| With so many allergy air purifiers on the market, | | | | clean that square footage or slighter greater. |
| finding one that can serve as an effective tool in | | | | Unless you close doors to your space, the cleaner |
| your allergy management plan can be frustrating. | | | | will eventually pull air from all over, so be careful |
| Knowing the answers to the following 5 questions | | | | to measure accurately. For instance, if you are |
| before you buy will mean having a cleaner that will | | | | buying an air purifier for a bedroom, unless you |
| help you feel better in your home or office. | | | | close the door, it will pull air from all over your |
| Which technology is best? High efficiency particle | | | | house. If the area of your house is greater than |
| arresting (or HEPA) filtration technology is used by | | | | the purifier is designed to clean, the results will be |
| hospitals to insure clean air, and is the best | | | | less than effective. Careful thought to issues such |
| method for home and office filtration as well. By | | | | as these will insure effectiveness. |
| definition this process will remove airborne | | | | How often should I expect to have to change the |
| allergens down to .3 microns; with a micron being | | | | filter? This is a great answer to have before you |
| defined is one millionth of a meter. | | | | buy the purifier as the cost and frequency of |
| How can I tell if it will remove the allergens that | | | | replacing the filter will directly impact your out of |
| affect me? Different filters are designed to | | | | pocket expenses. Look for a purifier that has a |
| remove different allergens so this is critical | | | | 5-year filter life, and a prorated filter warranty. |
| information to have. HEPA filters with a | | | | Only having to change the filter once every five |
| multi-tiered filtration process will remove | | | | years greatly reduces your operating costs, which |
| contaminants as small as .3 microns (household | | | | means you are more likely to use it without |
| dust, mold and mildew spores, pet dander and | | | | worrying about how much it will cost you when |
| hair, pollen, bacteria, and viruses) but a good one | | | | the filter fills up. Look for a purifier that has a |
| will also have an inner filter that targets other | | | | prorated filter warranty as well. This gives you |
| contaminants as well such as smoke and odor, or | | | | confidence that should anything go wrong with |
| airborne volatile organic chemicals, and even pet | | | | the filter before the 5 year warranty runs out, |
| odor. Check the technical specifications to pinpoint | | | | you still don't pay full price for the replacement. |
| exactly what the cleaner's filter is designed to | | | | How long should it take to be effective? If you |
| remove, and if you don't see it there, call and ask | | | | have sized the unit correctly for your space, and |
| the company to make sure it will do what you | | | | you run it on high for the first several hours, then |
| need it to. | | | | turn it back to medium or low and leave it on 24 |
| How much area should it be able to clean? It is | | | | hours a day, you should see a difference fairly |
| always better to oversize your unit for the area | | | | quickly. Again this will depend on what you are |
| rather than undersize it. Measure the space that | | | | trying to remove from your air, and the amount |
| you want to clean and add ceiling heights greater | | | | of contaminants that have built up in your air. The |
| than 8 feet as additional area in your calculations. | | | | key to success is to have the filtration be |
| Then look for a purifier that has the ability to | | | | constant rather than turning it off and on. |