I remember how my roommates and I used to have a minor spat whenever we ran out of fresh air filters for the negative ion air purifiers at our old college dorm rooms. It was always a sore point on whose turn it was to buy the filters.

Students in today’s dorms probably argue about which brand of negative ion air purifiers are best before they can move on to the nitty-gritty of whose turn it is to change the filters.

Negative ion air purifiers, no matter the brand, will probably work in the same way.

Airborne particles generally have a positive charge. Since opposite charges attract, the negative ions released by air cleaners attract the positively charged particles in the air.

Airborne negative ions will continue to attract dust and sundry particles until the heavy, ionized particles becomes so dense that they fall from the air. Since they are no longer airborne, the dust and other particles will no longer be inhaled and they are prevented from interfering with respiration and causing problems.

You can just vacuum, dust, or sweep away ionized particles. If they become airborne during cleaning, the ionization process will simply be repeated.

Negative ion air purifiers are no longer just used in dorm rooms and households. They have made their way into cars as well.

One interesting study comes courtesy of the Toyota Central R & D Laboratories, which showed ionization relieves fatigue and enhances cognition in drivers. Now THAT’s uplifting!

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A germicidal air purifier with UV light destroys microorganisms such as:

• germs
• bacteria
• viruses
• molds

As airborne microorganisms pass through the device, an ultraviolet lamp shines UV rays on them. This damages the microorganisms at the cellular level, killing them.

Sounds pretty effective, but also scary doesn’t it? If a germicidal air purifier with UV light can kill microorganisms, what effect does it have on organisms, like pets and humans?

Well, similar damage DOES occur in humans due to UV lighting, but it’s restricted to the skin and eyes. However, reputable manufacturers will ensure that their purifier units do not allow ultraviolet rays to escape. So the UV lights will only sterilize the air that passes through the purifier.

In fact, UV air cleaners are deemed so safe and effective that the US government specifies UV lighting in government facilities to minimize the growth and spread of germs.

What’s more, UV lights are recommended by the Center for Disease Control for use in homeless shelters. UV lights stop diseases like tuberculosis from spreading. What makes this a big deal is that such diseases often develop a resistance to drugs.

Some commercial office buildings also use UV lighting in their ventilation systems to reduce respiratory-related problems (e.g., breathing difficulties, mucus, muscle pain, etc.) in their employees.

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I recently found out that ALL THREE air purifiers I use at home were phased out – and the filters along with them! The guy at the store I get my filters from suggested I upgrade to their latest models. I’m darned if I’m going to give the same manufacturer my money again! Instead, I began searching around for some filterless air purifiers – at another store.

I’m tired of having to periodically change filters anyway, not to mention having to deal with yearly filter price increases. But it’s really annoying that I have to junk THREE perfectly good air cleaners just because the manufacturer was inconsiderate about providing enough filters for all the suckers that patronized their product! There ought to be a law against stuff like this!

Anyway, to make sure I don’t get suckered again, I’m buying three air purifiers without filters to change.

Filterless air purifiers, so I’ve recently discovered, ionizes the air in a room. This charges the dust particles and other dirt in the air so that they’re trapped in a plate collection mechanism.

Some filterless air purifiers make use of a fan to enhance the system, although it will work without a fan as well. I’m thinking about maybe trying out a unit without a fan because I hear those make less noise.

Another thing I’ve recently found out is that any device you use for filtering air can never be truly maintenance-free, no matter what manufacturers say. Take filterless air purifiers – yes, you don’t have to replace a filter but you will eventually have to clean the plate mechanism.

So it’s a good idea to invest in a unit where you can get at the plates easily to clean them. Otherwise, you may have to shell out the same additional dollars you were trying to save by buying a filterless system in the first place!

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Whole house air purifiers retrofitted to a home sounds like a wonderful idea – until the contractor presents you with the estimate. Is there a way to get around the hefty price tag? Well, you can always install your home air filters yourself!

The best air cleaners for whole home use are the electrostatic ones of the pleated variety. Aside from not costing an arm and a leg, they are so easy to set up that you will not need a contractor.

If you aren’t really inclined to retrofitting your home with filters by yourself, opt for contractor-installed electronic cleaners instead. These electrostatic precipitators attract particles using a fan. High-voltage wires charge the particles, which are then collected with electric plates.

Whole house air purifiers simply attach to a home furnace’s cold air return. But how effective are they? Well, these air cleaners remove 95% of airborne dirt and 85% of small airborne particles.

