Many people spend the majority of their time indoors. However, the US EPA estimates the average indoor air has pollutant concentrations that are two to five times higher than the outdoors. A home air purification system can help keep your home’s air clean. Here are nine benefits of air purifiers and a summary of the types available.
1. Cut Down on Airborne Illnesses
Airborne viruses can accelerate the spread of disease. Diseases like the flu, the mumps, the measles, and even the common cold get transmitted via the air we breathe. HVAC systems are designed to circulate air throughout an indoor environment, which can further spread microbes if they are not filtered or killed. Through a combination of HEPA filtration and UV sterilization, you can reduce airborne viruses in your home’s air.
2. Allergy Reduction
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, more than a quarter of Americans suffer from seasonal allergies. Things like dust, mold, mites, and pet dander can cause someone with allergies to develop irritating symptoms. In some cases, these symptoms can become severe enough to trigger asthma attacks and other serious breathing problems. Most air filters have a mesh size that is small enough to catch things like pollen and pet dander, which can reduce the indoor concentrations of allergens.
3. Eliminate Unpleasant Odors
A home air purification system can also help you eliminate persistent unpleasant odors from your home. This can include smells from smokers, the kitchen, litter boxes or other sources. Through the use of active carbon filtration and other technologies, modern air purification systems can trap foul odors and keep them from circulating in your home.
4. Improve Your Sleep Quality
Studies have demonstrated that home air purifiers can help you to sleep better and awaken feeling refreshed and rested. That’s a big deal because the quality of your sleep plays a big role in your overall health. Poor sleep can lead to chronic illness and can contribute to hypertension, obesity, and cardiovascular problems. Clean indoor air can improve your chances of a restorative night’s sleep.
5. Lengthen Your HVAC Lifespan
The tiny particles that circulate in your home’s air can add unnecessary strain to your HVAC system. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including chronically dirty HVAC filters, dust buildup inside your HVAC’s moving parts, and increased air resistance due to dirty ductwork. By removing as much particulate matter from your home’s air, a home air purifier can lengthen your HVAC’s lifespan, ensuring your long-term comfort and cutting down your maintenance costs.
6. Remove Harmful Chemicals
A home air purification system will also remove a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and chemicals from your home’s air. Such substances are common in most homes because there are so many household items that may introduce them into the environment. Formaldehyde-based glues in building materials, organic compounds in synthetic furniture and even chemicals in cleaning supplies can contribute chemicals and VOCs to your home’s air. If the concentrations of VOCs are high, they can have a variety of negative health effects ranging from respiratory issues to major bodily organ damage. Activated carbon filters and air scrubbers are both designed to trap these chemicals and remove them from the air you breathe.
7. Reduced Household Cleaning
Did you know that forced-air HVAC systems can increase your home’s need for regular dusting and cleaning? It happens because an HVAC’s central blower can end up moving dust and dirt around your home, allowing it to settle on your furniture and other surfaces. Since an air filter removes dust and dirt from your home’s air, it can solve this problem for you.
8. Protect the Elderly and Children in Your Home
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, children and the elderly are more vulnerable to certain air pollutants than the general population. The elderly, especially, suffer more harm from substances like ozone. Repeated studies have shown that the lung development of children suffers harm from excessive air pollution. This is also true for anyone in your home with a chronic condition that affects their lungs, such as asthma, cystic fibrosis or COPD.
9. Improve Your Productivity
The cleaner air produced by a home air purification system can also help improve your productivity at home. Studies have shown that environments with air purifiers support productivity levels up to 11% higher than those without them. So, whether you’re doing your laundry and dishes or working remotely from home, you may get more done in less time with cleaner air.
Major Types of Air Purifiers
Today’s home air purification systems rely on a handful of key technologies to function. You can find systems that use only a single type of technology to clean your air or multiple types for a more thorough approach. In all cases, though, air purifiers begin with one thing—filtration.
An air purifier might rely on one or more filtration technologies, depending on the pollutants it’s targeting. The most common is HEPA filtration, but you will also see systems that add active carbon filtration to deal with things like odors. Plus, high-end air purification systems often use negative ion filtration, which can attract harmful substances from your air like a magnet would attract metal.
For air purifiers built to eliminate things like viruses and bacteria, you’ll commonly see UV light technology in use. UV lamps that emit light in certain wavelengths can damage or sterilize bacteria and viruses. However, most wavelengths of UV light can harm humans. This is why air purifiers that rely on UV light technology either use it inside a sealed air chamber or feature UV lights installed deep within your HVAC system where you won’t come in contact with it.
Air scrubbers are designed to attract and pull certain gases or chemicals from the air. They are commonly used in industrial settings where volatile chemicals are routinely used to help mitigate air quality. However, these machines can be used for more residential purposes, too. Portable air scrubbers can be used to mitigate the smell and the VOCs of fresh paint. If you have someone in your home who is particularly sensitive, there are systems that work in line with the rest of your HVAC system as well.
The Home Air Purifier Specialists
Here at [company_name], we offer quality air purification systems in Charlotte, NC, and beyond. We offer complete HVAC services, including air purification, thermostats, HVAC installation, maintenance, and repair. We can help with zoned, commercial and ductless HVAC needs as well as standard furnaces, air conditioners and heat pumps. We also offer comprehensive electrical services, including repairs, surge protectors, lighting installation, electrical panel upgrades, generators, and EV charger installation. All of the work we do comes with our peace of mind guarantees. They include a no-lemon guarantee, a workmanship guarantee and a priority emergency service guarantee. To learn more, call us today.
It is interesting that sometimes improvements have unintended and dire consequences that often go unnoticed and misunderstood. Such is the case for the many factors that have led to the decreases seen in indoor air quality. While better insulation is a good thing when it comes to reducing heating and cooling costs, it results in homes being so air-tight that there is insufficient air flow to give your home a chance for the air to naturally clean itself.
The best solution for improving the indoor air quality in your home is to have an air purification system installed. A whole-house system installed as part of your HVAC system will continually combat the contaminants that would otherwise circulate unchecked through your home. Not only will your home be healthier, but it will smell fresher, as well. You may not notice the various odors, but they are there, so you’ll definitely notice when they are gone.
Dirty, clogged filters block normal air flow and affect overall performance, but they also increase energy consumption. If you keep the filter in your heating and cooling system clean, you can reduce its energy consumption by 5-15 percent.