Why Are Air Purifiers Important and How Do You Know which One Is Best for You?

A Simple Comparison of the Best Whole Home Air Purifiers that Really Work

Have you ever burned bacon? Or had pie filling burn at the bottom of your oven? Or the worst of all! Burned popcorn in your microwave? 

Then you understand how hard it is to get unwanted smells out of your home. Despite your best efforts, the scent of ash remains until the next day reminding you and everyone who walks in your house of your inadequate cooking skills.

Do you hide indoors during allergy season or have a severe sensitivity to mold? Or have you ever walked into a pet owner’s home and felt the allergens ravaging their way through your nasal passages to commence their attack on your airways? 

Better take a benadryl now before you start sneezing all over the place and people glare at you for spreading unknown germs. 

Are you a caregiver to someone who has an autoimmune disorder or is immunocompromised? 

Viruses, bacteria, mold spores, and air borne allergens constantly attack the air quality in our homes. Smoke and odors from outside neighbors, indoor cooking mishaps, dirty shoes, athletic equipment, and bathrooms combine throughout your home transported by your air conditioning system. 

You have dirty air! Odorous, smokey, allergen-heavy, virus-filled, bacteria-laden, mold spore-transporting, dirty air.

Yes, you have an A/C filter. But anything less than a HEPA filter cannot keep up with the demand of filtering out all air pollution. And some particles are too microscopic for the typical residential filter to catch. 

Also, most super dense air filters can restrict air flow and create negative pressure in your cooling system. And if you don’t change your A/C filter regularly, then it’s probably too clogged to do you any good.

You can’t filter all of these particles all the time. You need to purify your air from the inside.  

Why Are Whole Home Air Purifiers Important?

Air purifiers keep your air clean without having to replace additional filters every couple of months. A whole home air purifier is a device that cleans your air using a combination of UV lights, ionization, and peroxide. They integrate into your air conditioning system to purify the air throughout your home, not just one room like portable air purifiers. 

“Let your home be a healing place at the end of the day not one that makes you sick.“

Those of you with mold sensitivities, allergies, asthma or who are immunocompromised can breathe easier – literally – with an air purifier that significantly cleans the air in your home of all the things that make you sick. Let your home be a healing place at the end of the day not one that makes you sick.

Even if you’re a generally healthy person who doesn’t get sick. You’ll benefit from clean, odor-free air that holds no reminders of last night’s dinner fiasco. Improving the quality of your air lets you start fresh everyday.

We have a list of four great options to keep your air clean and your family healthy. 

But before we get to that, we need to clear up some science-y terminology and methods that get thrown around when comparing air purifiers.

How Do Air Purifiers Really Work? 

Yes, air purifiers really do work to increase the air quality in your home. But purifiers do not deal with the heaviness that humid air causes. For that, you want to investigate the comfort level of your home, which you can read more on here. 

There are four primary methods that air purifiers use:

• UltraViolet Light
• Ionization
• Stimulation of a peroxide core
• Electrostatic filter

Each one has its strengths, but a combination of all of these keeps your air clean no matter what life throws at you.

1. UltraViolet Light

This is the most widely known method for purifying air. A UV light is great for keeping mold from growing in a specific area like an air handler. But it’s effectiveness is only as great as its range. Here’s what I mean.

Shine a flashlight on the wall. Now sprinkle confetti in front of your light. Everywhere the light touches will be cleansed. But, see all those shadowy places? Yep, the confetti blocks the light from reaching those places just as particles block the light from reaching other particles allowing viruses, bacteria, mold spores, and other pollutants to get away.

Because of this pitfall, UV lights are best when they can focus on a small area or when they work with another mechanism like a peroxide core, which we’ll get to in a minute.

2. Ionization   

Ionization is best at efficiently eliminating odors and smoke from your air. Here’s how it works:

Remember back to science class when you learned that all electrons have positive and negative charges? You probably rubbed a balloon against your head at some point to show the charge it generated. 

And remember when you played around with those strong magnets and pinched yourself because opposites attract? Good!