If you get your materials from a heating contractor, you will probably spend no more than $900 including installation. But you can easily spend as little as $300 (including installation) if your home set up is not complex – which can be even less if you do it yourself.

Collector plates with well-known brands could cost you most of your budget with prices running to $500 for brands such as Carrier. So check your contractor for lesser known brands or generic plates.

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Breathing is largely taken for granted, after all you do not have to think about breathing to do it.. breathing is a subconscious activity. However, for asthmatics breathing is something that is greatly appreciated every moment of every day. The asthma disease affects the lungs and air passageways of an individual making it hard for the person to breathe. Roughly 20 million people are affected by asthma in the U.S. There is no known cure for asthma, however, there are a lot of things a sufferer can do to suppress the symptoms such as using an air purifier to treat asthma.

The asthma disease is made up of two main components which are constriction and inflammation. Both of these components happen in the lung passageways. Constriction is the narrowing of the airways due to muscles tightening around them, inflammation is the irritation of of the airways which causes them to swell. The combination of these components cause the symptoms of asthma which is breathing difficulty and swelling of the lungs resulting in a person experiencing an asthma attack coughing and wheezing to try and breathe properly. Asthma attacks can happen at any given moment, sometimes severe and sometimes just like a shortness of breath.

Air purifiers are able to help with asthma in the fact that there are quite a lot of contaminants in the air that can trigger asthma. Such air contaminants include: allergens, pet dander, dust, pollen or chemicals. When these airborne substances get inhaled by an asthma sufferer they can cause a reaction resulting in the asthmatic experiencing difficulty breathing. The toxins found within indoor air can be removed through the use of an air purifier thus creating a better environment for asthma sufferers. With less contaminants in the air the probability of an asthma attack is much lower for the asthma sufferer.

The majority of air purifiers have been proven to filter out 99.7% of all particles from indoor air. Chemical fumes, tobacco smoke and dust can be absorbed by an air purifier filter. High Efficiency Particulate Air Filters (HEPA filters) that are often used in air purifiers are very efficient in filtering out most toxins that can be related to asthma attacks from within indoor air . They can remove 99.7% of all particles that are 0.03 microns & larger. These kind of particles include dust and pollen particles - often the major cause of asthma attacks for sufferers. If the pollutants from the indoor air are not removed they circulate around the indoor space eventually getting breathed in potentially causing minor to severe asthma attacks. With the use of an air purifier the pollutants are taken out of the air so the are unable to continue circulating through the air.

During 1990 a review of indoor air pollutants published by The American Thoracic Society reported air purifiers using HEPA filters can filter a significant quantity of particles from indoor air, resulting in cleaner & safer air for breathing. Asthmatics utilizing air purifiers in their homes have a smaller chance of experiencing an asthma attack due to the asthma triggering pollutants being no longer present in the air they are breathing indoors.

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Your standard indoor air purifier is only able to remove particles and not gases. There are however industrial level air purifier systems that can effectively capture these gases but they are very expensive.

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Microban is used in air purifiers because it is an Antimicrobial agent used to treat an air purifiers HEPA filter. The protection provided by the Microban product prevents development of mold, bacteria or mildew growth on the filters surface which can cause bad odors. The life expectancy of your filter is not affected by the Microban.

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It is hard to know if an air purifier is working and cleaning your air effectively until you go to swap out your air purifiers filter and see how dirty it has gotten. Even at this point you will not be able to truly know how well your air purifier is working because all of the microscopic particles are too small to see. Some indications showing your air purifier is working are: less dust on your house contents such as on furniture, you’ll notice a ‘cleaner’ smell to your room air (particularly noticeable if you have an air purifier with an ionizer) and you’ll see a decrease in allergens around your home.

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Most air purifiers have an indicator light which comes on when it is time to change the air purifiers filter. These indicator lights are often set to a time period rotation so the filter will be reported as requiring changing regardless of how much dirty air has actually pass through it. Often as an extra qualification and to help you decide weather or not a air purifier filters need changing the manufacturers include a color-coded chart to help you get an idea as to how dirty the filter is.

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An air purifiers HEPA filter only requires replacing once every twelve to eighteen months or so depending on how much you use it. Whereas an air purifiers carbon filter would more likely need replacing over a period of around three to six months again depending on your level of usage. Always read the label/instructions of your air purifier system to get specific details for that particular air purifier.

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