Are you interested in improving the indoor air quality of your home? If so, you may be thinking about investing in a portable air purifier versus a whole home air purification system and are wondering what’s the difference between the two.
In this article we will break down both air purifiers and offer you tips on choosing the one that will be the best fit for your family and Frederick County home.
Whole Home vs Single Room Air Purification Systems
A lot of activities happen inside your home. Not only do you eat, sleep and relax within your four walls, but now more than ever, homeowners are spending more time at home and transforming their spaces into offices, workout gyms, and playrooms. And while you’re staying home to stay safe and healthy, it may surprise you to find out that the air inside your home is two to five times more polluted than the air outside your home.
What’s causing poor indoor air quality? A wide range of factors: allergy-aggravating particles like dust, pollen and pet dander, mold and germs, and odors and chemical vapors from paints, cleaning supplies and additives in your carpet and furniture. These factors can cause a variety of health problems to your family’s respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous and reproductive systems, and in-response, a number of products have been developed to help eliminate these determinants and improve your home’s indoor air quality. Single-room air purifiers are sold in multiple styles and sizes at varying price points, but these appliances have limited capabilities and may be less-effective in cleaning your air compared to a whole home air purification system like the PureAir™ S.
Keep reading to learn why you should invest in a whole home air purification system to improve your home’s indoor air quality:
How a Whole Home Air Purification System Works
Lennox’ whole home air purification system is attached to your home’s HVAC system and ductwork, allowing it to seamlessly work with your home’s heating and cooling systems. The PureAir™ S works with the MERV-16 air filter and a UVA lamp to treat your home with hospital-grade filtration that eliminates 99.9% of airborne particles like pollen, dust, and pet dander. It also kills 90% of virus-sized germs and removes unpleasant household odors and vapors. By pairing the PureAir™ S with innovative heating and cooling products from the Dave Lennox Signature® Collection, you can enjoy the ultimate indoor air quality and comfort.
How A Portable Air Purifier Works
Air purifiers that use ionization emit negative ions into the air, explains Emily Jones, a researcher in Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. You might recall from high school chemistry that atoms with a positive or negative charge are called ions, and negative and positive ions are attracted to each other. When the purifier emits ions, it causes particles, like viruses, animal dander, or particulate pollution, to be charged. (Find out if UV air purifiers really work for viruses.)
In the larger room air purifiers, these particles are sometimes pulled back to a charged component in the air cleaner. But often these charged particles—those allergens you’re working hard to get rid of—will be pulled to surfaces in the room, says Jones.
Personal air cleaners that you wear around your neck claim to repel particles away from the wearer so they land on surfaces.
Are personal ionic air purifiers effective?
Ionizers can be effective at removing particles from the air, including viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, says Shaughnessy. The problem, he explains, is that because they fall out of the air and land on surfaces, the particles are still in the room. This means that if they are brushed or kicked they could be brought back into the air. “There’s the potential for re-suspension with any disturbance,” he says.
Jones adds that the convenience of a tiny portable device may also be its downfall. “It may not be able to clean very much air due to its small size,” she says. (These are the household items poisoning your air.)
Contact Dave’s Cooling And Heating
For questions about which air purifier is right for your home, or to speak with us about the heating and cooling services that we can offer you, contact us today at (301) 401-2780 or click here to connect with us online.
