Great purifiers should live up to their names. How’s that? How effective are they in cleaning your indoor air?
An air purifier works by utilising a fan to trap air from a room and force it via filters that capture dust, pollen, pet dander, smoke and any other airborne particles containing virus, bacteria or germs. The sanitised air is then propelled back into the room. The best air purifiers are usually equipped with air quality sensors and other features that help them perform this task more efficiently.
What Is the Most Highly Recommended Air Purifier?
There are many factors affecting an air purifier’s performance you should take into account. The following is a list that will help you choose the best air purifier for your purpose.
1. ACH (Air Changes per Hour)
ACH is the frequency or number of times an air purifier filters an entire volume of air in a room in a single hour. This rating helps you determine an air purifier’s effectiveness for your specific room.
Take note that different rooms have different ACH requirements. For managing allergies, an ACH of 4 is the minimum. Larger rooms tend to require a higher ACH rating of 6 to 8.
A room’s function also determines the amount of ACH needed. You need a higher ACH for rooms with high foot traffic, such as a medical facility. A standard-sized hospital operating room will need an ACH rating of 15 to 20 because of the need for a sterile environment.
2. CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate)
The CADR indicates an air purifier’s effectiveness based on how many cubic feet per minute of particulate matter it filters. A higher CDR value means a faster air purifier for filtering air.
Install an air purifier with a CADR rating of at least four air changes per hour.
3. Active Carbon and Formaldehyde Filtration
Formaldehyde is one of the most prevalent volatile organic compounds (VOC) found indoors. These chemicals can have harmful effects to people exposed to them, such as headaches, dizziness and memory impairment.
The most efficient air purifier with a filter to fight VOCs is the active carbon filter. An active carbon filter removes unwanted odours and smoke from indoor air. This type of air purifier removes gaseous pollutants via the adsorption of gas molecules into the active carbon particle’s porous shells.
A good activated carbon air filter should have at least 1 kg of carbon.
4. Avoid UVs and Ionisers
You may want to reconsider purchasing air purification technologies that produce ozone as a byproduct or utilise ozone as the chief cleaning method. Long-term exposure to extreme ozone concentrations is known to cause and exacerbate respiratory illnesses. Children and infants are the most susceptible to the harmful effects of ozone.
UVC light and ionising air purifiers produce ozone. Ozone exposure is not only detrimental to your health, but it also damages sensitive wiring, electronics and plumbing in your home. You must avoid this technology for air cleaning purposes.
However, it should be noted that HEPA type air cleaners that feature a small amount of ozone confined to a machine can improve the effectiveness of a HEPA filter. This negligible amount releases no ozone into the room's air and is considered safe.
5. IAQ Sensors and Indicators
Indoor air quality (IAQ) sensors and indicators are crucial components of any state-of-the-art air purifier. High-quality sensors accurately measure indoor air quality to function with a device’s programming for more effective performance. IAQ gauges show real-time data detected by the sensors.
Particulate matter sensors use laser scanning technology to compute the concentration of suspended airborne particles in a room. A majority of sensors utilising air purifiers are adjusted to detect particulate matter as small as 2.5 microns in diameter. Good gas sensors can detect formaldehyde without being disrupted by ethanol or perfumes.
It is best to look for air purifiers equipped with high-quality PM 2.5, gas sensors, as well as easy-to-use IAQ displays.
6. Automatic Operation
Smart air purifiers use accurate real-time sensors to detect the level of pollution and adjust air intake speed to provide good air quality without noise. However, not all purifiers have smart technology to adjust their speed according to indoor air quality.
An air purifier’s ability to auto-adjust the intensity of its performance has the additional benefit of a longer filter lifespan, reduced energy consumption, as well as reduced noise, hence, better sleep for you.
7. High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filter
HEPA filters are mechanised pleated filters that are highly effective at capturing and removing airborne particles, microorganisms and contaminants. They are tested to remove up to 99.97% of particulate matter as small as 0.3 microns in the air. An air filter with a minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) 17 rating and higher is classified as a HEPA filter.
Is an Air Purifier Effective Against COVID-19?
HEPA filters can capture at least 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns in size, but coronavirus is even much more miniscule, with a size of 0.1 micron. The good thing is that HEPA filters can still be an instrument to control the virus.
The COVID-19 coronavirus is airborne, so air purifiers with HEPA filters can still trap the virus but not kill them. Whilst the viruses take hours to die they can stay suspended in the filter for many hours but die eventually. As long as the filters are not removed immediately, they won’t be released in the air and affect anyone they could touch.
So, in idea, HEPA air purifier can be an effective air purifier for COVID-19.
How Do I Choose an Air Purifier?
Air purifiers help protect people from dangerous air contaminants, including smoke, viruses and nasty odours. People vulnerable to allergies and breathing difficulties will benefit from clean indoor air delivered by the best air purifiers in Australia.
Make sure you and your family breathe in clean, healthy and safe air. Whether you use it in your home or the workplace, choose an air purifier that is excellent in fighting indoor air pollution. Choose XPOWER air purifying products.
Our HEPA air purifiers will surely improve the quality of your indoor air. Call us on (03) 9460 5655 for more information about our products.
