Do Air Purifiers Actually Work?
The promise of an air purifier is an enticing one: An appliance designed to cleanse the air in your home, getting rid of all the impurities including odors, smoke, dust, and pet dander. Given the fact that indoor air can have levels of certain pollutants up to five times higher than outdoor air, we get it. Some models may even be able to target bad air that creeps into your apartment or home, especially if you live in an area affected by pollution, or natural disaster.
Most people shouldn't be worried about exposure to temporary pollutants like smoke or exhaust in the air outside your home, as they dissipate over time, explains Ryan Roten, D.O., an emergency medicine doctor with Redlands Community Hospital in California. "In the short term, people will have asthma-like symptoms, primarily, or symptoms closer to allergies or sinusitis, including stuffy nose and a bit of a cough," says Dr. Doten, who has been treating patients with underlying respiratory illnesses as mass wildfires rage along the West Coast and air quality reaches new lows. "If the smoke is dense enough, you might have some headaches due to carbon dioxide, and those with issues like asthma or COPD will have it worse in the moment."
How do air purifiers work?
Air purifiers usually consist of a filter, or multiple filters, and a fan that sucks in and circulates air. As air moves through the filter, pollutants and particles are captured and the clean air is pushed back out into the living space. Typically, filters are made of paper, fiber (often fiberglass), or mesh, and require regular replacement to maintain efficiency.
That means, in addition to the purchase price of an air purifier, you should also factor in operating costs and filter replacement costs. Operational costs can easily amount to $50 annually, since you should be running air purifiers near constantly to garner the benefits. Filter replacements can run upwards of $100 a year all told.
How frequently you will have to change filters varies based upon the purifier type and usage. Some filters are reusable and washable, but they require meticulous maintenance, so you don't usually find them on the most effective air purifiers. Reusable filters are generally better at removing larger particles from the air, like dust mites and pollen. You'll also find UV (ultraviolet light) filters on the market, which often claim to destroy biological impurities like mold or bacteria, but many require higher wattage and greater exposure to be effective (not to mention some bacteria is UV-resistant).
Other air purifiers use ionizers to help attract particles like static — negative ions bond to dust and allergens and make them settle out of the air. If you're interested in buying
What are other ways I can improve the air quality in my home?
The best advice is to address the source of indoor air pollution and ventilate your home. If you are looking to supplement the work of your
Keep your windows open when it's safe to do so to prevent locking irritants into rooms (especially when air purifiers aren’t running!). Create a stronger cross draft by opening windows on opposite sides of the room if possible.
Vacuum often. If you are on the market for a vacuum, opt for one that is sealed, has a bag and is HEPA-certified. They’re better at trapping dust instead of sending it back into the air. The Good Housekeeping Institute recommends the Miele U1 Maverick SHAE0.
Regularly change air filters to properly maintain HVAC equipment and maximize effectiveness. Dr. Roten adds that sourcing a HEPA-specific filter for your circulation system can provide additional filtration: "It's [going to] recirculate the air in your house a bit better with each pass."
Use an exhaust fan in the kitchen (and bath and laundry areas if possible). Switch it on before preheating the oven or firing up the burners, and leave it running for a few minutes after you’re done cooking.
Minimize the use of candles or lighting wood fires and ban smoking inside the home. Reducing pollutant sources is a surefire way to improve air quality.
Sources of Air Pollution in a Car
There are many reasons for poor air quality in a vehicle. Some were mentioned above and here is a list of the most common sources of pollution you may encounter.
Most of the items in this list are gases (the first four). Gases are difficult to remove with an air purifier since they are incredibly small and require advanced gas filter media. We go into detail in our comprehensive air purifier guide for how to effectively remove them.
The pet dander, dust and pollen are airborne particulates and larger than gases. To remove them you need a HEPA air filter as the solutions for gas removal are not effective. Particulate matter is best captured in a net like the fibers of a HEPA filter. Gases in contrast are often adsorbed into a material like activated carbon.
So, from an air purifier perspective it depends upon what you need the air cleaner to do before you can identify the best solution.
