Air Cleaners in the Home

You might think the air you breathe inside your home is healthy and clean, but you and your family are subject to breathing in a variety of different pollutants. Pollutants come in the shape of particles or gases. Not only can you be breathing in pollutants from outdoors, obvious things like secondhand smoke can impact the air you breathe. There are less obvious pollutants too, like cleaning, cooking, building materials, and beauty and home products. Because you spend most of your time at home, you want the air you’re breathing to be clean.The air quality in your home can change throughout the day. In order to keep pollutants consistently low in your home, investing in an air cleaner is your best bet. There are several ways you can go about this. You can opt for a portable air cleaner or upgrade the air filter in your HVAC system. Even consider doing double duty and getting both.A portable air cleaner can also be referred to as an air purifier or an air sanitizer. They are designed to filter the air and clean it in one room, while a filter on your HVAC system will filter air throughout the entire home. They can’t entirely eliminate all the pollution from the air, but they will significantly reduce it. That’s something you must consider when buying.Filters for portable air cleaners either filter particles or gases. HVAC filters typically only filter particles. If you want both filtered, you’ll need an air cleaner with two filters—one to filter particles and one to filter gases. In some cases, filters target specific types of gases. An activated carbon filter removes gases. To filter particles, you’ll want to choose an air purifier with the appropriate clean air delivery rate (CADR) for the size of the room it will be cleaning. Larger areas will require a higher CADR. Filter a larger amount of air with a higher fan speed and longer run time. Carefully read the labeling to determine what sort of filter you’re purchasing.Filters don’t last a lifetime; you will need to replace them regularly to keep your home clean. If you have any questions, give Finken a call at 320-258-2005.