Air Purifiers and Other IAQ Products Can Improve Your Quality of Life

Indoor air pollutants are harmful to your health and can even hamper your quality of life. Households can have two to five times the pollutants as outdoor air. However, you can improve your indoor air quality and health by eliminating and controlling the sources of pollutants. Installing air purifiers and ventilation systems are two ways to achieve that.

Types of Air Purifiers

Also known as air cleaners, these devices can remove a variety of pollutants. There are several types, and each targets certain sources.

Electronic air cleaners and mechanical air filters remove particles from the air. Electronic air cleaners use electrostatic attraction, which traps charged particles on a collector. Mechanical air filters draw in air to capture particles with a filter.

Gas-phase air filters use absorbent materials such as activated carbon. As air passes through the product, the filter absorbs odors and gases. However, there are many filter types, and each is designed to eliminate specific pollutants.

Photocatalytic oxidation cleaners and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation cleaners use UV light to destroy indoor air pollutants. PCO cleaners also use a catalyst that reacts with the light to destroy gases. UVGI cleaners target biological pollutants and should be used alongside filtration systems.

Ventilation Systems

Ventilation for your entire home can maintain your IAQ. Each type of system filters the air in a different way.

Supply ventilation pressurizes the air with a fan. Air leaks out of your home through its shell, vents in your bathroom and kitchen range, and other intentional vents. At the same time, the system forces outside air into your home.

Exhaust ventilation, on the other hand, depressurizes your home. It removes air from your house while fresh air comes in through your home’s shell and other vents.

A balanced system naturally does both and usually includes two duct systems and two fans. It’s designed to exhaust air from rooms with higher levels of pollutants and moisture, such as bathrooms and kitchens. At the same time, it supplies fresh air to living spaces such as family rooms and bedrooms.

Energy recovery ventilation provides more control to reduce energy loss and costs. Energy recovery ventilators and heat recovery ventilators both have a heat exchanger, controls, and one or more fans that push air through the equipment to outdoors. However, the heat exchanger for an ERV transfers water vapor alongside heated air. An HRV heat exchanger only transfers heat.