HEPA Air Purifiers

Posted by: James on November 10, 2011 Under: Uncategorized |

As more people become aware of pollutants that fill the air at home, air purifiers are becoming more and more popular. Most people only consider the pollutants outside to be harmful or dangerous. But what they don’t realize is that the pollutants on the inside of homes and buildings are just as dangerous.  If you have bad air quality in your home you might develop asthma or other breathing problems.

And that’s where HEPA purifiers come in. A HEPA purifier is capable of removing almost 100% of harmful pollutants that fill the air.  As stated before, these pollutants can cause some serious health problems. By using a HEPA purifier you can trap most of those pollutants and lower or completely eliminate your risk for certain health conditions.

What makes these filters so effective is the way they are made. Fibers are randomly arranged in close proximity. This gives it the ability to capture so many small particles in the air.  HEPA filters use 3 different methods to capture pollutants. The first one is diffusion.

With diffusion the smallest air particles hit gaseous molecules. Once this happens those particles will slow down in speed.  As they slow down they will bounce around through the filter. Once the particles hit a fiber they will be stuck and unable to leave the filter.

The second method is interception. This is actually the most common method of them all. This method does just what its name implies. It intercepts the particles and traps them in the HEPA filter.

And last but not least we have impaction. This method is used to trap the larger air particles.  The air current that carries the large particles basically goes around the filter until it finds an opening. Once in there it attaches to the fibers and becomes stuck.

Those who have some sort of health condition tend to use HEPA purifiers quite often.  That’s because they can get rid of pollen, smoke, dust, mold, feces and pet dander just to name a few. And while a HEPA purifier can remove the majority of harmful pollutants, truth be told they can’t get rid of them all.

So if you suffer from severe allergies or other breathing conditions, a HEPA filter can only give you so much relief. You might still need some additional care.  If you don’t suffer from allergies or breathing conditions, you will see that a HEPA filter could very well improve your quality of life.