Portable Air Cleaner Makes It Easier To Breathe At Home

By Jill Faulkner


When it is difficult to breathe, even in one's own home, the problem may be due to pollutants in the atmosphere that could be removed using a portable air cleaner. Some of these devices are better than others. While mechanical filters can trap pollen and dust, high end models can reduce bacteria, gases and odors. Knowing the needed features can help decide the purchase to make.

It is important that consumers know how serious their problem is before making a purchase. For the cleanest atmosphere in a home, choose the right unit to do the job. Asthma and chemical allergy sufferers usually need a different type of filter than those who suffer from allergies due to pollen and dust. Some chemical allergy sufferers have found that certain HEPA filters actually make their problem worse as the glue used to manufacture the filter is released into the room.

The size of the area to be treated is also significant in selecting a device. In order to clean the atmosphere in the room, it must be exchanged several times every hour. The best of filters cannot do an effective job if the unit has too small a volume. At a very minimum, the device should offer 2 air exchanges every hour.

Keep the location the unit will be used in mind as well. Some are notoriously louder than others. In the bedroom where noise is sometimes a factor, units that can exchange the minimum amount of air may be quieter to operate. However, in family rooms with higher traffic, there may be a need for a larger exchange rate.

Units barely meet the minimum requirements for a room will need to operate on the highest speed most of the time. However, if the consumer selects a more efficient device, it may be possible to turn the fan speed to a lower setting to allow quieter operation while still exchanging the appropriate number of times.

Some purifiers offer an IR detector to monitor the particulates in the room. These devices automatically run on high speed when turned on, but as the particles decrease through filtration, the device moves to a lower speed. Unfortunately, many users find the area being measured is too small for the device to make the determination.

Two numbers are important to consider when looking at a unit's effectiveness. These are the number of exchanges every hour and the percentage of particulates removed each time. The percentage is reported in a number called efficiency. Machines with higher efficiency ratings remove the most particles each pass. The device efficiency is a more important number than the efficiency of the filter. While a filter may meet all the requirements for HEPA filtration, if the unit allows half the volume each hour to bypass the filter, its overall efficiency is much reduced. This leads to a poor overall performance.

If an individual has difficulty breathing at home a portable air cleaner can be helpful. These devices are designed for effective removal of certain pollutants. Selecting the correct device can help to improve one's home atmosphere making breathing easier.




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