There are many different kinds of air purifiers. They all have the same job but they don’t all do it the same way. They each utilize a different kind of technology to accomplish the cleansing of the air you breathe each day. We’ll go over some of the most common kinds of air purifiers in this article.
UV Light
Ultra Violet, or UV, filters are fantastic at removing germs, viruses, and bacteria. They are frequently used with filters that trap particles to maximize air purity. As microorganisms in the airflow pass by the UV light they are destroyed and removed from the air. The effectiveness of these purifiers is determined by the wattage of the light and how long the microorganisms are exposed to the light. Often UV lights are used as the last stage of filtration after HEPA or activated carbon have removed the largest particles. These are particularly use form right now with COVID-19, these can remove it from the air with little issue.
HEPA Filters
High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) is a filter tech that is used to trap air particles larger than .3 microns in size. The filters must be able to trap at least 99.7% of particles of the air passing through them to meet the HEPA requirement. The filter is made of a very small fiber material that is folded back and forth and back and forth to create an “accordion” shape. HEPA filters are the most effective at trapping particles but are unable to impede odors, gasses or chemicals. They usually have some sort of carbon element to absorb those.
Activated Carbon
Another filtering option that was popularized in the early 1900’s is activated carbon. Activated Carbon filters are made of many small sized pores that are able to absorb a lot and have chemical bonding. These make them an effective tool for trapping air pollutants like smoke, chemicals, gasses, and other odors. These are particularly helpful for people with high sensitivity to chemicals, such as formaldehyde, which is found in many household products. Carbon air filters help a great deal in reducing the contaminates in the air; however they do have a lower efficiency level in removing allergens and airborne particles.
Ionic Purifiers
Ionic purifiers use chemicals to clean the air. An ion is a charged particle, either negative or positive. Negative ions are able to attract particles such as pollen and dust with are then too heavy to remain in the air, they drop to the floor, windows or walls. These purifiers do not actually eliminate the pollutants instead just make them more difficult to get into your system. Because of this, they are less effective than other filtration systems.
Whatever route you choose to go, air quality has become increasingly more important this year. You should do what you need to in order to stay healthy. We have several of the systems available on our website under air quality.
