An air purifier is a device designed to actively remove pollutants and particles from the air, improving it’s quality. These devices are generally used by allergy and asthma sufferers, as well as getting rid of other particulates such as cigarette smoke. Some airborne contaminants are impossible to prevent, particularly pet dander, pollen and others. This makes it indispensable to treat air so that these contaminants don’t have any detrimental health effects on us.
Air Purifier Technology: Key facts
As technology has advanced, air purifiers have become cheaper and more efficient at what they do. As they are able to absorb more and more particles by using less energy, these purifiers have become both more affordable and at the same time, they do what they’re supposed to do even better than they did before. Poor air quality has been linked to some types of cancer, respiratory diseases, lung infections and other ailments. Recently it has truly become affordable for anyone to have an air purifier where they spend most of their time.
Air Purifier Types in the Market
Particle Removal Technology
- Electrostatic: Using a statically charged filter, air goes through the system and any particles that become electrostatically charged, gets bound to the filter.
- Mechanical:Starts working faster, but tends to use more energy to filter out the particles.
- Ionic: This type of filter generates negatively charged ions that bind to dust and grime and remove them from the environment. This has been a type of process where technology has improved the most over the past few years.
- Hybrid: Uses a combination of the previously discussed technologies to try to capitalize on the best of each while compensating for any shortcomings.
Air Purifier Filter Technologies
- HEPA: Which stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air, is a type of air filter that has been proven to remove 99.97% of particles (down to a size of 0.3 microns). This is useful for most conditions (especially for those who are allergic).
- ULPA: Ultra-Low Penetration air, is the ultimate requirement for filter technologies. To be certified as ULPA a filter must remove 99.999% of contaminants with a size of 0.12 micron or larger.
- Active Carbon or Charcoal: Used to remove gas contaminants, usually cheaper than previously discussed technologies, but generally improve the efficiency of the filters. You will see them coupled with a HEPA or ULPA filter to achieve maximum perfomance.
All in all, when choosing an air purifier you should look at what they offer and compare in several websites to make sure you are receiving an air purifier that’s proven to work, especially within your room dimensions and for the specific use you’re looking for. We hope that this information has shed some light on this topic and will enable you to make a better decision on your air purifier.