Yes, Your Air Cleaner Needs Cleaning: Follow These Steps

If you have an electronic air cleaner in your home, you’re probably enjoying clean indoor air with less dust, pollen, pet dander and various micro-organisms that are found in the indoor air of many homes. However, it’s important to maintain your air cleaner by cleaning it periodically. This will help prolong the life of your unit and ensure that it continues to do its important job of cleaning your indoor air efficiently.

Whether you have a room air cleaner or a whole-house air purifier system, you should always follow the manual that came with your unit when doing maintenance tasks, including cleaning. If you’re unable to locate your manual, try looking on the Internet to find an online manual.

To clean your electronic air purifier, the collector plates will need to be washed thoroughly. Your manual will help you locate the collector plates in your electronic air cleaner. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and slide out the plates. Wash them as best as you can and then allow them to dry. Put them back into place and you’re done.

This act of cleaning out the collector plates might sound like a simple task, but doing it every three months will help your air cleaner maintain its operating performance. Collector plates can collect dust and other particles and buildup. This will clog the unit and in a whole-house system, force the central air fan to work harder, which uses up more energy. Maintaining your air cleaner will reduce its energy load and increase its efficiency.

If you or other people living in your home have respiratory issues or allergies, it’s important to clean out the collector plates at least every three months to ensure that your indoor air continues to be clean and free of allergens. Clearing out the collector plates is an easy task that shouldn’t take more than a half hour.

For more information about electronic air cleaners or maintenance, please contact the experts at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal. We proudly serve homeowners in northwest Arkansas.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Northwest Arkansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about air cleaners and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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