Air Purifier 101
Air purifier websites mostly sell all of the popular brands because let's face it, an air purifier website is in the business of making money first and foremost, right? Why then do we only offer what we feel is the best air purifier line on the market and show people how to clean the air in their home as cheaply as possible? Because we grew tired of watching people waste their money with pretty much worthless table top air purifiers, that's why.
Why are table top air purifiers such a waste of money? They lack air moving capabilities. Let me explain. When people and pets move around a room, they CONSTANTLY kick up and release dust into the air! The weak air movement capabilities of a table top air purifier can't even remove dust from 1 foot way, let alone the other side of the room or near the roof. Yeah, the numbers seem impressive. These small often plastic made in China machines tout a 99.97% dust removal rating, however, the 99.97% dust removal rate is for particles over .3 microns and in a closed, sealed room, not in an occupied room where dust is constantly being kicked-up ! Another problem is the fact that 80% of dust particles are SMALLER than .3 microns in size, things such as viruses, molds, dust mite droppings, and bacteria. (Things that make you sick) Dust particles stay suspended in the air for long periods of time until human air purifiers (lungs) come along to snatch them up. (Yuck!) What then is the solution?
We've been in the air purifier business for over 8 years. We know what works and what doesn't work and we're not here to try and sell you a soup sandwich or a $1500 air purifier that will burn through $500 a year in replacement filters. We're also not going to try and sell you a "hyped" air purifier or ionizer that will collect about as much dust as your TV screen! We know what works and learning these truths will help you "free yourself" from wasting money.
Here are some things we know are a waste of money: 1) We know that all table top air purifiers are a waste of money. 2) We know that plastic air purifiers off-gas VOC's and thus are a waste of money. 3) We know that ionizer's will only force particles from the air within 2-3 feet of the ionizer and are thus a waste of money. PROOF: Here is a simple trick to see if what you just read about air purifiers is true or false. Get a good flashlight. After you and yours have walked around the room for a few minutes, sat on the couch, etc, turn off all the lights. Now go stand say, um, one foot from your handy dandy air sucking and blowing machine. Point the flashlight at your hand from about 6 inches away. Tell me, what will you see? Tons of dust, right? What you're looking at is mostly dead skin and maybe some dust mite droppings. (Dead skin is their favorite food) You see, each adult sheds about 1-3 lbs of dead skin each year. If you have 5 people in your household and a pet or two, picture a mountain of dust in your living room! (dust doesn't weigh much) Now take a look at your air purifier again. Do you REALLY think it's going to collect that much dust?
Now on to what does work to improve your indoor air quality:
INSTALL A QUALITY FURNACE FILTER. If you have an HVAC system (forced air), the most important thing you can do to improve your indoor air quality is to buy a high quality furnace filter and run your HVAC system 24/7! I know what you're thinking, that will cost a fortune in electricity. Right? Not so. It will only cost around $5 a month in electricity (for avg sized home - 1800 sq. ft) to run your HVAC fan 24/7. Most newer HVAC fans use around 120 Watts, the same amount of electricity as a light bulb. The reason you want to do this is that your HVAC fan can move 2000-3000 cubic feet a minute of air, enough to change the air in your home several times per hour! Leave all the doors open and open all the air vents to create a strong air current that will keep the dead skin floating towards the furnace filter which in turn will become caked with 1/4" of dead skin, dust mites, and dust mite droppings every month..
If you don't have a forced air system, then we recommend you buy an Airpura air purifier which can move the air 2 times an hour in a 2000 sq. ft area. These are by far the best air high performance air purifiers on the market today. If you have an HVAC system, we also recommend you install an induct UV air sanitizing system. We sell these for $279.This UV whole home air sanitizer will kill any viruses, bacteria, or mold that happens to pass by.
Our last suggestion for improving your indoor air quality (even if you own a $1000 air purifier) is to do what hospitals do and sanitize your living area with ozone shock treatments while you're not home. Most hospitals use a "shock treatment" ozone generator to sterilize the operating room before and after an operation to make sure the air and all surfaces are bacteria and virus free. This will also kill dust mites and neutralize their droppings as well as remove VOC's and all types of pollutants from the air. We think that's a good idea and for years we've been running an ozone generator in our home and having them cut-off 1-2 hours before we come back home (we don't have pets or we wouldn't do this by the way) so that we always come home to fresh, clean, mountain fresh air void of any bacteria, air pollution (from cars, etc), or viruses. It works like a charm! If you live in a humid area, this will have a huge impact on your indoor air quality (and the number of folks in your household with allergies and respiratory problems). Ozone isn't something you want to be breathing in high concentrations, it's something you want to use to sterilize the air of anything harmful while you're not home. (unless someone is smoking, I'd rather breath ozone than second hand smoke!) A side bonus of doing this is that your indoor air will become oxygen rich (ozone is three oxygen atoms and it will revert back to oxygen (2 oxygen atoms) after about 40 minutes. It will also deal with any VOC issues from off-gasing carpets, wood products, etc. We sell "shock treatment" ozone generators that carry and lifetime warranty (on the generator) for
$79-$399. These ozone generators have special features that make them
the best ozone generators available anywhere at any
price, yet they are priced about 50% below the
competition. Definitely worthy of your consideration and
research if this is the first you've heard about ozone
being useful to improve indoor air quality.
Enjoy out web site. If you have
any questions, please give us a call at 702-807-1376 for
knowledgeable, friendly advise. Thanks for visiting and take care! |