Strategies to Clean the Air
There are 3 main strategies to clean the air in any environment. This applies to a home, the office or in a vehicle.
HEPA Filter
A HEPA air filter is the best technology to remove airborne particulates and it does so safely. The problem we have seen with HEPA filters in car air purifiers is that they are much too small to be effective and/or are not true HEPA.
As we explain in 5 reasons to
Recently, Tesla came out with what they call the Biodefense HEPA filtration system in one of their car models. It seems they did the right thing and built a strong enough fan to power the air through a HEPA filter. The gap that we see with this is that HEPA is not effective for gases. And gases are the primary reason people buy a car air purification system. Gases like car fumes will pass right through the HEPA air filter fibers. For something like cigarette smoke removal, the HEPA air filter will remove the smoke particles but not the smoke odors.
The promise of an air purifier is an enticing one: An appliance designed to cleanse the air in your home, getting rid of all the impurities including odors, smoke, dust, and pet dander. Given the fact that indoor air can have levels of certain pollutants up to five times higher than outdoor air, we get it. Some models may even be able to target bad air that creeps into your apartment or home, especially if you live in an area affected by pollution, or natural disaster.
Most people shouldn't be worried about exposure to temporary pollutants like smoke or exhaust in the air outside your home, as they dissipate over time, explains Ryan Roten, D.O., an emergency medicine doctor with Redlands Community Hospital in California. "In the short term, people will have asthma-like symptoms, primarily, or symptoms closer to allergies or sinusitis, including stuffy nose and a bit of a cough," says Dr. Doten, who has been treating patients with underlying respiratory illnesses as mass wildfires rage along the West Coast and air quality reaches new lows. "If the smoke is dense enough, you might have some headaches due to carbon dioxide, and those with issues like asthma or COPD will have it worse in the moment."
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can indeed neutralize some of the threat posed by air pollution and by indoor activities. In reality, though, not all air purifiers necessarily live up to their marketing hype.How do air purifiers work?
Air purifiers usually consist of a filter, or multiple filters, and a fan that sucks in and circulates air. As air moves through the filter, pollutants and particles are captured and the clean air is pushed back out into the living space. Typically, filters are made of paper, fiber (often fiberglass), or mesh, and require regular replacement to maintain efficiency.
That means, in addition to the purchase price of an air purifier, you should also factor in operating costs and filter replacement costs. Operational costs can easily amount to $50 annually, since you should be running air purifiers near constantly to garner the benefits. Filter replacements can run upwards of $100 a year all told.
How frequently you will have to change filters varies based upon the purifier type and usage. Some filters are reusable and washable, but they require meticulous maintenance, so you don't usually find them on the most effective air purifiers. Reusable filters are generally better at removing larger particles from the air, like dust mites and pollen. You'll also find UV (ultraviolet light) filters on the market, which often claim to destroy biological impurities like mold or bacteria, but many require higher wattage and greater exposure to be effective (not to mention some bacteria is UV-resistant).
Other air purifiers use ionizers to help attract particles like static — negative ions bond to dust and allergens and make them settle out of the air. If you're interested in buying
You do not have permission to view link
Войдите или зарегистрируйтесь.
that uses ionizers, make sure it does not produce ozone, a gas made up of three oxygen atoms that is often marketed as helping break down pollutants, because ozone could be a lung irritant and further aggravate asthma conditions. Usually the air purifiers with ozone will have that listed on packaging or in the marketing descriptions.What are other ways I can improve the air quality in my home?
The best advice is to address the source of indoor air pollution and ventilate your home. If you are looking to supplement the work of your
You do not have permission to view link
Войдите или зарегистрируйтесь.
or see if you can get by without one, we recommended trying these steps to help reduce indoor air irritants:Keep your windows open when it's safe to do so to prevent locking irritants into rooms (especially when air purifiers aren’t running!). Create a stronger cross draft by opening windows on opposite sides of the room if possible.
Vacuum often. If you are on the market for a vacuum, opt for one that is sealed, has a bag and is HEPA-certified. They’re better at trapping dust instead of sending it back into the air. The Good Housekeeping Institute recommends the Miele U1 Maverick SHAE0.
