Clean Air Ducts To Remove Allergens
Air ducts carry your heated or cooled air throughout your home from your central HVAC system. Often, common allergens such as dust, dirt, dander, and other debris can build up in your duct system. Over time, these allergens may be transported to the living areas of your home.
Many HVAC companies offer air duct cleaning services that use high-powered vacuum systems to clean out these allergens from your air ducts. You may want to research this option as a possible action item to improve the indoor air quality of your home.
Do Air Purifiers Help With Allergies
They can improve air quality, but do air purifiers help with allergies? And if so, how much?
If you’ve been wondering, do air purifiers help with allergies, you’re in the right place. Air purifiers are designed to clean the air in a room by trapping allergens and pushing filtered, clean air back into the space.
Why do we need air purifiers? Well, the air inside our homes contains a combination of solid particles and liquid droplets, known as particulate matter. The particles vary in size and something like dust, for example, is made up of fine particles whereas pet dander, is much more coarse.
As we breathe, these particles can make their way into our bodies, and air purifiers are designed to remove the airborne irritants responsible for allergies by trapping them in a filter. For more on this, head to our full feature on how do air purifiers work?
Most air purifiers capture particles like dust and pollen, but the best air purifiers particulate air filters, will remove particles larger than 0.3 microns, including animal dander, which is a common allergy trigger. HEPA filters have a multilayer network of very fine fiberglass threads thinner than a strand of a human hair making them more efficient at capturing smaller particles.
How Does A Sanitizer And A Ionizer Help With My Allergies
Air sanitizers can help with your allergies, but their effects arent as noticeable as an air ionizers will be.
Most air sanitizers dont pull the allergens out of the air, they just kill whatever microbes might pass through. That being said, there are some air sanitizers that can and do help with allergies, these include electrostatic plates which will capture the allergens out of the air, unlike UV sanitizers do on their own.
UV sanitizers arent great for allergies, but they can be purchased as a part of a larger air purifier. The air sanitizer is very nice to have to reduce the amount of airborne viruses and bacteria, which is a nice addition to most higher-end/more capable air purifiers.
Air ionizers, on the other hand, can and do help with reducing the amount of allergens in the air. In fact, these ionizers actively work to pull allergens out of the air around the air purifiernot just the air that passes through the air purifiers filters. Because of this, ionizers do have certain advantages over HEPA filters, but its best to just buy an air purifier that has both an ionizer and an air purifier.
If youre looking for an air purifier for your living room that has an ionizer and a HEPA filter, then the SilverOnyx air purifier is one that Ive personally enjoyed.
This air purifier also has a UV sanitizer. Again, that doesnt do a whole lot for allergies, but it does cleanse the air of whatever germs are floating around.
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Best With Cooling: Dyson Pure Cool Link Air Purifier
Before you go into sticker shock over this purifier, hear us out: Dyson is known for creating quality home products and reviews laud the product’s state-of-the-art design. This model automatically detects allergens, odors, and pollutants and comes with a remote control and app that provides real-time air quality data and alerts when your HEPA filter should be replaced. Impressive air purification abilities aside, the Pure Cool Link Air Purifier also acts as a fan to keep your home cool, which comes in handy in the warm weather months. It’s especially great for bedrooms thanks to its quiet nighttime mode and sleep timer.
“I have a small house and the air can get stuffy,” said a customer. “Or if I cook my whole house will smell like that meal for a day. This has solved these problems. It looks great and will make the air in your house crisp and clean. I’ve also struggled with allergies my entire life and haven’t had an issue in the last two months since I’ve bought this.”
Air Purifiers For Allergies
Indoor air quality is getting a lot of attention these days, and for good reason. According to the EPA, levels of pollutants in indoor air can be two to five times higher than outdoor air.1 Unfortunately, inside exposure to pet dander, dust mites and other airborne particulate matter can trigger allergy and asthma symptoms. Thats why its important to follow a simple, three-step solution to improving the quality of the air in your home.2 These steps include:
– Removing, reducing or eliminating sources of airborne pollutants
– Ventilating living areas in your home using available kitchen or bathroom exhaust fans
– Adding air filters or air purifiers to help clean the air
So, when you think about researching or purchasing air purifiers for allergies, keep in mind that while air purifiers dont treat allergies, they can be very effective at removing allergens like pet hair and dander, pollen, and dust. Its also important to know that the most effective solution includes taking additional steps to protect yourself.
