The Home Air Purifiers Guide
Welcome to my concise home air purifiers "types" guide. Here you'll find all the unbiased information you need about the good and no-so-good types of home air purifiers that clamor for your business.
HEPA Air Purifers...
HEPA is the standard point for air purification, meaning, your air purifier should be at least HEPA quality, and not less. Today, there are many air purifiers that produce better-than-HEPA air purification (such as IQ Air or Blueair) HEPA filters were developed in the 1940's and 1950' and remove 99.97% of particles in the air that are .3 microns and larger. Air purifiers that claim they are "HEPA-like," "99% HEPA," or "HEPA-type" are using used car salesmanship. Having those labels are as good as having a "faux pearl" (faux is french for false.)
To date, the IQAir air purifiers have achieved the best efficiency of air purification on the planet with their HyperHEPA filters that remove at least 99.5% of all particles 0.003 microns and larger. To put that in perspective, if one million particles enter a HealthPro air purifier, less than 300 emerge, compared to 30,000 particles for conventional HEPA air purifiers.
Allergy Air Purifiers...
Picking a good allergy air purifier can make a huge difference in the life of allergy sufferers. Thankfully, most of my top rated air purifiers will do a fantastic job at cleaning allergens from the air. You can also read my article on allergy air purifiers here.
Ionic Air Purifiers...
Most ionic air purifers losers in the air purification world, but that doesn't mean they haven't made money. Through slick marketing and empty promises, ionic air purifiers have sold a lot of home air purifiers and delivered little home air purification. If you care to, you can read the full story here. You would so much better with any of our top 10 air purifiers...
Asthma Air Purfiers...
Cleaning the air from asthma triggers is a crucial part of the overal strategy in dealing with asthma. Most every air purifier that I recommend will function as a great asthma air purifier.
Filterless Air Purifiers...
Filterless air purifiers as home air purifiers are mostly a sham. If an air purifier is filterless, what exactly is it catching the particles with? Well, most filterless air purifiers charge the particles as they enter the air purifier and then the particles pass through electrically charged plates to which they cling.
The problem is that they don't catch that many particles, are inefficient, and could potentially harm your health.
There's one filterless air purifier that I highly recommend, which works a completely different way than most filterless air cleaners. It's the Airfree Air Sterilizer, and it's a winner.
Silent Air Purifiers...
Silent air purification is very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. The whole principle of most air purifiers is to blow air through tight spaces (i.e. a filter.) That makes noise. Now, the level of noise can be reduced through various technologies, and the most effective and quietist air cleaner on the market are the Blueair air purifiers.
Smoke Air Purifiers...
The most effective smoke air purifiers have a lot of carbon in a filter to catch the odors, particles, and gasses associated with smoke. I have a great recommendation for a smoke air purifier here.
Whole House Air Purifiers...
I would shy away from any one air puriifer that claims to be a purifier for your whole house. However, there are several great strategies for achieving whole house air purification and I cover them in my whole house air purifiers guide.
Ozone Air Purifiers...
Ozone air purifiers deliberately produce ozone to clean the air. While ozone producing machines have their applications, it's definitely not in the home air purifiers arena. I cover the reasons why in my ozone air purifiers article.
Travel Air Purifiers...
With health concerns such as H1N1 flu virus, more and more people are thinking not just about home air purifiers but about travel air purifiers as well. I currently have no recommendations in yet, but I working on a smart list. Check back soon for updates.
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