Four steps to cleaner indoor air

Step Four: Consider and indoor air purifier. While they can very in performance, size and cost, below are some of the most popular units and what they can do for you. One of the industry standards is put forth by The AHAM Air Cleaner council (www.aham.org) which is part of the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Their testing helps set certain parameters so that all of these units are put against the same criteria. It’s the “clean air delivery rate” www.cadr.org I would advise that you use their ratings as a guide, but try the different units for yourself to determine if they work for you. Many manufacturers will offer a trial run with these units for up to 30 days. By that time you will know if you are breathing easier and if the unit is worth the investment. HEPA filtration (High Efficiency Particulate Air) is one of the most common approaches to cleaning the air. A good quality HEPA filtering system can be up to 99.97% efficient at filtering particulates that are 0.3 microns from the air. For perspective, a strand of human hair is 150 microns. This filtering system has been widely used and accepted by organizations promoting indoor air quality standards to clean the indoor air of smoke, dust, pollen, mold spores and pet dander. Portable units when sized correctly can do a good job of cleaning the air in a particular room. But the key is to make sure that unit is sized for the square footage of that room. Also the faster the fan runs the more air is exchanged through the unit. While this does increase the noise, the units will work much better. Room purifiers can range in price from $30.00-$400.00. The units I showed from Holms® and the Filtrete® purifiers are available at hardware sores and home centers. For more information visit: www.holmesproducts.com. Or www.filtrete.com.

Another popular unit uses water as the filter. The Venta-Air-Washer® was designed in Germany; it circulates air through two squirrel cages. The airborne particulates are caught by the water in the pan and cleaner air is exhausted. As the water evaporates the particulates stay in the pan. You do not need to buy additional filters and this unit has the added benefit of adding humidity to the indoor air which can make your home much more comfortable in the winter months. This unit ranges in price from $199.00-$500.00 depending on the size, for more information check out www.venta-airwasher.com.

Finally there are whole house air purifying units that will filter 99% of the airborne particulate through your existing forced air heating and cooling system throughout your entire home not just one room. It works 24/7 using HEPA filters and other filtering systems including UV lights. The system requires filter changes once to two times a year and a remote sensor tells you when the filters require maintenance. These are professionally installed units that cost between $1,400-$1,800. But for allergy and asthma sufferers these whole house units offer a total solution for cleaning up your indoor air. The Carrier Infinity Air Purifier® claims to kill everything it catches and uses technology that was developed for secure government buildings and is very easy to maintain. Coupled with fresh air intake and UV lights the unit has outstanding performance. (Note, I have worked as a paid spokesperson for Carrier). Aprilaire® also makes a whole house system Model 5000 that received a top rating from Consumer Reports for overall air filtration, with exceptional clean air delivery. For more information visit: http://www.aprilaire.com.

And while we are talking about indoor air make sure you are thinking about safety as well. Check on those Smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors. The batteries should be fresh and if the unit has celebrated its seventh birthday throw it away and buy a new one. For more information visit: www.firstalert.com

If you have any more questions please feel free to send me an email via my website. For more information visit: www.housesmartstv.com

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