Choosing an air purifier for your home

Recommendation points

• Humidifiers and air washers
• Dry filter plants
• Electronic air purifiers

This article will tell you about the functions of air cleaners, their types and features of the device. The text contains the most popular types of filtering devices, their design and prices. You will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of each of them.

The problem of dirty and harmful air has arisen due to the grandiose industrialization and the proliferation of cars with powerful, but primitive engines running on very low purity fuel. Over time, factory pipes, gasoline and engines became cleaner, but there are dozens of times more of them and smog already lives in our bedrooms and lungs.

At the enterprises of production and trade, the issue is no less acute – people spend 7-10 hours a day at the workplace and also have the right to clean air. Industrial cleaning systems are a topic for a separate article. In this one we will talk about household installations.

Humidifiers and air washers

Much has been said about various humidifiers in the context of reducing the health risks of dry air. However, these devices also have a cleaning function, i.e. removing potentially harmful particles, most of which are house dust..

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Household dust consists of only 30% of particles that enter the room with ventilation, drafts, from clothes and shoes. Up to 70% of dust is dead skin cells and human waste products. Once in the body, they can cause allergic reactions..

A conventional humidifier (regardless of the device) copes with cleaning only conditionally. All the work is done by its product – moist air. Due to the saturation with moisture, it binds solid particles, makes them heavier and settles them on the floor and surfaces. Thus, harmful components leave the level where air is inhaled..

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Air washer is a device primarily focused on contact cleaning and side-by-side humidifying air. The design is rather primitive and effective: the main element is plastic discs, partially submerged in a tray (cuvette) with water, to which air is supplied by a fan (intake). Dust deposited on wet discs is washed away by constant rotation. The design of air sinks from different manufacturers is fundamentally unchanged, only the area and material of the disks, the performance of the fans, the optional installation of additional filters or ionizer and the design.

Air cleaning on video

Advantages of devices based on the natural cleansing properties of water:

1. Low power consumption. Drive operation only 120-400 W.
2. Quiet operation.
3. Simple construction.
4. Free maintenance (you just need to wash it regularly).

Disadvantage: relatively slow cleaning and lack of “express modes”.

Air washer prices

There is an opinion about the harmfulness of humidifiers and air washes, based on the fact that many bacteria of viruses multiply in a humid warm environment. With proper care of the device according to the instructions, wet cleaning is absolutely safe and retains all the positive effects on the human body..

Video about the “danger” of humidifiers and air washes

Dry filter plants

This class is represented by significantly more powerful and efficient devices, the action of which is based on the passage of pressurized air through filters. The device activator is an electric fan installed in front of the outlet grille. It pumps air, or rather, sucks it into the filter system.

It is not possible to describe all the available types of filters – there are a huge number of them. But, basically, they are divided into three types:

1. Pre-filters. Their function is to retain the largest particles from 5 to 1 micron. They are a rigid mesh sponge that blows relatively easily.
2. Fine filters. These are barriers with combined properties. Special material with micro-perforation, folded “accordion”, fixed in the filter frame. This not only increases the contact area for mechanical filtration, but also creates microscopic static stress. This is enough to keep particles from 1 to 0.1 microns in an electrified field, passing through any mechanical filter..
3. HEPA filters. Ultra-thin filters designed to keep allergenic particles to a minimum. Pay attention to the presence of the HEPA filter system when purchasing the device.

This arrangement of the device is fundamentally identical to that of a vacuum cleaner. The state of air in the area of ​​low pressure can be conditionally called “striving for vacuum”. If you add a camera in front of the filters, the effect is enhanced. Therefore, in the English version, a vacuum cleaner is called a vacuum cleaner, or “vacuum cleaner”.

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Advantages of dry installations:

1. High performance.
2. Large selection of devices and installations depending on performance.
3. Fast cleaning (there are express modes).

Disadvantages:

1. Relatively high power consumption.
2. Fan noise. Only the most expensive devices are considered conditionally silent..

Question.Can a vacuum cleaner be considered an air purifier??

Answer.Yes. The collection product (dust, dirt, crumbs) is fed into the device with an air flow, which means that the vacuum cleaner must clean the air. Modern (and expensive) vacuum cleaners have a multi-stage filtration system. However, its operation in this capacity is unprofitable due to the excessive power of the motor and the concentration of thrust on a small area (hose diameter).

Prices for mechanical air purifiers

Electronic air purifiers

These devices are made on the basis of an ionizer invented in the century before last by A. L. Chizhevsky. The principle of operation is simple – electrification of air to form ozone. The device uses a natural lightning effect.

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However, the electricity in the air gave an additional “bonus”. If you electrify a plate or a thick metal grill, it will attract particles of fine dust, which are inaccessible to vacuum cleaner filters. Moreover, the process goes by itself – the air does not need to be additionally injected. The natural circulation formed by the movement of people and drafts is enough – and the dust itself will be drawn to the grate.

Video – how an electronic air purifier works

If such a device were invented today, it would be called nanotechnological, since it works using an electric field and the particle size does not matter to it. Such devices are combined, creating a stream of ozonized air that can be supplied to water, and thus purify products from chemicals.

Prices for electronic cleaners

Modern ecology leaves no choice. Air purifiers come to every home and become indispensable appliances along with a stove and a washing machine. The ability to protect health is always relevant for today’s city dweller, so you shouldn’t save on it.