Regularly change air filters to properly maintain HVAC equipment and maximize effectiveness. Dr. Roten adds that sourcing a HEPA-specific filter for your circulation system can provide additional filtration: "It's [going to] recirculate the air in your house a bit better with each pass."
Use an exhaust fan in the kitchen (and bath and laundry areas if possible). Switch it on before preheating the oven or firing up the burners, and leave it running for a few minutes after you’re done cooking.
Minimize the use of candles or lighting wood fires and ban smoking inside the home. Reducing pollutant sources is a surefire way to improve air quality.
Sources of Air Pollution in a Car
There are many reasons for poor air quality in a vehicle. Some were mentioned above and here is a list of the most common sources of pollution you may encounter.
- Odors
- Cigarette smoke
- Carbon Monoxide and exhaust fumes from other cars
- Carbon Dioxide
- Pet Dander
- Particulate matter like dust, mold, pollen and bacteria
Most of the items in this list are gases (the first four). Gases are difficult to remove with an air purifier since they are incredibly small and require advanced gas filter media. We go into detail in our comprehensive air purifier guide for how to effectively remove them.
The pet dander, dust and pollen are airborne particulates and larger than gases. To remove them you need a HEPA air filter as the solutions for gas removal are not effective. Particulate matter is best captured in a net like the fibers of a HEPA filter. Gases in contrast are often adsorbed into a material like activated carbon.
So, from an air purifier perspective it depends upon what you need the air cleaner to do before you can identify the best solution.
Strategies to Clean the Air
There are 3 main strategies to clean the air in any environment. This applies to a home, the office or in a vehicle.
- Source control – remove the source of the issue. In a car this can be difficult since you don’t have a choice but to drive on the road.
- Ventilation – this is achieved by circulating air from the outside or by rolling down the windows. Again, this can be difficult depending upon the weather conditions or pollution on the roads.
- Air Cleaning – using an air filter to remove the pollutants.
This list is sorted in the order of importance. So, source control is the first choice, followed by ventilation and then air cleaning.
Purpose of Your Car’s Air FilterCars come with an air filter. What is interesting is that the purpose is the same as the air filter in your air conditioning or furnace heating system. And that is to protect the equipment and not your health.
In most cases this is a low efficiency pleated filter. This means it will filter out the larger particles only which is most important in maintaining the operation of your vehicle.
The same issue exists with your HVAC filter in that the fans are not strong enough to pull air through a higher efficiency filter. So, your car air filter will only remove the biggest pollen or dust particles. And not the finer particles that you breathe into your lungs.
Furthermore, imagine if you wanted to remove fumes and emissions from vehicle exhaust. In other words, the gases we listed above. This issue is even harder since a bank of carbon has more air flow resistance and therefore requires a stronger fan to pull the air through.
We looked at developing a better filter that could be placed in a car however we determined this was not practical since the fans in a car are just not strong enough. The result would be much lower air flow. This would create a strain on the fan as well as poorer performance in the air conditioning.
So, it’s a difficult problem to solve given the limitations. In addition, it takes a good amount of energy to move air through a filter that is effective and there is not a lot of power in a cigarette lighter adaptor.
And this leads us to the current car air purifier solutions.
HEPA Filter
A HEPA air filter is the best technology to remove airborne particulates and it does so safely. The problem we have seen with HEPA filters in car air purifiers is that they are much too small to be effective and/or are not true HEPA.
As we explain in 5 reasons to
You do not have permission to view link
Войдите или зарегистрируйтесь.
, the bigger the filter is and the higher efficiency it has the better it will do in cleaning the air. You simply cannot cut corners and make a tiny filter or one with a low efficiency. It won’t be able to filter much.Recently, Tesla came out with what they call the Biodefense HEPA filtration system in one of their car models. It seems they did the right thing and built a strong enough fan to power the air through a HEPA filter. The gap that we see with this is that HEPA is not effective for gases. And gases are the primary reason people buy a car air purification system. Gases like car fumes will pass right through the HEPA air filter fibers. For something like cigarette smoke removal, the HEPA air filter will remove the smoke particles but not the smoke odors.