Breathe A Little Easier With Home Air Purifiers
Posted on July 2, 2009
Filed Under Allergies | Leave a Comment
If you have allergies, reducing your exposure to allergens is a good way to control your symptoms. If your allergies come from allergens found in the air, you may want to try using an allergy relief air purifier or even a car air purifier. You can find a lot of different models and brands of home air purifiers so you will have to figure out which one you will get the best results from.
Many home air purifiers use ozone to remove allergenic particles from the air. Ozone is an interesting molecule which has both beneficial and harmful properties. It consists of three oxygen atoms, which is an inherently unstable configuration which breaks down quickly, releasing an oxygen ion which is also a free radical. These free radicals are extremely reactive and can cause lung damage and harm to other vital tissues in sufficient concentration; they have also been suggested to increase the risk of developing some cancers among other illnesses. Since these oxygen free radicals are known to be a problem for the respiratory system, you shouldn’t use these types of home air purifiers if you suffer from asthma.
These home air purifiers don’t normally emit ozone in a quantity sufficient to cause harm to most people, but you will be able to smell the ozone in the air. The ozone created by home air purifiers bond with the chemical compounds you are trying to remove from the air and destroy them. There are also home air purifiers which use electrically charged metal plates instead of ozone to remove airborne particulates like pet dander, pollen and other materials. Using fans to move air through the purifier, particles are attracted to the plates. With these home air purifiers, you need to clean the metal plates weekly.
Using an allergy relief air purifier won’t make your allergies vanish, but it will go a long way towards making you feel better by making your symptoms appear much less frequently. By significantly reducing the amount of smoke, dust, pollen, dander and other allergenic particles in the air around you, you’ll have symptoms far less often. The thing to keep in mind is that your air purifier needs to be the right one for the room you are going to use it in. If you have a room 10 ft. by 15 ft. or smaller, you can get away with buying a smaller home air purifier. If you want it to work in a larger room, you will need a bigger, more expensive model.
A HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter is a must-have item in home air purifiers. A HEPA filter keeps particles pulled from the air from becoming airborne again, something which can be a problem with air purifiers that use metal plates to trap allergens and other impurities. Some but not all HEPA filters are washable; washable filters are reusable. These filters often last as long as the home air purifiers they are used with (3-10 years) while others need to be replaced every two or three years. One thing to keep in mind is that the price doesn’t always correlate to the quality or the useful life of HEPA filters.
If you’re sensitive to sounds, you’ll want to make sure that the air purifier you choose runs so quietly that you can’t tell if it’s on – quality home air purifiers are extremely quiet. If you’re sensitive to noise, it should be noted that some home air purifiers make popping, crackling noises due to the electrical fields they generate. Others have very loud fans, even to the extent of making it difficult to sleep. A good air filter in your HVAC system is a must; but if you really want to get your air clean and free of allergens, you’ll want to consider picking up home air purifiers for your home office, bedroom or any other room you spend a lot of your time in.
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