Things to Know When Buying Air Purifier
The air quality inside your house can be the same or much worse than the polluted air outside. Since we are spending most of our time indoors, we are more exposed to poor air quality. This puts us, especially our children, at risk for numerous sicknesses like asthma, allergies and other respiratory issues.
Indoor Air Pollutants
Pollutants can affect the air quality in your home. This can also affect the health of your family. Indoor air pollutants have two categories:
- Particulate matter – this includes smoke, dust, pollen, particles from appliances like cooking stoves, and particles with tiny organisms such as molds, viruses and bacteria.
- Gaseous pollutants – these came from combustion processes such as cooking stove, tobacco smoke, vehicles and more. They can also be from cleaning products, pesticides, paints and adhesives.
Having an air purifier at home can help you create a healthier and cleaner environment in your home so you can secure your family from the many health conditions. When buying air purifier, there are things that you need to know about in order to find the most suitable for your home needs.
Why Use Air Purifier
When looking for an air purifier, the first thing that you need to consider is the needs of your indoor air quality. If you or one of your family members has allergies, the best option is to get an air purifier that is specifically designed for allergy relief. You can also look for an odor and chemical air purifier to remove allergen particles. If you are sensitive to chemicals, you need an air purifier for multiple chemical sensitivities.
Size
When choosing the accurate size of your air purifier, you need to take consideration of the size of the room that you wish to purify. Look for an air purifier that matches your room’s size. If your room is so big and you happened to buy a small air purifier, you may not get the maximum benefits.
Features
Different products have different features. When choosing one for your home, make sure that you read all the features in the product description. There could be added features that you will like such as handles, digital controls, timers, fan speeds, filter change indicators, air quality sensors and more. Having great features on your purifier lets you achieve the best performance.
Some features that can be included in air purifier are: ionizer, dirt sensor, fan, washable pre-filter, servicing indicator, fan and more.
Place for Air Purifier
It is recommended to place the air purifier inside the bedrooms. We are spending more hours in our bedrooms. If you would get portable air purifier, it will be easy to place it anywhere in the house. After using the air purifier overnight, you can easily place it somewhere in the living room. Portable air purifiers usually include a fan that can circulate the air. You may as well have an air purifier for each room.
Costs and Maintenance
If ever you chose to get air purifier with filters, you need to replace the filters according to the manufacturer’s instructions in order to maintain the high performance of your air purifier. There are many portable air purifiers that have annual operating costs ranging from $150 to $200 for electricity and replacement. The prices of filters can range from around $10 each up to $100. Depending on how you use it, the replacement period is typically every three months.
Before you resort to getting an air purifier, you can also try simple ways to reduce indoor irritants such as:
- Minimizing the use of wood fires as well as candles.
- Using exhaust fans in the kitchen, laundry and rest room.
- Cleaning often with a vacuum with HEPA filtration.
- Avoid storing many chemicals, pesticides or solvents.
- Avoid smoking indoors.
- Run the air conditioner or forced-air cooling system if you have allergies.
Indoor air pollution is one of the environmental health risks. Having an air purifier at home can keep the family safe from possible sicknesses. However, the best way to keep the sicknesses at bay is to eliminate or control the main sources of pollutants. It is important to keep the home ventilated. Keeping the windows open may be limited due to weather or place issues. If the solutions are not enough, air purifiers are useful.