If you thought the air inside your home is cleaner than the air outside, you may want to revisit that assumption. The truth is that the average home’s indoor air quality (IAQ) is several times more polluted than city air, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For many homeowners, it’s essential to choose an effective air filtration product, such as a whole-home air cleaner, to combat pollutants and breathe easier.

Your Home’s IAQ

To pick the right air cleaner to serve your air quality goals, you need to determine which pollutants you want to remove from the air in your home. Contaminants are classified into these categories:

• Particulate matter: Some examples of particulate matter include common dust, pollen, animal dander, dust mites, molds, viruses, bacteria and combustion particles.
• Gaseous pollutants: Some examples of gaseous pollutants include benzene, tobacco smoke and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are vapors and chemicals released from building materials, furnishings, pesticides and much more.

Picking the Right Air Cleaner

Whole-home air cleaners use different methods to remove or neutralize airborne contaminants, depending on the type of system you choose. Following are popular and effective systems that utilize your home’s air ducts to clean the air.

• Electronic: Electronic air cleaners give airborne particulates an electrical charge. As the charged contaminants pass by metal plates with an opposite electrical charge, the contaminants stick to the plates, which can be wiped clean or washed.
• Ultraviolet (UV) light: UV light systems kill or neutralize particulates as they stream by in the ducts. By emitting low levels of radiation, UV lights can protect your home against viruses, bacteria and mold.
•  High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters: HEPA filtration offer the best protection against airborne particulates, removing 99.97 percent of all particulates down to 0.3 microns.
• Gas-phase filters: Gas-phase filters are designed to remove or neutralize specific gases in the home. There isn’t one single gas-phase filter that removes all odors and gases. You’ll generally find these filters combined with other air cleaning systems.

For more information about selecting the right air cleaner for your Peachtree City area home, please contact Powers Heating & Air.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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