If you are in the dark about what air purifiers are and what they actually do, air purifier info for dummies will help you distiguish what type of air purifier you need in your home.

Many people have at least thought about the notion of improving their indoor air

quality, but quickly abandon the idea because of the

confusion surrounding the topic of air purifiers. Hopefully,

after reading this article, you will have a working

knowledge of air purifiers and how they work.

First of all, lets define the term air purifier. An air

purifier is a mechanism that is designed to free air from

contaminants. Different techniques are used to render this

task and these include filters, adsorbents, and

electrostatic charges. Asthma sufferers, those that have

allergies, and those with other respitory problems have the

most to gain from an air purifier.

Air purifiers work by drawing these contaminants

(pollutants, particles, and pollen) from within the air that

we are breathing.

Harmful air is pulled into the air

purifier by the inlet grill. Some air purifiers have a

pre-filter that helps contain the larger of the airborne

particles. Air will then travel through the carbon filter

which will help reduce unpleasant odors. Then the air will

pass through another filter that is composed of many tightly

woven fibers. Finally, the fan redirects the filtered air

throughout the room.

There are several factors that must be taken into

consideration to determine how much expense will be involved

in the purchase of an air purifier. When considering cost,

you must look into how much the replacement filters will run

as well as how often they will need changed. What may appear

to be a bargain up front on a less expensive model, could

potentially cost you much more later on down the road. Also,

it is important to see if you can order the replacement

filters in bulk at a discounted rate. It is always a good

idea to find out from the manufacturer what the estimated

electrical usage will be and whether or not the air purifier

runs on a cycle or does it have to stay on constantly.

At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide if an air

purifier is right for you and your family, but hopefully the

information contained here has given you a working knowledge

on what exactly air purifiers are and how they work.

Are you suffering from polluted or allergen-rich air in your home and office? You should take some steps to prevent such air from flowing in your home and instead let fresh air fill up the atmosphere. You can use air-purifiers that are basically designed to reduce the dust build-up within the home and office environment. The air-purifiers are electronic in nature and use a basic filtering system to draw-in bad air, clean it and re-circulate fresh air outside.

Air purifiers are specifically designed to eliminate pollutants such as pollen and other airborne irritants from the environment. The working in air-purifiers is quite simple. The air in the room is drawn inside to the bottom of the cleaner and then is pushed forward through an aluminum mesh filter. It is this filter where the pollutants are captured before the air moves on to the next phase for getting cleaned.

Factors to be considered while purchasing air-purifiers

When you want to purchase an air-purifier, you should take into account several factors. The first is the size of the machine. If the area where purification should take place is large, then a machine can filter the air of the entire house. The purifier should then be lifted in the wall or in the ceiling for better results. The second factor is noise level. Some of the air-purifiers produce a lot of noise so if you want to maintain peace in your home, you should get a noiseless air-purifier. The third factor to be considered is air re-circulation rate, a quality that changes the room ambience at least for 3 times in an hour. The fourth factor is choosing the purifier that can be cleaned by hand, washed or vacuumed.

Different types of air-purifiers

There are different types of air-purifiers that help in the purification of air. Charcoal filters are homemade air-purifiers that usually eliminate all leftover odors from the air, freshen the air and then force it out into the home for re-circulation. Ionic air-purifiers work by sending out negatively charged ions into the air of your home. The ions capture tobacco smoke, pollen, dust and other dirt and then release fresh air into the atmosphere. HEPA air purifiers work by drawing the air via a fan. While the large particles get trapped in the folds of the filter, the small particles and chemicals get attached to the charcoal part in the filter.

A home air purifier provides protection against hazardous smoke particles and airborne gases that intrudes into your home. It offers great protection against second hand smoke and converts the dirty and contaminated air into clean and fresh air. Different air purifiers use different air purification techniques like mechanical filters, electrostatic charges or ionizers, and absorbents like charcoal. The additional setups include germicidal UV light and the emission of ions into the air to react with contaminants, making them harmless enough to breathe.

