Did you know that the average American spends well over 90% of their time indoors? And for those of us in colder climates, that percentage might be even higher during the winter. This means we’re breathing indoor air constantly, and along with the air, we’re breathing in whatever happens to be mixed in with it.
Indoor air contains more contaminants than outdoor air. But in Boston in February, you’re not about to fling open all your windows to air out your home! So what can you do? Consider getting an air purifier to improve your indoor air quality. Here’s what you should know.
What’s in Your Air?
Trapped indoors with you all winter are a wide variety of contaminants. There are things brought in from outdoors like pollen. There are the solids left behind from last summer’s wildfire smoke, settled in your HVAC system and getting stirred up whenever the heat comes on. There’s pet dander, dust, and volatile organic compounds released from things like carpets and cleaning products. And there are microbes like mold spores, bacteria, and viruses.
What Air Purifiers Do
Air purifiers come in portable models, which can clean some of the contaminants out of your air. They’ll only make a significant impact if they’re used in small, enclosed spaces though. This makes them ideal for something like a studio apartment or a dorm room. But for a whole house, the only way to really reduce contaminants in the air is with a whole-house air purifier, which is added to the HVAC system.
The type of air purifier we install is called an electronic air cleaner. All the air that passes through your HVAC ducts is directed through this system. As the air flows through, an electrical charge is applied to it, which affects the tiny particles that contaminate the air. When the air then flows over a metal plate with an opposite electrical charge, the particles are drawn to it and become stuck.
You can imagine this plate as a curious cat, and the air as an interesting box. Thanks to the opposite charges, when the box is full of packing peanuts, they will inevitably stick to the cat. Now, instead of drifting freely around your home, those unpleasant particles—germs, chemicals, pollen, and more—will all be collected on that metal plate, which is easily wiped down and disinfected.
Benefits of Air Purifiers
- Health: When people have air purifiers installed, they report a reduction in everything from allergies and asthma to headaches and bad moods. They say they sleep better at night, have more energy during the day, and spend fewer days home from school or work with illness.
- Home: The air purifier won’t just cut down on dust in your home. It will cut down on bad smells, too! When the bacteria from your teenager’s sneakers or your cat’s litter box go through the air purifier instead of up your nostrils, the odors will be neutralized!
If you’d like to learn more about air purifier services in Boston, we’d love to hear from you.
Reach out to Cooling Unlimited, Inc. to speak with qualified air quality experts.
