HEPA Air Purifiers: Significantly reduces indoor contaminants including the covid -19
Running a HEPA air purifier in your home can be a fantastic idea anytime, to help filter indoor contaminants and pollutants such as fumes from cleaning and cooking solutions. And that is especially true today when so many men and women are stuck indoors 24/7 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, you can also be wondering if an air purifier can prevent COVID-19 by catching virus particles which may be traveling in the atmosphere.
If someone in your household is ill with COVID-19, running an air conditioner in their family room might help protect other family members or caregivers. The same holds for healthcare workers that are self-quarantining when they come home.
While the majority of these droplets fall to the floor fast, some research indicates smaller particles may stay in the atmosphere for longer.
However, even if you live with a healthcare worker or someone sick with COVID-19 until you run out to purchase an air purifier, our experts say that just opening the windows in your house to allow in the fresh air will significantly help dilute indoor contaminants–such as virus particles.
If airing out space is not an alternative, you could try using a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifier.
A HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter may be a significant part of common air purifier systems promising to improve the air quality in your house or office. Let us take a look at what the HEPA normal means and the way the HEPA filter can cope with different kinds of indoor contaminants, pollutants, and viruses in your dwelling.
A quick insight into HEPA air purifiers
HEPA is an acronym that stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air, so a HEPA filter surely be a High-Efficiency Particulate filter. Filters, if for an air purifier or alternative execution, come with many benefits and claims.
What sets HEPA filters apart from the rest is that their claims are more than just claims. The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology dictates that a HEPA filter has to trap 99.97% of particulates 0.3 microns or larger. This doesn’t mean that the filter can’t trap particles smaller than 0.3 microns, because many HEPA filters may; it is just the threshold that has to be reached so as to carry the HEPA name.
HEPA filters capture variously sized particles inside a multi-layered netting usually made up of very fine fiberglass threads (much thinner than the scale of somebody’s hair strand!) With varying sized openings.The filter is airtight and comprised of a dense sheet of small fibers pleated and sealed in an exceedingly plastic or metal frame. The air purifier’s fan pulls air into the filter and particulates are captured in the filter. The larger particles (ones larger than the fibers) are recorded via impaction (particle crashes to the fiber), mid-sized particles are recorded by interception (particle touches the fiber and is recorded ), and ultra-fine particles are recorded by diffusion (whereas zig-zagging the particle will eventually hit and adhere to the fiber).
The Best HEPA Air Purifiers for 2020
- Blueair Blue Pure 411 – An overall best and efficient air purifier
- Dimplex DXAPV3N Air Purifier with HEPA filter and Ioniser – one of the best budget air purifier
- Dyson Pure Cool Me – the top of air purifier fan
- Philips Series 3000i AC3829 – the best of air purifier on wheels
- Meaco MeacoClean CA-HEPA 47×5 – considering the best choice as air purifier for bedrooms
- Alen BreatheSmart Classic Large Room Air Purifier
- Honeywell True HEPA Allergen Air Purifier
- Molekule Air Purifier
- Levoit Compact Air Purifier
- Coway AP-1512HH Mighty- An Effective, efficient, and inexpensive air purifier
How can HEPA filters work?
To put it simply, HEPA filters trap air contaminants in an intricate web of fibers. Based upon the size of the particle, this may occur in four unique ways: Inertial Impaction, Diffusion, Interception, or Sieving.
Bigger contaminants are trapped via inertial impaction and sieving. The particles collide with the fibers and all are being trapped while trying to travel through the fibers. Moderately sized particles, as they proceed through the filter, are caught by the fibers through interception. The Smaller particles are dissipated when they travel through the filter and then eventually touch the fiber and are trapped.
HEPA filters have been around for decades, and, to be categorized as true HEPA, they need to have the ability to eliminate over 99.9% of particles larger than.3 microns in size. In contrast, most research indicates that the average size of a household dust particle is.5 to many microns in size, while mold spores and pollen are greater than 10.
Tobacco smoke and other odor particles are found to return in sizes on all sides of the.3 micron threshold, and there is a specially designed standard filter for all these types of particles that are used along with HEPA filters: triggered Carbon filters.
How can a HEPA Air Purifier Capture indoor contaminants and the Coronavirus:
HEPA filters are extremely powerful, certified to capture 99.97 percent of particles which are just 0.3 microns in diameter. (Particles that dimension is perfectly suited to maneuver through the filter’s fibers, while larger and smaller particles, due to the numerous ways they move from the air, crash to the structure.)
The novel coronavirus itself is 0.125 microns, but Marr says the droplets it travels in–when folks cough, speak or breathe–originally are bigger around 1 micron. That is a dimension easily recorded by HEPA filters.
Meaning an air purifier needs to be capable of drawing in enough air to decrease the number of virus particles from the atmosphere. The quicker an air purifier can cycle air through the filter, the greater its chances of catching virus particles. You can see how quickly that an air purifier cleans the encircling air by trying to find its CADR (clean air delivery rate) number on the packaging.
So to help stop the spread of this virus in your property, you should clean your house and wash your hands regularly, too.
