Choosing An Air Purification System? Look For These 4 Factors

If you suffer from allergies, you might be surprised to find out that the air inside your home could be the cause. To combat it, consider an air purification system. There are four major factors to take into account when you’re looking for a new air purification system: permanent particle removal, long-term efficiency, ultra-fine particle filtration, and gas and chemical filtration.

• Permanent particle filtration: Permanent particle filtration is a measure of how the air purifier removes debris from the air. There are two major types of filters, ionization filters that electrically charge the particles and cause them to stick to filter surfaces, and mechanical systems that physically trap the debris in a mesh filter. Ionized filters lose their efficiency when they’re turned off, which allows the charged particles to re-enter the atmosphere.
• Long-term efficiency: Some purification units lose efficiency over time. Many units are rated only for their peak performance, which happens for the first 30 minutes of use. Look for models that have testing results that indicate they remain efficient even after several hours of continuous use.
• Ultra-fine particle removal: Ultra-fine particles, those under 0.1 microns, account for over 80 percent of all interior air pollution. Make sure you’re getting a home air purification system that clears out particles down to .003 microns in size. This will eliminate almost all particles that cause breathing trouble and illness in people.
• Gas and chemical filtration: If odors are a problem in your home or office, you’ll want to make sure that your air purifier has a gas and chemical filter to remove the odors. Filter systems with these features do not have the same airflow rates as filters without them. This doesn’t mean they aren’t as efficient, just that they have an extra cleaning step that slows the process down.

For more expert advice about air purification and indoor air quality in general, please feel free to contact us at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal.We’ve been proudly serving Northwest Arkansas as a licensed HVAC contractor for more than 40 years.

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 purification and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock