannot tackle.

Some will say that you just need to use HEPA filters in your HVAC system and that you only need choose the proper Merv rating for allergens.

The problem is that air Handlers are made for the Air to flow freely

and using a very dense filter like HEPA combined with carbon will place an enormous

amount of strain on the unit setting yourself up for mechanical breakdowns.

That fact and the fact that HEPA filters are much more expensive then the typical air filter,

Shine a large lamp on the inefficiency of HEPA in large multiple room situations.

Using carbon filters to reduce Gas by products in the HVAC suffers from the same scenario.

They restrict airflow through the system and introduce the need for a second filter because HEPA filters cannot absorb gases.

The four Technologies taking on this problem with success are:

  • Ultraviolet sterilization
  • Photocatalytic oxidation
  • Cold plasma
  • HVAC dehumidifiers

HVAC Indoor Air Quality

One of the main problems with controlling air quality in large areas with multiple rooms like schools is that the HVAC that is in place to control the climate in the building is also one of the main contributors of bad air quality itself.

How so?

a.  The environment inside the HVAC housing is not only dark, it is moist. The ideal breeding ground for mold.

This means that without a way of controlling it, each and every time your air handler kicks on,

it is actually distributing mold spores throughout your business or living space.

b.  Outdoor air is distributed through the unit

and depending on the area and  environment you’re in, your inside air can be affected by fuel emissions, industrial smog, etc.

c. Air inside the building is also introduced into the system and becomes part of the recirculating cycle.

That means if one room is dedicated to printing,
the vocs contained in the ink as well as the ozone being sparked when the printers are running
are put back into the Airstream and distributed throughout the whole building for everyone to enjoy.

1. Ultraviolet sterilization works by placing UV lights above the condensers and the drip pans in the plenum of the HVAC.
The ideal is that ultraviolet light kills anything that it is targeted on.
Many industries use UV as a way of sterilizing fish tanks, surgical equipment, and many others.

When I think of UV lamps, they remind me of the barber shop that my father took me to as a kid. I would see that jar that had that blue light in it to sterilize the combs and scissors while I would sit there and get my hair buzzed.

This is the same concept as using UV in your HVAC system.
Placing UV lamps in the areas the drip pan where mold is forming will help kill the mold spores before they ever have a chance to enter into your ambient air. (the air you were breathing).

2. A step up from UV lamps is photocatalytic oxidation.

Photocatalytic oxidation or PCO also uses ultraviolet light but it does so in a different manner.

Instead of focusing on what you were trying to sterilize, the focus on a titanium catalyst.

Ultraviolet light combined with a titanium catalyst creates a reaction of hydroperoxide ions.

Hydroperoxide is the gas form of hydrogen peroxide,

Hydrogen peroxide is the stuff that you pour on a wound to clean it before you put the triple antibiotic on it.

So in a manner of speaking, this technology is like pouring hydrogen peroxide on every infectant in your air  handlers vent work.

These air purifiers are a considerable improvement on UV alone.

Photocatalytic oxidation is also very effective at removing mold spores.

Benefits include filterless air purification and the capacity to cover large areas. Because PCO uses ultraviolet light it does require the annual replacement of the module.

There is a downside though. And though it is not a huge one considering these are purifiers are meant to be placed inside of the ductwork, PCO air purifiers create small amount of ozone in the process.

Ozone is really not an issue here because it dissipates very quickly and will never have a chance to enter into the breathing space.

But unfortunately the mention of the word ozone is enough to deter a large amount of the population from using this technology.

A Pity.

3.  Atmospheric Cold plasma is it technology that works on the molecular level.

It is another form of Ionic air purifier that has an advantage over UV and PCO because

a. it doesn’t introduce ozone or formaldehyde into the airstream.

b. It is extremely effective at reducing microscopic air pollutants like bacteria and mold spores.

pollen

Cold Plasma works by dividing ions into negative and positive. When the split ions spring back together because of polarity they capture any pollutants in the air in the process.

This technology is used to sterilize food and water as well as a dental tool to prevent decay in the teeth just to name a couple.

Because of its ability to reduce any type of VOC including formaldehyde, it is one of the best unheard of air purification methods available.

It is also a very inexpensive type of air purifier to run. It takes very little electricity and requires zero replacement filters.

4.  HVAC dehumidifiers or whole house dehumidifiers or not a full solution for reducing indoor air pollution being circulated through the HVAC

but they can help considerably with controlling air pollution and reducing wear and tear on your air moving system.

a. By reducing the moisture in your system,

you are eliminating one of the primary ingredients production of mold.

Dust mites also need a lot of humidity you to flourish.

b. Humidity causes your system to run over time to cool off a room.

By removing the humidity in the system and in your building,

you are giving your HVAC system a much easier time to work properly and reducing the need for repairs to the system.

Summary

HEPA and carbon filters maybe the industry standard for reducing air pollution

but they are not the only solution and they’re definitely not the less expensive solution especially in large buildings with multiple rooms.

In duct air purification the uses Technologies like cold plasma and photocatalytic oxidation

are as effective and even better in many cases

and are much less expensive to run and keep up with replacement cost and wear and tear on your HVAC system.

Can HEPA and carbon be used in conjunction with other in duct Technologies ?

Of course.

Why shouldn’t you have a carbon filter in your printing room?

also this: ionizer in air purifier