“We do not yet have direct proof that filtration works to decrease transmission of this novel coronavirus,” states Jeffrey Siegel, an indoor air quality specialist and professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto who has investigated mobile air purifiers with various airborne particles.
Energy-efficient windows and doors are great at keeping pollutants out of your house, but they also trap in a great deal of terrible stuff.
Pollutants like smoke from tobacco, wood burning, and cooking; gases from cleaning products and construction materials; dust mites; mold; and pet dander all contribute to an unhealthy indoor environment which has ill effects on human health.
Fine particles 10 micrometers in diameter or smaller, such as those located in smoke and dust, are particularly a concern as they can find their way deep into the lungs. Breathing in particles for only hours or days is sufficient to aggravate lungs and cause asthma attacks, and has been associated with heart attacks in people with heart disease. According to the EPA, long-term exposure to elevated particle levels is linked to bronchitis, decreased lung function, and premature death.
Volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), including formaldehyde, which are released into the atmosphere from adhesives, paints, and cleaning products may cause nose, throat, and eye irritation; headaches; nausea; and damage to the liver, kidney, and nervous system.
So by using HEPA air purifiers then you can significantly reduce indoor contaminants and coronavirus.
What should you look for in a HEPA air purifier?
- CADR (clean-air shipping rate) rating: This measures the cleaning rate of the purifier for removing dust, smoke, and pollen. Start looking for a CADR of 300, above 350 is actually great.
- Size tips. For suitable efficacy, you require a model designed to operate in the room dimensions. You should choose a model that is created for an area bigger than the one you are trying to outfit it for if you’d prefer to operate it during a lower, quieter setting.
- AHAM (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers) Verified mark: AHAM’s criteria are designed to ensure the security, efficacy, and functionality of many home care appliances, such as air purifiers. The standards are intended to offer a common understanding between consumers and manufacturers to make the buying process simpler. While voluntary, the most reputable air purifiers have experienced this certificate program, which regularly provides them their CADR rating and size guidelines.
- Standard HEPA filters are capable of eliminating ultrafine particles (think: dust, dander, pollen, mold, and other common allergens in the house ). The industry standard for this is the unit should have the ability to remove at least 99.97% of particulates measuring 0.3-micron diameter in a laboratory setting. Bear in mind, it’s important to remember that in real-life settings, the true efficacy of these devices will be far less new pollutants are continuously emerging.
- Note that there’s no industry standard for the terms”HEPA-like” or”HEPA-type,” and are largely used as marketing ploys to get consumers to buy the product.
So do HEPA purifiers work for reducing indoor contaminants and coronavirus? Yes, they have the ability to trap a high proportion of those airborne allergen, irritants, and viruses that flow through the filters.
When looking into air purifier reviews, you might find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. If you have little to no experience with purifiers, or if you do not know a lot of the details about how they work, you might not know where to turn. After all, they all do different work. HEPA, activated carbon, ionic, and UV all come with their own advantages and disadvantages. If you want to make sure that you choose the right one for you, you have to know the details of the types of filters themselves. Knowing their differences will help you immensely.
Filtering the Air within Your Home to Reduce Mold Spores, Dust Mites, Bacteria, and Smells
HEPA is one of the best air purifiers for mold and allergens. It can filter out up to 99.97% of the particles around your home. This includes dust, pollen, mold, and various other microns. It can capture microns at a size as small as .3, which includes many of the most dangerous particles out there. It is a highly effective option that is widely recommended by specialists. The only downsides are that it does not get anything smaller than .3 and it does not get smells.
Activated charcoal is another great option. This type of purifier absorbs well, even filtering out smells. What stays in these filters stays in forever, too. You do not have to worry about anything going back into the air after captured. The only issue is that it is not effective for allergens. If you are looking into air purifiers for allergens, you are better off with HEPA. This is best when you want to focus on smells and other concerns aside from allergens.
Ionic air purifiers can get the smallest of microns, down to a .1 size. This means that you do not have to worry about particles at all, no matter how big or small they are. This covers more bases than other filtration systems do. If you get this because you are interested in air purifiers for allergens, though, do keep in mind that it is not as good as you might hope. This is because it releases ozone, which can damage your health.
Another one of the best air purifiers for mold is the UV air purifier. This can destroy mold and bacteria, even helping you to stay healthy. It does not keep them in the filtration system like HEPA filters do so you do not have to worry about health risks. The only issue is that UV filtration systems do not capture allergens or smells.
No matter what you read on air purifier reviews, you have to remember that a purifier is no good if you do not change or clean the filter. Following the instructions with the filtration system of your choice, clean or change out the filter on a regular basis. This is an important part of keeping it working and watching out for your health.
The Mold Facts is dedicated to providing you a healthy and safe indoor atmosphere. We are a leading mold inspection company in Los Angeles specializing in air quality testing in Los Angeles and nearby areas including Pasadena, Santa Clarita, Santa Monica, Valencia, Oxnard.
Contact our mold inspection experts at 844-665-3322 to know more.