Introduction
Inhaling quality air in the home is vital to the overall health of the entire family and home. Many air pollutants are living with us, and we cannot do without them as they are essential household items that are being used in one way or the other. Whenever the word “air pollution” is mentioned in any context, what normally comes to our minds are industrial factories, burning and expelling smelly clouds, or sometimes, we think of old vehicles puffing out black smokes. However, we forget numerous indoor air pollutants that are living with us on a daily basis.
These indoor air pollutants are dangerous and among the leading environmental health risks globally. Some of these indoor air pollutants are radon, asbestos, mold, VOC, and much more. The best way to prevent the risks associated with these indoor air pollutants is to limit and eliminate most sources of these air pollution’s, and allow much more ventilation of clean outdoor air into the home.
Considering current rising cases of lung cancer, and other lung-related diseases reported worldwide. Giant steps need to be taken to protect your home and family members from these deadly diseases. However, ventilation methods have been studied to be constrained by various weather conditions and as well as unacceptable contaminant levels received through the outdoor air, making the method insufficient enough for healthy breathing. Hence, air cleaning devices have been found useful over the years.
Air cleaning devices remove pollutants and other air contaminants. Simon Air Quality wants to use this post to discuss some buying guides for choosing the right air cleaning products for your home. What do you need to consider in buying the right air cleaning devices for your home? What types of pollutants can air cleaning devices remove? What are involved? Read on as you discover more facts.
Air Cleaning Devices and their Purposes
Air cleaning devices are made up of different purposes while some can be used for general indoor air quality, some are designed specially to be installed in the central home heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system duct work. This type of design aims to clean the air in the entire house.
Another type such as portable room air cleaners may also be used to clean a specific areas or rooms. However, all of them are designed for cleaning and improving quality of air in the home. They are designed to remove indoor air pollutants not limited to the following:
- Particle removal: The two air cleaning devices that are involved in this category are electronic air cleaners and mechanical air filters. These two devices are capable of removing particles from the air in the home. Electronic air cleaners use electrostatic attraction process to trap particles as performed by electrostatic precipitators while mechanical air filters such as Indoor Air Purifiers perform the task by trapping particles on the filter. For example, Simon Air Quality’s Indoor Air Purifiers makes use of various filters such as High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA), UV light, and charcoal in one unit.
The device can efficiently remove mold spores, bacteria, animal dander, dust, pollen, tobacco smoke, viruses, and as well as odors from the air. All these pollutants are harmful to the health. Another air cleaning device that can be used is HRV. It also supplies fresh and clean air into the home; helps reduce loose and harmful particle concentration such as asbestos. You can read our post on mold and VOC.
- Gaseous pollutant removal: Sources of gaseous pollutants are commonly from combustion processes such as vehicle exhaust, gas cooking stoves, tobacco smoke, and as well as the use of products like paints, cleaning products, varnishes adhesives, furnishing, and building materials. These pollutants are grouped under radon gases (this has been earlier discussed in one of our articles).
A radon blower from Simon Air quality is capable of remove gaseous pollutants resulted from major sources of gaseous pollutants. It can control and prevent gaseous pollution concentration in your house by 90 to 100% if it is well-apportioned. It removes odors and gases by utilizing a sorbent material like activated carbon to absorb the pollutants and improve air quality in the home.
Other air cleaning devices can be used in the home to improve air quality in the home. Example of which are Indoor Air Quality monitor (helps track the flow of air in your home and trigger you if there is any presence of air pollutants), HRV, and much more.
However, it is essential you consider performances of each of the cleaning devices when choosing the right air cleaning devices for your home. Always check product description on the product page before considering buying your air cleaning device. The impacts of every air cleaning device are to prevent the inhaling of contaminated air in the home; thereby protecting the entire household from health effects of each air pollutant. Is your air cleaning devices having effects on your health? This will be discussed next in the post.
Can Air Cleaning Devices Reduce Adverse Health Effects?
Many studies have shown that breathing of quality air plays a vital role in our overall health. Air is breathed-in every mini-second; hence, it has a direct effect on our well-being. Air directly works with the lung. The health of the lung depends largely on the quality of the air you breathe-in. The capability to remove microorganisms, particles, and other pollutants from the indoor air may not seem to guarantee complete healthy living, but it contributes greatly to it.
Also, if there are sensitive populations like the elder, children, and as well as people living with asthma and allergies, air cleaning devices may not be effective to reduce adverse effects completely. There hasn’t been substantial evidence to support air cleaners for asthmatic patients. However, air cleaners play significant roles in ensuring continuous presence of quality air in the home. They can filter off contaminated air to prevent chances of lung diseases.
Other Factors to Consider
Factors to consider for buying air cleaners are not limited to the only above discussed factors. Some other factors are worthy of considering when you are deciding to buy air cleaning devices. Below are those factors:
- Main costs of air cleaning device: These costs consist of the initial procurement, operation (energy consumption bill), and maintenance (like costs associated with parts, if it is large air cleaner).
- Installation: Cost of installing air cleaning devices should also be considered when choosing your air cleaner. There are some specific requirements associated with the installation of your air cleaning. Others are adequate access to the device for inspection, maintenance or repairs during operation.
- Adequate support: Some air cleaning devices may require soiling of walls and other related surfaces for a complete installation. For instance, Ion generators cannot remove particle charges as it is not designed for the purpose. Hence, they deposit the charged particles on soiling walls, room, and other surfaces.
- Odors: There are two categories of air cleaning devices as discussed above. Each design has its purpose and work. Some particle removal devices are not designed to control some odors and gases. Hence, there may still be a presence of some carcinogenic gas pollutants from the smoke of tobacco.
Conclusion
Many health researchers have shown that most health issues today have links with indoor air pollutants from numerous household products as a result of emission of harmful gases, low humidity, and much more. These pollutants are usually unsuspected because of the functions they are performing in the home. However, the health effects of these indoor pollutants are rampant during the winter season. The health effects are not limited to different types of allergies, high chances of asthma, and as well as an increase in threats to body immune system.
The best way to minimize these health effects is to tackle the sources of these indoor pollution’s and as well as to get the right air cleaning device to prevent and control the quality of air in the home. The best indoor air cleaning devices should be able to filter the pollutants such as smoke from stove or candle, dust, and dangerous gases in the home. The factors to be considered have been discussed in this post. Go through them one more time and select the best for air cleaning for your purpose. You can get here!