Why Your Air Conditioning Is Your Secret Weapon?
For many people who live in Florida, the air inside their house is more polluted than the air that is outside. If you live near a highway or an industrial plant, the air inside your house will be much dirtier than other people’s homes. There are many air cleaners and air purifiers that could be a solutions for you, especially if you or a family member has asthma, or allergies, and make it easier to clean your home. Keeping your air conditioning maintained properly will go some way to achieving this, but installing proper an air purification system will definitely help you to breathe cleaner air. This is brilliant for people who suffer from seasonal allergies in Florida.
Pollutants VS. Machines
Indoor air pollutants fall into two general categories. The most common air pollutants that many home owners are worried about are particulate matter, these are microscopic particles that can be suspended in the air. Dust, animal dander, pollen, dust mites and molds are all particulate matter. After a time in the air, the particles will fall and collect as dirt around your home.
Gaseous pollutants are produced by cleaning products, paints, varnishes, and stoves that burn wood or gas. Tobacco smoke has both gaseous and particulate components.
Air purification systems are able to remove both the dust and smoke particles. Some are able to remove pollen, molds, and animal dander. However, there is no home device that is able to remove all pollutants from the air. One of the reasons is that the large particles like pollen and dust mites will settle on surfaces, which means that they do not get filtered, and make the filter and other surfaces dirty. There are a few air purification systems that contain activated charcoal, or other materials that are able to remove the gaseous pollutants. The issue with these air filters is that they only eliminate a limited amount of the pollutants, and many of them cost a lot of money. You also have to replace the filters that the machine uses more frequently.
UV air cleaners are the newest type of air cleaners and use ultraviolet to “kill germs”. Many times, this is not true, as many cleaners do not provide sufficient UV exposure to kill the germs. There are also some mold spores and bacteria that are UV-resistant, making this type of air cleaner system useless.
Health and Cleaning
If you are looking for an air cleaner that will prevent asthma or allergy attacks, you may be disappointed. There is some research that has found air cleaners make small improvements for people whose asthma attacks are triggered by pets. However, there aren’t any studies that fully prove if air cleaners help enough to say that people with asthma or allergies should use them. In many cases, the best bet is to prevent the pollution from coming in the first place, and take the other necessary steps to deal with the allergies.
Air cleaners can be useful in keeping a home clean, as they are able to catch most of the pollen, dust, molds, dust mites, and animal dander before it is able to land and collect on surfaces. This can be helpful for people with dust allergies, if the filter is cleaned, or replaced as the filter gets dirty. There still will be the need for dusting, but it will need to be done less often.
Two Basic Ways of Cleaning the Air
Mechanical air cleaners draw the air through a filter to capture the pollution. Many use a HEPA or high-efficiency particulate air filters to remove the allergens and dust particles. It is considered that HEPA filters are the best on the market since they are able to trap about 99.9 percent of all particles that are 0.3 microns in diameters or larger. The problem with HEPA filters is that many types of bacteria and other smaller particles are able to pass through the filter, and that’s not good news for allergy sufferers.
Electronic air cleaners include ionizers and electrostatic precipitators. Ionizers can cause the particles to be deposited on nearby surfaces as the air and some particles are forced out of the cleaner. Electrostatic precipitators charge the particles to make them stick to a metal plate. All the electronic air purification systems are able to create generate ozone as a by-product, and some models will do so intentionally and are called ozone generators. These models will claim that the ozone will effectively remove the odor-causing microorganisms and chemicals. The problem is that ozone in the levels that are produced is able to irritate the lungs, which can lead to worse respiratory problems. Ozone, when combined with some common household pollutants, is able to form dangerous reaction products. One of the most common reaction products is formaldehyde.
Basic Types of Air Cleaning Systems
Central filtration is an air purification system that is professionally installed and is best used in homes that have forced-air cooling and heating systems. Central filtration is the more expensive option, but you also have to repair and replace the filter less often. You can also use the less efficient, but less expensive option which is to replace your regular furnace filter with a filter that is high-efficiency and meant for cleaning the air.
Room air cleaners are a more affordable option. There are both electronic, and mechanical style air purification. There are also portable air cleaning systems that combine various technologies. Many of the most popular type portable air purification systems have fans which make them a more effective option, but some are noisy.
Most of the time, air purification systems are used by some people to keep their home clean. However, they generally can’t ensure that the air quality is going to be high quality. Contact Armstrong Air & Heating today at 407-877-8090 for more information about getting an air purification system in your home.
