If you have asthma or allergies, you know that clean air is important to prevent any breathing distress. Many times the air we breathe contains small particles such as dust, pollen, smoke, mold or other pollutants that can cause a harmful asthma attack or an allergic reaction. Air purifiers work to remove these unwanted particles from our indoor air to reduce the occurrence of allergy and asthma related symptoms.

How Air Purifiers Work:

  • A Fan draws air into the air cleaner
  • Air passes through air filter, capturing asthma/allergy irritating particles
  • A top air purifier will often feature a carbon filter that removes odors at this stage of air filtration
  • Once passing through the filter, air recirculates into the room

This process continues, drawing in all of a room's air, making the air cleaner each time it passes through the filter. There are different types of air filters and air purifiers that clean the air in different ways. Some will remove odors (carbon filters) and other will even kill bacteria in the air using a UV light within the air cleaner. Carbon filters and HEPA filters are often combined to remove odors and irritating particles from the air. Be sure to buy the correct type of filter(s) for your intended use.

Important Things to Know About Home Air Cleaners:

  • Most air purifiers use a filter
  • HEPA air filters are the best air cleaners – they capture the smallest particles (.3 microns or larger)
  • Air filters must be regularly replaced – check your instructions to see when to replace
  • Home air purifiers have room size limitations – check the max room size your purifier can clean
  • Some filter-less home air cleaners use ozone to clean the air –not the best air cleaners as they tend to leave behind asthma irritating ozone

Air purifiers should be placed in rooms you frequently spend the most time in to be most effective. Consider putting an air cleaner in your bedroom since you typically spend around 8 hours sleeping. Even the best air cleaner can only clean a single room, so consider adding air cleaners to the rooms you frequent the most.