Whole Home Air Purification
If you have allergies or suffer from asthma, an air purifier is an ideal solution. Air purifiers come in many sizes, from single room devices to whole home filtration systems. Some purification systems remove only odors, while others remove a combination of allergy causing particles including dust, mold, germs, odors and chemical vapors.
According to a study done by the EPA, indoor air pollution can be 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor air pollution levels. If you want to improve the indoor air quality of your home, call the air quality experts at Black Diamond to learn how.
Air Purification Is Important for Energy Efficient Homes
New energy efficient home designs produce great savings on utility bills by tightly sealing in temperature controlled indoor air. However, trapping our indoor air can pose a health risk if it is not exchanged with clean fresh air or purified with an air purification system. According to the EPA “The most effective ways to improve your indoor air are to reduce or remove the sources of pollutants and to ventilate with clean outdoor air.” This is not always practical living in Utah, especially during an inversion when the air outside is smoggy, or the weather is inclement or extreme. The solution for many allergy and asthma sufferers is to install a whole home air filtration and purification system. An air purification system cleans the air of contaminants like allergy causing particles, mold and germs, odors and chemical vapors.
What causes our indoor air to be contaminated?
Because our homes are more weatherproof and tightly sealed, a lack of ventilation means that simple everyday living activities like cooking and cleaning or even just the chemicals in our furniture can become trapped in your home and build up to unhealthy levels in the air. In addition things like pet dander, kitty litter, aerosol sprays, cleansers, paints, building materials, crafts, even copiers and printers all emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which can have a negative impact on your health.
Inadequate Ventilation
Your HVAC system ductwork not only circulates warm and cool air, it also circulates air contaminants throughout your home. Though the air filter in your furnace or air intake helps to reduce the entrance of outside contaminants, it doesn’t remove the smaller particles as effectively as an air purification system that uses HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter technology.
Why is a furnace filter not enough?
A furnace filter does a good job of trapping and preventing larger air contaminants like dust from entering your home, however, an air purification system uses a more effective level of filter technology that a furnace couldn’t handle because it would restrict too much air flow and cause problems for your HVAC system.
Your furnace filter has a MERV rating which tells you how well it blocks air particulates from entering your HVAC system. MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. It is important to use the filter that is recommended for your specific furnace. Using too high of a MERV rated filter can block too much air flow to your HVAC system and cause it to malfunction. Having insufficient air flow can also make your indoor air worse. If you use too low of a MERV rated filter it won’t effectively block dust, pollen and other contaminants from entering your air system. In general, a MERV rating of 1 is the worst and 16 would be hospital grade. Furnace filters can be purchased at many retail stores. Filters with a MERV rating of 8-13 is common in residential homes, but be sure to check how high of a rating your furnace can handle.
Here is a glimpse of how effective common MERV rated filters are at removing air contaminants:
MERV 8 Filters:
Pollen
Dust / Lint
Dust Mites
Debris
Pet Dander
Mold Spores
Carpet & Textile Fibers
MERV 11 Filters:
Pollen
Dust / Lint
Dust Mites
Debris
Pet Dander
Mold Spores
Carpet & Textile Fibers
Car Fumes & Smog
Smoke
Cough/Sneeze
MERV 13 Filters:
Pollen
Dust / Lint
Dust Mites
Debris
Pet Dander
Mold Spores
Carpet & Textile Fibers
Car Fumes & Smog
Tobacco Smoke
Smoke
Bacteria
Virus Carriers
Microscopic Allergens
Types of Air Cleaner Filter Technologies
Beyond the standard furnace air filter typically sold in retail stores, here’s a short list of other common types of air filtration technologies:
HEPA filters These filters are designed to remove 99.7% of airborne particulates that are larger than 0.3 microns that pass through the filter. This type of filter would block smoke, pollen, and dust. See the image below, from the EPA website that illustrates just how small air particulates are when compared to a human hair.
ULPA filters ULPA stands for Ultra low particulate air. These filters can remove 99.999% of airborne particulates larger than 100 nanometers. This would include smoke, dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria.
Electrostatic filter Electrostatic filters clean the air by using electricity to cause the airborne particles to stick together.
Electrostatic precipitators This type of filter collects air particulates by creating opposite chargers on metal plates that attract the various particulates in the air.
Ionization Ionizers emit a charge to the airstream that cause the air particulates to cling to the filter or other surface with a magnet like attraction. Ionization is often used in combination with an additional filter method.
Ultraviolet (UV) Filtration Ultraviolet light technology purifies the air by damaging the DNA of germs, viruses and microorganisms and stopping their ability to reproduce and spread. UV filtration technology is often used in combination with other filtration technology to maximize the removal of airborne contaminants.
Purify and Clean Your Air So You Can Breathe Easier
For air purification or air cleaning we recommend the PureAir Air Purification System, Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16 Media Air Cleaner, or the Healthy Climate 11 Media Air Cleaner.
PureAir Air Purification System by Lennox
The PureAir Air Purification System cleans the air of airborne particles, germs and bacteria, and chemical odors and vapors. This system removes 99.9% of all particles like pollen, dust and pet dander. It has a hospital MERV rating of 16 and removes over 95% of air borne particles down to .3 microns in size and 90% of bioaerosols down to .01 microns in size, and 90% of germs and bacteria down to .01 microns in size. It also removes and destroys around 50% of odors and chemical vapors found in your home in a 24-hour period. Harmful ground-level ozone is also reduced and destroyed.
Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16 Media Air Cleaner by Lennox
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16 Media Air Cleaner has hospital grade MERV-16 rating filtration with carbon-coated fibers that provides powerful purification without restricting airflow. This system removes more than 95% of particles from the air down to .3 microns in size, it also removes 90% of bioaerosols down to .01 microns in size. The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16 neutralizes odors before they can recirculate through your home and converts harmful ground-level ozone into clean oxygen.
Healthy Climate 11 Media Air Cleaner by Lennox
The Healthy Climate 11 Media Air Cleaner has a MERV-11 rating and removes more than 85% of airborne particles down to 3 microns in size. For reference, 1 micron is equal to 1000ths of 1 millimeter in size. The Healthy Climate 11 Media Air Cleaner removes more than 85% of bioaerosols down to 3 microns in size and does it without producing lung irritating ozone which some purification systems are known for creating.
Call the air quality experts at Black Diamond Experts
If you suffer with allergies, asthma or are just concerned about your indoor air quality call the air quality experts at Black Diamond to schedule an appointment and see what options are available to help you breathe cleaner air.
