Urban Blog

Do you ever have trouble breathing? Indoor air quality is usually far inferior to outdoor air. It’s also usually far dirtier than outdoor air. As recent news reports from China has shown, air pollution can range from irritating to downright scary.

While the odds are that you aren’t facing air pollution on the industrial scale of Beijing, that doesn’t mean that the air quality inside your home is great either. So it’s time to get proactive. In this article we are going to take a look at some of the best air purifiers on the market.

The best way to purify the air in your home is to invest in a good high quality filter for your HVAC system and change it often. A good filter may cost as much as $100 if you opt for the seriously overpriced, but effective, Lennox Healthy Climate CarbonClean 16.

The problem with a really expensive whole house air filter is that it is a good idea to replace your air filter in your forced air system frequently. With a $100 price tag, this can really add up fast. A more viable option comes form 3M. The 3M Filtrete 1550 is a very effective option and while 3M makes a bunch of other filter options the Filtrete 1550 is far less expensive than those other 3M options and just a fraction of the $100 Lennox option.

A whole house filter should be seen as step number one when it comes to purifying your indoor air. Again, changing your whole house filter is nothing short of a must. If you want good indoor air quality, then keeping the air flowing through your HVAC system clean is essential. The last thing you want to do is install a low quality filter and then fail to replace that filter frequently. Having a dirty filter can actually make your indoor air quality worse, not better!

Air Filters Can Be Mindboggling!

Room air filters are excellent supplemental air purifiers. There are plenty of options on the market. In fact, you can be forgiven if you find the task of deciding on room air filter to be nothing short of mindboggling. Not only are there tons of different options, but they also use different technologies and, as it turns out, some of those technologies are probably not safe. Also not all options are created equally.

If an air purifier doesn’t have HEPA technology, then you will want to proceed with caution. Many now feature this technology, which works every well for reducing and trapping small particles. However, with that stated, many air purifiers lack HEPA and still do an excellent job. Honeywell’s HA300BHD uses HEPA technology and captures particles 0.3 micron and larger. Overall this is a good HEPA room purifier and it has numerous settings.

Skip the Ozone

Other room air purifiers use ozone. These air purifiers should be avoided. Research has shown that ozone can harm the lungs. While some manufacturers tout that their air purifiers produce very low levels of ozone, the fact is that they still do produce some ozone which is far from optimal. Other manufacturers give users the option to turn on and off ozone functionality.

The IQAir

An interesting room air purifier option is IQAir. IQAir uses HyperHEPA filtration, is Swiss-Made and is currently used by hospitals. IQAir is an expensive option with basic models costing about $900, which is a massive price point difference over Honeywell’s offerings. Experts have repeatedly noted that IQAir provides exceptional results. IQAir comes with more features and options such as a filter life monitor. But again, it is all about performance when discussing room air purifiers and, in terms of performance, IQAir seems tough to beat.

What About If You Want to Clean Your Whole House?

When it comes to room air purifiers there are a few important factors to keep in mind. The key word is “room,” none of the options on the market will clean the air throughout your home. In order to effectively clean the air, numerous units could be needed depending on the size of your home. The units will usually state that an air purifier is capable of cleaning between 200 to as much as 1100 square feet on the high end; however the average generally tends to be more in the 300-500 square feet range.

In other words, a room unit will work well in a bedroom, but will not have the desired impact for an entire house. Another factor to keep in mind is that the air filters inside the units must be replaced and that can add up in a major way. These limiting factors serve to underscore the considerable importance of opting for a high quality whole home air filter for your HVAC system.

Air purifiers come in all shapes and sizes, and not all do a great or even a good job. While there are many options, it is key to remember that you do get what you pay for. By far the most important aspect of enjoying high quality indoor air is making sure that your whole home air filter is replaced often and is of high quality. The next most important step is selecting a room air purifier and likewise replacing the filters in that air purifier frequently. For the best air, try replacing your whole house air purifier monthly and keep your unit’s fan running at least a few times a day to clean out the air.

It’s Worth the Effort

Other steps such as opening windows and using a range hood when cooking will further help as well. The addition of plants such as snake plants and fern’s like Boston ferns have been scientifically proven to work wonders. Quality indoor air quality may be a little pricey and take some work, but the link between health and indoor air is an established one.