Air Filtration Systems

While most of us can understand and relate to the idea that outside air near old industrial plants could make us sick, not many of us would think the air inside our own homes could do the same thing. However, it’s an unfortunate fact.

There is growing evidence that in the last twenty years indoor air quality has had a tremendous negative impact on human health. Increasing numbers of people now suffer from diseases such as running noses and eyes as well as hay fever and sinus problems , lung congestion and headaches. This trend is particularly common for young children, the elderly and people who spend much of their time indoors and are exposed to high levels of indoor air pollutants. In fact, indoor air quality has become so bad that the US Environmental Protection has ranked indoor air pollution as a high priority public health risk.

How can our indoor air be so bad?

• Newer, more energy efficient homes and tightly sealed buildings that maintain a separation between inside air and outside air are partly to blame. In the drive to reduce energy consumption, we have managed to seal out homes and offices so tightly that the normal exchange of indoor and outside air in a building is effectively blocked. As a result, pollutants and VOC’s used in the buildings are trapped inside where they are continually circulated within the building and through the lungs of the people living and working inside.

We can clean up our indoor air

• Either freestanding portable room filter systems or central air filters that work in conjunction with your furnace and central air conditioner can provide effective air filtration.
• A central air filtration system provides whole house air filtration by filtering the air as cycles through the air ducts into the furnace. Over time, all the air in the house will pass through the system, where it is  cleaned and filtered each time it circulates.
• Portable systems that can effectively clean one room at a time are ideal for people who have extra needs or for renters. However, for a portable unit to be truly effective it needs to create enough air flow to exchange the air in the room five to six times an hour.

How can I tell if an air filter will work for me?

• A program called the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) program has been developed by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers and its participating members to test and certify air cleaner (primarily room air cleaners). The program is designed to measure how effectively individual air filtration units are at removing air borne particles, dust and pollen.
• Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reviewed the testing standards and agree the program provides a reasonable basis for comparing air filtration units.
• A unit that has been tested and rated by the AHAM will have it's results labeled on the packaging. Comparing different model results should provide a much better indicator of performance than comparing prices.

Murray Anderson is an experienced freelance writer over 500 articles published on the web as well as in print magazines and newspapers in both the United States and Canada. He writes on a wide range of topics and is a regular contributor to DoItYourself.com. He can be contacted at murand@lycos.com.