All things are made up of particles that have a positive or negative charge. That includes viruses, bacteria, mold spores, and allergens. When you alter the charge of a particle, it undergoes a chemical process that changes it.

Ionization is where the purifier produces ions that attract the pollutants and end up removing the Hydrogen molecule thereby disabling the pollutants. The loss of the Hydrogen causes the pollutants to lose its energy source and die. By attracting ionized particles, ionization encourages particles to cling together. The filter catches these enlarged particles and keeps them from re-entering the air flow. 

You may have heard some information about ionization creating ozone, but none of the purifiers we are comparing do that. 

There are some purifiers out there that do, so be careful. Ozone is a harmful chemical when inhaled, and that kind of defeats its purpose as an air purifier in our book, so we don’t use those.

3. Stimulation of a Peroxide Core

The peroxide core keeps your ducts mold-free because it injects peroxide into the air that works not only to disinfect the air, but also to disinfect any surfaces the air comes in contact with. No Lysol required!

In this method, a UV light stimulates the peroxide core to release the peroxide into the air in a gaseous form. The core itself is a honeycomb structure that forces the air through small tunnels where it comes in contact with the peroxide. And because peroxide still works on surfaces, the air disinfects everything it touches.

That means…

• Your ducts
• Air vents 
• Even surfaces in your home…

Become self cleaning. No more air that makes you sick because of mold growing in your ducts.

4. Electrostatic filters

Electrostatic filters are awesome. They are reusable yet low maintenance. How is that possible? Reusable stuff usually means more work to clean it, right? 

Unlike the first three methods, Electrostatic filters focus on cleaning the air that comes before the air handler instead of after. Similar to ionization, electrostatic filters use electricity to charge the air and attract dirt, allergens, and other pollutants. 

There are three layers of electrostatic filters. 

• The pre-filter
• The field charger
• The collection cells

Before entering your home, the pre-filter blocks larger particles like dirt, dust, and pollen. The field charger electrifies the remaining smaller particles, (mold spores, bacteria, and viruses). 

Finally, the air passes through the honeycomb-shaped collection cells where the opposite charge attracts and collects the smaller particles. The honeycomb structure is important because it increases the amount of surface area available to capture the pollutants. 

More space means more pollutants caught over a longer period of time.

While electrostatic filters focus on preventing dirty air from entering your air handler, they do not filter odors or smoke the way that ionization does.

The value in using electrostatic filters is that they are reusable and the manufacturer designs them to last for the lifetime of your air conditioner. 

To clean them is easy. Your a/c technician sprays it down during your regular biannual maintenance. 

That’s a one time cost to protect the investment you made in your air conditioning system for years to come.

Which Air Purifier Is Best for You?

I promised them, now here are the four whole home air purifiers that are worth your money. 

1. iWave

The iWave uses ionization to effectively eliminate odors and smoke from inside your home in minutes. It makes those tiny pollutants stick together, so the filter can stop them from spreading to the rest of your home. 

How life changing that would’ve been for me in college…

But there are some things that the iWave just doesn’t do as well as other models. The ions the iWave produces are simply released into the air stream to attract something of the opposite charge. So it’s possible that a positively and negatively charged particle produced by the iWave meet up and become a couple instead of attracting a pollutant. 

Because of this limitation, the iWave is not as fast as peroxides in purifying particles.

The iWave also doesn’t keep your ducts clean. The ions generated by iWave only attract and dehabiliate particles in the air. It doesn’t work on surfaces. 

The iWave’s efficiency depends on how your ductwork runs. If it was designed properly, great! It’ll work fine. But if the previous installer ran the ducts poorly, then the iWave won’t be as effective. 

But don’t discount the iWave yet. Of all our options, it’s the most economical over the long term, and is self cleaning. That means zero upkeep costs and zero maintenance. Install it and forget it for 12-15 years.

