Choosing Between an Air Cleaner and an Air Purifier

Air cleaners and air purifiers improve the air quality in your home by reducing contaminants. The first thing you should know when choosing which product to purchase is that the terms are often used interchangeably.

Here is more about how cleaners and purifiers work and why they are a good investment.

Filtering Common Allergens

Many air cleaners use special filters, such as HEPA or activated carbon filters, to remove pollutants from the air. These pollutants include common allergens such as dust, pollen and mold spores. Air cleaners work better at filtering the air than your home’s HVAC system can due to the use of specialized air filters that can capture smaller particles.

Killing Airborne Pathogens and Allergens

In some cases, air cleaners that use filtration to clean the air are also called air purifiers by stores or manufacturers. In other cases, air purification is a term that specifically means the process of killing certain air contaminants, such as viruses, bacteria and mold spores. These air purifiers use mechanisms beyond filtration, such as special ultraviolet lights, to capture and kill organic pathogens.

Choosing the Right Type of Air Cleaner or Air Purifier

Portable air cleaners or air purifiers are suitable if you don’t have mold problems throughout the home. They can be a temporary, cost-effective way to improve the air quality in small spaces such as a child’s bedroom or family room. However, for the best whole-house protection, you should consider a whole-house air cleaner. These are connected to your HVAC system and reduce indoor air pollution throughout the entire home.

Air cleaners benefit everyone, but they are especially helpful for allergy sufferers or others within the household who have a chronic illness. In addition to removing more dust and pollen, some whole-home air purifiers use germicidal UV lights within the HVAC system itself to reduce molds, bacteria and viruses in your home’s air.

For more about choosing the right air cleaner or air purifier for your South Texas home, please contact us at CCAC.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 361-678-2495.

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