As the indoor comfort experts, Carrier offers a number of reliable solutions for improving indoor air quality, including our Infinity®air purifiers, featuring our patented Captures & Kills® technology, that offer proven, 99% inactivation of select captured viruses and germs.3
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Do You Need A Special Allergy Filter
All air purifiers with a True HEPA filter are efficient at removing and reducing allergens 0.3 microns in size and larger. Most allergens like pollen and dust are between 20 and 30 microns in size. Pet hair can range between 75 and 200 microns, but pet dander can be much smaller at 4 microns. So, a special allergy filter is not typically needed for the air purifier to be effective at removing and reducing allergens.
What Is An Air Sanitizer And How Does An Air Sanitizer Work
A UV air sanitizer is commonly referred to as an air sanitizing system. These are put in your homes ductwork and produce UV light to purify the air as it passes through your vents. Air sanitizer systems help defend against mold, which can potentially be harmful to your health, as well as a variety of germs.
The UV lamps within your gadget are made to switch on and off with the system they eliminate dangerous chemicals that build inside and might make you or your family unwell.
Remember that HVAC UV lamps only eliminate bacteria and germs. Viruses and certain common allergens that could still be sickening your family wont be eradicated by them.
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Air Purifiers For Hay Fever
Pollen grains from various trees and plants float in the air almost all year. If you have hay fever, these pollen can lead to a stuffy nose and a dry cough. An air purifier helps filter the pollen from the air in the house, so you can breathe fresh air in your home. Air purifiers that reduce hay fever symptoms have a HEPA filter and purify all the air in the room 3.5 times per hour.
Air Purifier For Cat Allergies
If youre searching for an air purifier for dog allergies or cat allergies, you actually need an air purifier for pet dander. Contrary to popular belief, pet dander is not hair its microscopic flecks of skin that can hang suspended in the air like dust. When people with pet dander allergies breathe it in, they can experience a host of symptoms similar to the ones triggered by pollen.
Although dander is the primary culprit, some people are also allergic to the proteins found in pet saliva, urine and feces. When these substances dry, microscopic particles can enter the air and be inhaled, just like with pet dander. The best air purifier for pet allergies will use a HEPA filter to trap microscopic contaminants and ionization to seek out and deactivate the rest.
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What Does An Air Purifier Do
On average, Americans spend 90% of their time indoors, and just like the outdoor world, there can be pollutants in your home. In fact, some of these pollutants are up to five times more concentrated indoors than outdoors due to:
- New synthetic building materials
- Household cleaners
The purpose of an air purifier is to filter and sanitize these pollutants, chemicals, and allergens from the indoor air and improve air quality.
Invest In An Air Purifier
You cant control the air outside, but you can control whats circulating inside your home. Air purifiers are designed to pull the impurities out of the air and send clean, purified air back out. These units work with HEPA filters that pull up to 99.97 of bad particles out of the air. An air purifier can help you and your family breathe easier and stay healthy. If youre in the market for an air purifier, here are some of our top recommendations:
Alen BreatheSmart 75i True HEPA Air Purifier
The BreatheSmart 75i cleans up to 1300 square feet every 30 minutes. It works with a HEPA filter and has a particle sensor that can let you know the air quality in real time and adjust accordingly. The unit has five fan speeds and is whisper quiet. It sells for between $700 and $800 and has a lifetime warranty. Read our review of the Alen 75i.
Samsung Cube
The Samsung Cube is a great model for smaller spaces. It will cover up to 310 square feet, has a three-stage filtration process and is equipped with a sensor that gives you real time feedback on the air quality in your room. The Cube has a child safety lock, is whisper quiet and energy efficient. The unit will cost between $700 and $800 and comes with a limited one-year warranty. Learn more about the Samsung Cube.
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How Air Purifiers Help With Seasonal Allergies
While seasonal allergies tend to affect people most when theyre outside, allergens can also make their way into the home, causing allergy sufferers to experience more discomfort. Since air purifiers can capture particles in your air and trap them in their filters, many of these devices can give people relief from their seasonal allergy symptoms. By using an air purifier, you can reduce the number of allergens floating around in your homes air.
As long as your air purifier is designed to filter out pollen, mold, and dust from your homes air, it will likely lessen your seasonal allergy symptoms. You can read more here about which air purification methods address allergies. Due to these devices ability to capture allergenic particles, they reduce the number of irritants you breathe in while at home. As a result, air purifiers are recommended for seasonal allergy sufferers. Theyre especially suited for those who also suffer from asthma, as these devices can remove particles that will trigger an attack.