Just the Facts Please:

• Benefits
  • Improves air quality
  • Eliminates odors
  • Dissipates smoke
  • Discourages allergens
  • Neutralizes viruses
  • Inhibits bacteria
  • Discourages mold spores
• Features
  • Ionization
  • Self cleaning
• Maintenance
  • No maintenance required for 12-15 years

Cost: $700

2. Dust Free Active

So you know all that science we just went through? Yeah, Dust Free Active uses all of it! The ionization takes care of that burning plastic smell and any smoke generated from cooking fiascos, while the UV light and peroxide core keeps your ducts and surfaces clean. 

Just the Facts Please:

• Benefits
  • Disinfects surfaces
  • Improves air quality
  • Eliminates odors
  • Dissipates smoke
  • Discourages allergens
  • Neutralizes viruses
  • Inhibits bacteria
  • Discourages mold spores
• Features
  • UV light
  • Peroxide Core
  • Ionization
• Maintenance
  • Replace UV light bulb and core every 2 years (about $325)

Cost: $850

3. Reme Halo LED

You see, the UV light is an LED. That means you save big on maintenance. It lasts 5-7 years where the light bulb in the Dust Free Active needs replacing every 2 years. 

Over a ten year period (cause you’re in it for the long haul), the Reme Halo LED comes out less expensive than its competitors.

You’re already making a long term investment in maintaining a healthy home for your family. Make it count.

Just the Facts Please:

• Benefits
  • Disinfects surfaces
  • Improves air quality
  • Eliminates odors
  • Dissipates smoke
  • Discourages allergens
  • Neutralizes viruses
  • Inhibits bacteria
  • Discourages mold spores
• Features
  • LED UV light
  • Peroxide Core
  • Ionization
• Maintenance
  • Replace UV light bulb and core every 5-7 years

Cost: $1450

4. AccuClean

AccuClean uses electricity to charge the particles and forces them through tunnels that attract the pollutants. This method works differently from ionization though because it doesn’t purify smoke and odors. 

A huge benefit to you is that AccuClean lasts for the entire life of your A/C unit. It’s reusable and easy to clean during a biannual maintenance. 

Just the Facts Please:

• Benefits
  • Save money on not buying filters
  • Improves air quality
  • Discourages allergens
  • Neutralizes viruses
  • Inhibits bacteria
  • Discourages mold spores
• Features
  • Electrostatic Filtration
  • Reusable Filter
  • Easy to Clean
• Maintenance
  • Needs cleaning twice a year

Cost: $1400

Why You Need an Air Purifier Even If You’re Perfectly Healthy

I’m perfectly healthy. No asthma. No allergies. No sensitivities to mold…okay, so I could stand to lose a few pounds, but overall, I’m pretty healthy. 

So when my husband said he was installing a new product to “purify my air”, I was not impressed. 

My air was just fine. It wasn’t hurting me. Why do I need that? But there it was. Installed in my home for better or worse.

At first, I didn’t notice anything. But one day I didn’t run the A/C for some reason, and all the smells came back…

I grudgingly, admitted my husband was right, and turned the A/C on to get the smells out. Within the hour, there was a noticeable difference in the air quality. 

I felt so embarrassed when I realized how nose-blind I was to certain smells – bad smells. Like diapers, trash, laundry…The normal things that my season of life revolves around were stinking up my house. 

And it didn’t matter how much I cleaned because the smells were recurring day in and day out.

My cooking habits don’t really help either. I’ve been learning how not to burn bacon. Yeah, my house perpetually smells of bacon. Not to mention my poor, overworked smoke alarm…

While my air wasn’t making me sick, waking up to the memory of yesterday’s blow-out diapers or failed cooking experience wasn’t doing me – or my friends who came over – any favors. 

Now, I go to sleep and wake up without the smell of diapers, laundry, and burnt bacon hovering in my house. I invite my friends over with peace of mind knowing that I’m not choking them with a conglomeration of undesirable scents.

Let your home be a healing place at the end of the day not one that makes you sick. 

Call us for a breath of fresh air. Ask for more information or to schedule an installation today. Your family and friends will thank you.

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Written by Elon Jones

MMAC Services, Inc.