How is the indoor air quality at your home? Many of us neglect to think about the air quality at home, but doing so can result in breathing in more allergens, mold, and toxins. There is a way to breathe cleaner air at home, and it's easier than you might think to implement the solution by choosing air purifiers that work for you.
Air cleaners, such as an air purifier, can drastically help improve indoor air quality. Air purifiers collect contaminants and pollutants, as well as allergens like dust and pollen.
How do you know which type of air purifier to get with so many options? Read this guide on choosing air purifiers to find the perfect solution, and start breathing cleaner air!
1. Choosing Between Room vs. Whole-House Air Purifiers
The first step is to choose the right type of air purifier. There are many air purifier types and sizes on the market, but some might be too small for your house or room. You'll need the right type, and that means considering the size of your home and your needs.
There are two types: portable room air purifiers and whole-house air purifiers. Let's break each one down in more detail.
Portable Room Purifiers
Room purifiers are easy to move around, as they generally don't weigh much. You can place a portable purifier in almost any room of the house, as long as you have an outlet nearby. It's cheap and convenient, but not a great solution for the entire house.
Portable air purifiers aren't as powerful, they can't clean as much of the air in the house as you might like, and they often require frequent maintenance and cleaning.
Room purifiers generally only clean the air in one room, such as a bedroom or office space. While this might work for rooms where you spend a lot of time, they can't clean the air in the rest of the home.
Whole-House Air Purifiers
Air purifiers do work well, but some types work better than others.
A whole-house air purifier cleans the air throughout your entire home, rather than in one room or set location. As a result, you can breathe easier from the kitchen to the bedroom and everywhere in between.
This type of air purifier connects to any air duct AC system.
A whole-house air purifier, like our iWave Air Purifying Device, protects the entire house by filtering mold, allergens, dust, smoke, odors, and more.
The iWave works by producing ions that break down any pollutants in the air. Our patented technology creates an equal amount of both negative and positive ions. As a result, you can start breathing cleaner air!
2. Which Is Best for Your Home?
Now that you know more about the types of air purifiers, you'll have to consider which is best. To do that, you'll need to consider several factors.
- The size of your home
- How much time you spend in each room
- Whether you or someone in the home has allergies
- Your budget
- How much time you have for maintenance/cleaning
- How much space you have
- The features you want
Naturally, it makes sense to want to clean the air in every room of your house. That's one of the main reasons homeowners choose a whole-house air purification system over portable purifiers. However, you should consider all your needs before making a purchase.
Home Size
The first step you'll need to take is to calculate the size of your home and the area you want the purifier to clean. Portable, room air purifiers state the size of the room they are designed to clean. For instance, the unit may claim that it can clean homes up to 1,000 square feet.
You'll want to buy an air purifier powerful enough to clean the room without choosing one that's too powerful, as it can be noisier and use up more energy.
Look at the CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) rating. Air purifiers have CADR ratings for pollen, dust, and smoke/tobacco. The better the rating, the faster the unit cleans your air.
Mid-sized and larger homes benefit the most from a whole-house purifier, as it covers each room in the house and every member of your family.
Features
Many home air purifiers have extra features. Some of the best features to look for are carbon filters, HEPA filters, and ionizers. You may also find UV lights and different fan speeds.
The Best Filtration System for Allergies
If you or someone in your home has allergies, a single room purifier might not deliver the results you want. Allergens such as pollen, pet dander, mold, and dust mites can all act as triggers for people with allergies.
What's the best solution for someone with allergies? A whole-house air purifier is your best bet, as it keeps each room in the house clean and makes it easier to breathe.
3. Know the Air Purifier Types
In addition to whole-house or single room air purifiers, there are other types and factors to consider when choosing air purifiers. Here are some of the most common features and types:
- HEPA air purifiers
- Ultraviolet (UV) purifiers
- Activated carbon air purifiers
- Ionic air purifiers
- Central Air cleaners (such as the iWave)
HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) purifiers filter the particles in the air such as dust, pollen, pet dander, and so on. To be a true HEPA filter, it must collect 99.97% of particles larger than 0.3 microns. Make sure the unit states it's a true HEPA filtration system, not HEPA-type or HEPA-like.
Activated carbon purifiers are very porous and can filter great quantities of contaminants in the air.
Ultraviolet purifiers use UV light to clean the air and eliminate germs and viruses. UV light can stop pollutants in the air from multiplying.
Ionic air purifiers create ions in the air. As a result, pollutants and particles are attracted to these ions and become heavier. As they become heavier, they fall to the ground or become trapped in a collection area.
Central AC air purifiers are whole-house purifiers that connect to any HVAC system. Our iWave system kills bacteria, mold, and even viruses, producing cleaner, healthier air for the whole family.
4. Finding the Best Place to Buy an Air Purifier
Now that you know a bit more about the different types and styles of air purifiers, you're likely wondering what the best place is to buy one. While you can buy many types of air purifiers online, you won't get the same quality service or answers to your questions.
We recommend going through an HVAC company.
Before breaking out your wallet, it pays to do some research and look into the company. For instance, if you're going to install a whole-house air filtration system, you'll want to go with a highly experienced HVAC company.
Here at Crystal Heating and Cooling, we've been proudly serving customers near St. Louis since 1965! Our HVAC and air purifier experts can help install our iWave system in your home and answer any questions you have.
Since there are so many air purifiers on the market, you probably have questions about which type is best for your home. Let us walk you through it and learn more about how our air purifier can help protect your whole family from pollutants, allergens, mold, and more.
5. Consider Your Budget and Cost Savings
You might be wondering what the most affordable air purifying system is or which option is the most durable. You can find air purifiers for cheap, but they're not made to last, and they won't deliver the best results. Even larger portable air purifiers require frequent cleaning and maintenance and can break down over time.
Whole-house air purifiers often come with warranties and guarantees that last longer than room air purifiers. Our iWave system also has a self-cleaning design, so you don't have to deal with the hassle of cleaning and maintenance.
So, in the long run, whole-house air purifiers save you more. They last longer than portable units, and our iWave purifiers don't require replacement parts.
Before you make your decision, request an in-home estimate.
6. Review the Company's Reputation and Promises
Adding onto the last point, it's important that you consider a company's reputation. Will they stand behind their product, offering warranties and guarantees you can trust?
You can learn more about what the company offers you with the product on their website.
Read reviews and testimonials to get an idea of how satisfied past customers were with their air purifiers.
If you go with an HVAC company, they may offer additional programs and services to keep your system in top shape. For instance, our Care Club Program is an HVAC maintenance plan that helps you save big on appointments and parts. You'll never have to worry about your system again.
Choosing Air Purifiers Can Be Simple
We hope this guide helped inform you about the different types of air purifiers out there. When choosing air purifiers for your home, you'll need to consider the size of your house and whether you want a small, portable unit or a whole-house filtration system.
If you want the most benefits and the cleanest indoor air, we recommend our iWave air filtration system. This way, you can breathe clean air in each room of your house.
Contact us to learn more about our iWave Air Purifier, or schedule an estimate today!