Use air-purifiers in your home and office to enjoy fresh and healthy air.

Absolute air purifier efficiency ratings are almost impossible to come by.

Why does the industry hide these figures?

What can you use as a guide when buying an air purifier?For far too long the air purifier industry has sold products without fully disclosing those products’ real capabilities. I’m sorry to say, there are many air cleaners that are not worth buying. This is due to failure in the single most important quality measurement, total air purifier efficiency.Consider an illustration. A small town depends upon a levee to hold back a rain-swollen river.

What if the levee is not tall enough?

What if it does not extend far enough?

What if it has a breach somewhere?

In any of these cases the town is not protected and any confidence they have is misplaced.  Many have been led to put confidence in this or that air cleaner.   Is that confidence well placed? Or are there inadequacies that the marketing didn’t reveal?   Let’s consider the air purifier efficiency of some of the most popular types of air cleaners. Air Purifier Efficiency in Ionic Air CleanersLate night infomercials have made ionic air cleaners seemingly indispensable.

How miraculously they clear the smoke from a sealed chamber! Everyone just has to have one. But what are you really getting? Ionic air purifier efficiency is affected by several factors. The intensity of the electrostatic charge, the speed of the airflow passing by the collection plates, the degree of soiling already on the plates all play a role. The fact is that even the best electrostatic precipitators under the best of circumstances are only about 80% efficient.

On any given pass, only 80% of the particles in the air are removed. This can quickly degrade due to plate loading. Studies have shown that in as few as three days ionic air purifier efficiency can degrade to only 20%.This means almost daily maintenance cleaning to ensure top performance. Given the inadequacy of even top performance, I would recommend that you simply install a high efficiency HVAC filter. A MERV 13 Filtrete filter can easily do as much air cleaning and allergen removal as many ionic air cleaners. Plus you get the added benefit of much less cost and only changing them once every three months.

Air Purifier Efficiency in Ozone GeneratorsThis one is considered only because they are so prevalent not because they have any merit. Scientific evidence indicates that home ozone generators are all but zero percent capable of cleaning the air. Ozone does not attack and neutralize pollutants as claimed. As long ago as the 1930′s studies showed that ozone didn’t reduce particle concentrations in air or eliminate chemicals and odors. The claim that highly reactive ozone reacts with pollutants can be said to be accurate.

That it fully decomposes pollutants is a lie. The truth is these reactions more times than not result in additional pollutants as the partially decomposed byproducts remain in the air. Ozone also reacts with everything else in the room; construction materials, furnishings, textiles, etc. resulting in even more pollutants, not less.Add to this the fact that ozone is itself a pollutant, aggravating respiratory problems and inflaming lung tissues, you could say that air purifier efficiency in ozone generators is less than zero. Air Purifier Efficiency in HEPA Air Cleaners.  The gold standard of air purification is HEPA filter efficiency. You will see HEPA air cleaners proudly marketed with that 99.97% efficient at 0.3 micron rating.

This is at once true and misleading.That efficiency rating is for the HEPA filter material itself, not the air purifier that uses it. In some HEPA based air cleaners as much as 40% to 50% of air entering the cleaner may actually bypass the filter. Reasons range from poor sealing of the filter in the housing, cracks in the filter media and even deliberate design to reduce backpressure on an inferior motor.It is agreed that HEPA filter air cleaners do provide the best overall air purification. However, it is absolutely essential to understand that the term HEPA should not equate to immediate trust of the purifier using it. You must examine any air purifier you are considering with a more critical eye.Certain air purifier manufacturers have built their reputation on supplying only the highest quality air purifiers. My personal favorites are IQAir, Allerair, BlueAir and Austin Air. Of all air purifier manufacturers, IQAir has especially set itself apart. IQAir will provide you with certification of their air purifier efficiency as a complete system.

This means you can know exactly how clean the air is that exits the air purifier. I hope that one day consumer pressure or regulation results in all manufacturers doing the same. Only then can any of us be certain we are getting what we are paying for.

Air Purifier For You and Your Families’ Health