What Kind of Air Filter Do You Really Need?
Every day we are faced with the big problem of pollution. The air we breathe is full of harmful particles that make a serious threat to our health. In order to protect yourself against that, you should start thinking of providing an air purifier or air humidifier for your home. There are lots of written product reviews for these devices whose purpose is, mainly, to steer you so as to purchase the product. In most cases customers buy a particular model because they need it immediately without first checking what its features are. Therefore, read this article first and find out what to look for once you decide to provide a purifier or a humidifier.
Things to Consider Before Buying Air Humidifiers
1.Manufacturer Credibility. In the last couple of years, the market has become full of manufacturers who don’t have long enough history in the manufacture of this type of product. So, it is important to purchase from an established manufacturer who will be around when it’s time to buy any replacement filters or parts
2. Noise Level. Since you are going to place your new unit in the room, make sure it doesn’t make too much noise. Before you select a particular model, compare the manufacturers’ published dB ratings.
3. Power Consumption. Naturally, humidifiers are left working for extended periods of time and they use lots of electricity. Hence, check the wattage rating of the models offered and select the unit which saves electricity the most.
4. Mist/Steam. You must know that any pollutants found in the water placed in a unit will be released into the air. For that reason, provide warm-mist or steam units that heat the water up before discharging into the air. With cold-water or cool-mist humidifiers you may have indoor air pollutant problems. Moreover, these types of humidifiers are less effective compared to the warm-mist or steam units.
5.Ease of Cleaning. It is of great importance to clean the units on a regular basis. Namely, humidifiers will build up excess organic matter deposits within the units which can be a starting point for breeding mold. Make sure that the units you provide reassemble easily, so as to facilitate the cleaning process.
Things to Consider Before Buying Air purifiers
1.Manufacturer credibility: One more time, make sure you buy a humidifier from a reputable manufacturer who will be around to provide you the replacement parts in the future, if needed.
2. Type of filter: Make sure you buy air purifiers which use “True HEPA” filters. This type of filter is the only filter efficient enough to eliminate the air pollutants that can make problems with breathing.
3.Chemical removal. As it is already known, the majority of air purifiers are designed with the sole purpose of removing particles from the air. Nevertheless, if you also need to remove chemicals or odors from the indoor air, then take into consideration buying air purifiers which also contain chemical and odor removing media. They contain granules of activated carbon or potassium permanganate that will eliminate chemicals and improve organic odors. In general, manufacturing companies offer these media packs as an option which can be changed out separately from the HEPA and pre-filters.
4. Ozone-producing air purifiers: There are some air purifiers which have an “Ion” or “Ionic” function that may produce ozone, but it can cause lungs irritation and problems with breathing. Hence, take into consideration purifiers that have been approved by regulatory agencies as safe or non-ozone producers.
5.Change the filter: Before you buy an air purifier check how often you need to change the filter. This is important because of the cost. If you calculate your yearly cost by dividing the cost of the replacement filters by the filter replacement frequency, you will see what the costs per year are. As a matter of fact, certain air purifiers can cost more to run over a five year period than the cost of the original unit.
Tagged with: air • Filter • Health • ozine • Purifier
Filed under: Air Filter Purifier
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Hi-
What air purifier would you reccommend for a baby’s room (we live in a condo in Chicago, with a pet who doesn’t technically “shed”). More importantly, I have a father-in-law that smokes-he doesn’t smoke in the house when we visit but you can still tell. I don’t want my son sleeping there, is there a filter you would rec. that we can use at home and also bring to my in-laws that would help with the smoke issue?
Thanks!