May 10, 2022
Air quality in Hanover, MD

Maintaining the air quality of your Hanover, MD home or business environment should be a significant consideration when thinking about your health and overall well-being. Spaces shared with pets and plants are prone to dust, dander, pollen, and other pollutants that considerably reduce the air quality.

While there are several mitigation measures for these concerns that can help to ensure good air quality, one of the best strategies to implement is air purifiers. These devices effectively capture fine pollutants such as dust and mold spores that may cause allergic reactions and that are detrimental to your respiratory health. If you are unsure which purifier to invest in, here is a list of six of the best types of purifiers you could purchase.

1. HEPA Air Purifiers

The high-efficiency particulate absorbing (HEPA) and high-efficiency particulate air filter can remove up to 99.7% of particles bigger than 0.2 microns from the environment around your home. The purifiers effectively remove pollen, mold, dander, and dust particles. This purifier cannot remove gases, chemicals, and odors, even though it effectively traps airborne particles.

However, you should be aware that the HEPA air filter has to be replaced for more effectiveness. It is critical to note that these filters are not capable of trapping microorganisms smaller than 0.2 microns, which includes things like bacteria, germs, and viruses. The filters work through three mechanisms to trap small particles.

The first of these mechanisms is interception, where a particle comes within a single fiber radius and gets stuck. Some HEPA purifiers come with activated carbon-based material, which helps absorb chemicals and odors. The benefit of investing in a HEPA air purifier is that it effectively traps particulate pollutants and has no by-products that may be considered harmful.

2. Activated Carbon Air Purifiers

An activated carbon purifier is considered porous due to the processing it undergoes, which also helps it achieve a larger surface area for absorption purposes. These purifiers effectively remove fumes, smoke, odors, and gasses from your home. If you are allergic to natural gas, this purifier is best designed to eliminate chemicals and fumes, although it is ineffective in removing dust, dander, pollen, and mold.

Activated carbon air purifiers have molecular-sized pores with a chemical-bonding and absorbing ability. This feature makes it effective in getting rid of recontamination, tobacco smoke, and chemical emissions. It is advisable to get an activated carbon air purifier model with a HEPA filter if you want to remove pollutants such as pollen, mold, and dust.

3. Ultraviolet Air Purifiers

An ultraviolet air purifier works together with the particulate filter systems since it does not eliminate the airborne particles. These purifiers work by having microorganisms pass through an installed UV lamp, which uses radiated rays to destroy the microorganisms by damaging their genetic and cellular components.

The UV air purifier converts oxygen and water molecules in the air to hydroxyl and ozone, which react with pollutants and make them harmless. It is vital that you choose a UV purifier with the correct wattage for effective functionality. Consider using a filter system together with the UV purifier since particulates will shade microorganisms without it. If you need excellent results with this purifier, consider integrating its work with a HEPA or an activated carbon filter and finalizing the process using the UV purifier.

4. Ozone Air Purifiers

These purifiers clean the air in your surroundings by emitting ozone gas. The available brands and models vary in the amount of ozone they produce during their operation. The pollutants found within the home environment may take a long time to react with the gas, so the purifiers are considered to be largely ineffective.

The purifier has negative ions integrated into its working mechanism; hence, it does not eliminate pollutants such as dust or pollen but merely masks them. It can effectively restrict the growth of several biological agents, but this purifier type cannot fully clean the air unless you increase the ozone concentrations. You should also note that this gas can irritate asthma, and with increased levels of ozone being released into the air, it may lead to scarring of the lungs.

5. Adsorbent Air Purifiers

These purifiers are mostly used in environmental cleanups due to their excellent ability to trap toxic substances. The adsorbent air purifier is made of activated charcoal and is effective in trapping odors and chemicals.

These purifiers are made of adsorbents to attract substances and impurities through a chemical or physical process. When using the physical process, the purifier uses electrostatic force between the molecules to cause an attraction between the polar substances and the polar adsorbents, and the non-polar substances are attracted to the non-polar adsorbents.

If your purifier uses chemical adsorption, also referred to as chemisorption, the substances will bond through a chemical process with the adsorbent. The purifier absorbs unwanted gases and impurities into its porous bed made of adsorbent material and releases clean air that does not contain any gas pollutants. The process of chemical adsorption is irreversible, but physical adsorption is reversible.

The advantage of using the adsorbent air purifier is that it does not have any harmful by-products, so it’s quite safe to use. This type of purifier also effectively eliminates any odors that ionic and HEPA purifiers may not remove as they uniquely target airborne microorganisms.

6. Ionic Air Purifiers

Ionic air purifiers work by emitting negatively charged ions into the atmosphere to magnetically bond with positively charged particles such as dust. Once this bonding occurs, the particles become heavy and fall from the air. Other designs come with electrostatic precipitators that help trap the positive particles to a metallic plate in the purifier.

One of the advantages of this purifier is that it operates quietly and does not need a motor to function. Except for odors, this type effectively removes pollutants such as bacteria, smoke, dust, allergens, dander, viruses, and fumes from the air. Another advantage of investing in this ionic purifier is that it doesn’t need filter replacements, so it will help lower your operational expenses. This type of purifier is good at masking polluted air instead of cleaning it and does not possess the ability to dispose of or absorb harmful contaminants in the air.

How to Choose

There are several air purifiers to choose from, and the information provided by some manufacturers may not be sufficient to help you make an informed choice. Therefore, you need to consider the size of the purifier based on where you would want to place it for effectiveness. You should also factor in the CADR ratings, which measure the purification standards and the noise levels that are often listed in decibels. Lastly, factor in the purifier’s overall installation, maintenance, and operation costs.

At Beltway Air Conditioning & Heating, our competent technicians offer top-notch heating, cooling, and air quality solutions. If you are in need of professional indoor air quality services, air purifiers, or excellent custom ductwork, choosing a professional team like ours to get the work done will save you from recurrent repair costs and ensure the longevity of your systems and excellence in service delivery.

Call or send us a message today at Beltway Air Conditioning & Heating to book an appointment with us, and our certified technicians will be glad to be of help to you.

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