One of the questions we get asked most often is: how does an ionizer air purifier work?
Ionizer Air Purifier: Explained
An Ionizer Air Purifier uses technology to clean the air thereby enhancing the quality of the indoor air available. The way it works is that it cleans the surrounding environment by changing the polarity of the air around it. By changing the polarity (generally using high voltage), the air will be negatively charged, and the pollutants within it will also be charged. This charge on the air particles, causes them to bind to a positively charged plate or collector bin. It is always important to keep this plate or collection bin as clean as possible since it is a key component in the process.
It also helps eliminate microbes and other particles by using the electrostatic precipitation process on the particles. This process which does not require a fan to be able to work, has been shown to be more effective in those models that use a fan to pass air through the device.
Ionizer Air Purifier: Drawbacks
While ionizer air purifiers are very good at some things (cleaning up dust and pollen), they don’t do as well in getting rid of odors.
It is generally a good idea to try and figure out what your needs are when looking for an air purifier, as most of the brands out there offer many odels that use some sort of hybrid system that incorporates both an electrostatic component as well as some other carbon-based filter, to achieve the best of both worlds.
An ionizer air purifier is great for keeping your air clean, but not for cleaning out odors. For that, it’s best to use a HEPA or ULPA filter as well. Look for an ionizer air purifier that has a hybrid system, which deliver the best of both worlds.