The use of indoor air cleaners is to basically remove dust particles, pet hair, and other allergens from the home. By filtering the air through circulation, it releases relatively cleaner air from its ventilation system.
Most indoor air cleaners use filters, namely high efficiency particulate air filters, or HEPA filters. These filters are known to remove 99.97% of particulates and are relatively expensive to replace. The air cleaners that utilize HEPA filters are considered the best air cleaners in the industry due to the HEPA system’s high standards and efficiency.
Portable air cleaners are commonly used in homes because they can be moved from room to room to maximize use. They are most effectively placed in the rooms that either generate the most allergens or the rooms where the inhabitants spend more hours of their day, like the bedroom. However, if one desires to filter the air all throughout the home, a whole house air filtration system is the alternative, although more costly, solution.
Portable air cleaners are effective only if they utilize a built-in fan system that systematically circulates air in and out of the filter. This ensures the full circulation of air and at the same time there are larger chances of the particles in the air actually making it into the filter, instead of settling down somewhere until they are disturbed to cause irritation at some other time during the day.
In order to determine the effective performance of portable air cleaners, there is a factor called the “Clean Air Delivery Rate” or CADR. This concept is based on a calculation between airflow rate and filter efficiency. The larger the CADR, the more efficient the air cleaner, and this is a way to determine an air cleaner’s efficiency in direct relation to the room area. Whenever indoor air cleaners are to be considered, it is advisable to look for the HEPA certification, as well as to check the CADR.
A growing controversy is the use of ionized nano-silver in various appliances, including air cleaners. Nano-silver has been proven to remove particles even further from the air and provide protection from bacteria. Although there have been scientific documents investigating nano-silver toxicity to humans, there have been no determined solid findings.
An alternative to the nano-silver ionized technology is ultra-violet or UV technology which is currently widely used for fighting bacteria in the water purification process. Finally, another effective air cleaner is also known as the Oreck XL Professional Air Purifier Tower that destroys particles as it circulates the air through using an exclusive technology called Truman Cell which uses static electricity.
No matter what air cleaning system an individual may prefer the importance of having clean air within the home is a serious, health-related issue and should be given due and careful consideration before deciding on which product to purchase