Electronic Air Cleaner Maintenance Helps Clear the Air in Your Home

Electronic air cleaners are great at clearing your air of pollutants that can compromise the health of you and your family. Some homeowners, though, don’t understand the importance of electronic air cleaner maintenance. Today, we’ll take a look at the basics of these systems and how to maintain them.

Cleaning Your Air With an Electronic Air Cleaner

Not only are electronic air cleaners effective in cleaning your home’s air, they’re also quite versatile. For example, you can opt for a unit that’s installed within your HVAC equipment or one that works as a stand-alone unit. Also, there are two types to choose from: electrostatic precipitators and ion generators.

The goal of these systems are the same, but they do so in different ways. An electrostatic precipitator will electrically charge particles that pass through the unit, which then become attached to a collector plate to stop them from getting back into your air. The other type is an ion generator. This electronic air cleaner uses ultraviolet light to create ions, which stick to particulates in the air and cause them to collect on floors, walls, ceilings, household items, etc., for easy collection and disposal.

Maintaining Your Electronic Air Cleaner

No matter which type of air cleaner you choose, it’s important to maintain your device so it works to its maximum efficiency. The electrostatic precipitator type is the one that needs more maintenance, due to the collector plates. It doesn’t take long before these plates fill up with particulates, which will compromise their uselessness in keeping your air clean. To keep this from happening, clean the collector plates every three months. Remove the plates, wash them, let them dry, and replace them. As for the ion generator type, wiping off the UV lights periodically is the only regular maintenance you’ll need to worry about.

For more expert advice about electronic air cleaner maintenance, or for questions relating to home comfort, please contact us at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal. We’ve been serving the HVAC needs of Northwest Arkansas for more than 45 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 electronic air cleaners and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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