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[B451]Best Home Air Cleaners

by Jack Gibson, Jac

Because of the tremendous variety of air purifiers, as well as a lack of installation instructions, buying a home air cleaner is much more difficult than it seems. While there's a lot of information available about types of filters and what each kind does, there are scarcely any online resources that can help us answer some critical questions:

* What kind of purifier should we purchase?

* Would a whole-house system be best?

* What is the best way to handle installation?

* How do we maintain our equipment in top condition?

A home air cleaner is easy to buy. What's hard is avoiding disappointment later.

However, it still can be done with only little effort. Here is a short step-by-step guide which will make the whole process quick, painless and above all, effective.

1. Why do you need a home air cleaner?

Before you start shopping, think about why you want a home air cleaner. Be as specific as you can and ask your family what they think about it. Perhaps you personally want only to get rid of the cigarette smoke from the living room and you'd prefer to buy one of activated carbon room air purifiers.

But your family might have other ideas. Your spouse would like something to clean the air in the kitchen, your children seem to be allergic on some germs or pollens and would love to have some HEPA or ion air purifiers to get rid of allergens in the air. How can you satisfy the needs of everybody? Would a whole house filter system (with its large price tag) be best?

2. Where do you live?

When you know how many rooms will need protection, look around your neighborhood and assess the most important dangers your system will face. Decide what your home air cleaner will need to do best. Do you need to fight dust and sand? Or perhaps you live in the middle of the forest and it's the pollen you need to guard against most? Where do the pollutants come from? This will affect greatly both what you buy and where you install it.

3. How much time, energy and resources can you spend on the installation?

You can invest almost any sum of money on a home air cleaner. Whole house air purifiers are serious investments, but even a few room air purifiers bought at the same time can be taxing to your budget. Decide the upper limit of money you wish to spend and don't forget the installation cost. While it's relatively cheap to install several independent room purifiers, if you go for the whole house system, you might face the very real prospect of house renovation.

4. Purchasing your air purifier:

When you know what general types of home air cleaners you need, the main pollutants and your budget, you can start shopping for the air purifiers. Do some research before you buy anything and make sure the filters you are going to buy will be able to keep the worst dangers at bay. Remember to learn what maintenance the filters require and how much time and money you will need to spend to keep them going efficiently.

5. Installation:

The last thing you have to do is to install the home air cleaner(s) you've chosen. Whole house air purifiers are usually installed by professionals. However, if you decided to buy several small room air purifiers, you will most likely have to place them yourself. Remember to install them where they will do the most good. Keep in mind that most filters will work only when they will have the access to a maximum volume of air because they can clean only the air that goes directly through them. For example, if you hide the filters behind furniture, only ioniziers will work well.

The only remaining task is to plug in your home air cleaner system and check the results (be realistic, though, and expect results only after a day or two). You will probably will have to do some changes, moving filters around from one place to another, but the job is mostly finished.

Air pollution is clearly a health hazard when you consider all the many harmful materials present in the air we breathe. However, this risk can be combated by control or elimination of the source of the pollutants. It may not always be practical due to adverse weather conditions to ventilate with fresh air from outdoors but a home air cleaner can help to get rid of the pollutants already inside your home.

A home air cleaner can be designed in such a way that it can be installed in the duct of a home's central heating. It can also be put in the air-conditioning duct or the ventilating duct. In this way the air in the whole house can be cleaned. But it is also possible to clean the air in a single room or a specific area with the help of a portable room home air cleaner.

How Does This Work?

The majority of home air cleaners have a mechanical air filter. The filters do their job by trapping large airborne particles such as dust, dust mites, pollen, cockroach allergens, mold and pet dander. Nonetheless these particles settle rapidly and they cannot be completely removed by the air filters. When further movement takes place within the house, these particles are disturbed and the larger ones settle once more before the filters have managed to pick them up.

Most air-conditioners and residential furnaces come with flat panel air filters which serve as home air cleaners. Their primary purpose is to protect the equipment. However, they also filter bacteria, viruses and pet and dust mite allergens.

A fan circulates the air and the filters clean it in the portable home air cleaners. It can easily be moved to wherever the cleaning needs to take place and depending on the size of the room it is usually quite effective at reducing airborne pollutants.

Health Concerns

The home electronic air cleaner also removes small particles, but it is ineffective at removing larger particles. Electronic air cleaners can turn out ozone, which can irritate the lungs. Ultra fine particles may also be produced and this happens as a consequence of ozone mixing with indoor chemicals such as air fresheners and cleaning products. Such particles may cause unpleasant health problems.

The home air cleaner certainly helps to lessen levels of smaller airborne particles or allergens but it is not capable of removing microorganisms, which ultimately cause disease.

Children, old people or people suffering from asthma and allergies can benefit from a home air cleaner, especially if they are affected by the small particles in the air. But with larger particles, it is often difficult to control indoor pollution, and hence may not be of help at all.

Article Source : Pg. 40

About Author

Both Jack Gibson & Jason Mann are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jack Gibson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Management. Deciding on the best air purifiers for your situation is a combination of many factors, including your air problems, cost and maintenance. Make an informed choice, rather than being persuaded by a salesman.. Jack Gibson's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.

Jason Mann has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Home Management and Health. Jason Mann is an expert on , and is a regular contributor to. Jason Mann's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.