Best Overall: Coway Airmega Ap
Why stop at home? Kamel notes that those who spend a lot of time in the closed confines of a car may want to consider bringing a portable filter along for the ride. This one from IQAir contains a HEPA filter to catch common allergens as well as soot and car exhaust from traffic pollution. It easily latches on to headrests and seats, doesn’t take up too much room, and is quiet to run. At 8 pounds, it’s easy to move around your car or to another small space you want to clean, like a desk.
One downside is that the on/off switch design could use some work, and you need to manually power on the device every time you want to use it. However, it turns off on its own after 15 to 30 minutes of idling to save power, which is a nice touch. Reviewers have found a noticeable difference in their car air’s smell and feel after using this nifty little device. And their filtering is going to a good cause: IQAir collects air-quality data to share with public health and environmental organizations like UN-Habitat and Greenpeace.
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Improvement In Indoor Pm Concentration After Airpurifier Operation
Amelioration of bedroom PM levels after air purifier operation is shown in Fig. 2. Average PM2.5 concentration was reduced by 51.8% . PM10 concentration also declined by 53.2% on average . Living room PM concentrations determined after air purifier operation are shown in Fig. 3. The mean PM2.5 level fell by 30.5% , and PM10 concentration showed 30.7% improvement . The number of days at levels beyond the WHO AQG limits was significantly lower after air purifier operation, especially in terms of bedroom PM2.5 concentrations . Since this study involved two South Korean cities that were 167.8 miles apart, we also checked for city-wide differences in air quality before and after operating the air purifiers. However, we found no difference between the two cities.
What Is Particulate Matter
Concerns about air pollution arent new they date back to ancient Rome. The Romans were the first group of people in Europe to use different metals to mass produce coins, household items and water pipes. Mining and smelting the metals released all types of pollutants into the air. But releasing toxins into the air didnt stop with the Romans it continues today to varying degrees in countries across the globe.
So much of what enters into the air is particulate matter. Particulate matter or particle pollution is a mix of solid particles and liquid droplets in the air. PM comes in all shapes and sizes, is made up of hundreds of different chemicals and is emitted from things like vehicles, power and manufacturing plants, construction sites, smokestacks, and fires. Things like dirt, dust, smoke, or soot are large and dark enough that we can see them. Other things that contribute to particulate matter are so small you can only see them using a microscope.
Particulate matter can be inhaled and the smaller the particle, the deeper it goes into your body. Larger pieces of PM may linger in your nose. Fine particulate matter can get deep inside your lungs and bloodstream and poses the greatest risk. Over time and through research, experts have realized particulate matter can cause serious physical health problems. But now there is growing research that it also affects our cognitive ability.
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Helps Filter Out Harmful Chemicals
Homes can be filled with indoor pollutants, and outside pollutants frequently find their way indoors, especially if you live in a densely populated region.
This increases the likelihood of inflammation.
According to different research published in Environmental Health Perspectives, residing in extremely polluted locations, such as those close to highways or airports, has been associated with an increase in respiratory issues and infections.
Since an air purifier circulates clean air back into the space after passing contaminated air through a number of filters, it can help with a variety of indoor air contaminants.
An air purifier may assist to lessen the quantity of these pollutants that you breathe in if you use chemical cleansers or have equipment in your house that generates ozone or other toxins.
Many Air Purifiers Emit Harmful Ozone Gas
Three oxygen atoms make up the molecule of ozone. The fundamental oxygen molecule, which is required for breathing, is made up of two oxygen atoms.
The third oxygen atom in the ozone molecule has the ability to separate from it and reattach to molecules of other substances, altering their chemical make-up.
Ozone plays a crucial role in protecting against the suns damaging UV rays when it is present in the stratosphere where it belongs.
However, ozone is so hazardous on the ground that the EPA has designated it as an air contaminant.
The third oxygen molecule has the same potential to interact with organic matter both within and outside of the body.
Numerous issues may result from this. Chest discomfort, coughing, shortness of breath, and throat irritation can all be brought on by even very minute levels of ozone in the air.
Since there isnt actually any government regulation of consumer air purifiers , any claims that an air purifier is government-approved should raise a red flag.
The fact is that some types of decontamination have been successfully accomplished using ozone.
The DNA of the cell is destroyed when ozones unstable three-oxygen-atom structure disintegrates, ripping electrons from cell walls.
This can be helpful for cleaning medical equipment and, in certain situations, water. Ozone in extremely high concentrations is occasionally used to purge certain chemical or biological pollutants or smells from vacant areas.
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Uses Of Air Purifiers At A Workplace Or In Industries:
Hey! Do You Wanna Buy Best Air Purifier For Allergies Then .
