If you suffer from asthma symptoms, an air filter or room air purifier can be a great help in improving your breathing. This is also true for people with hay fever (allergic rhinitis) or COPD (emphysema or chronic bronchitis). However, it is important to note that you should never buy “air purifiers” that generate ozone, as the EPA and doctors have warned that ozone is a respiratory irritant and can worsen allergy or asthma symptoms. The World Health Organization conducted research on how moisture and mold can affect indoor air quality and found that the presence of mold aggravates asthma symptoms.
Air purifiers are great for cleaning the air in your home and reducing the amount of potentially harmful pollutants that cause asthma. Air purifiers for asthma are useful because of the filtration system they contain. The best ones usually have one or more HEPA filters, which filter the air in the house to remove indoor pollutants, such as dust, pollen, mold spores, and other allergens. Clean air is then much cleaner and less likely to trigger an attack in a person with asthma.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pollutants such as dust, smoke, and mold are common triggers for people with asthma. Air purifiers can reduce symptoms by helping to eliminate those environmental causes. In the case of a whole-house air filter, the air conditioning system includes air filters designed to reduce the accumulation of dust and dirt in the system's ducts and coils. Air purifiers with a HEPA filter usually make a little noise, since there is a powerful fan that draws air through the filter and returns it to the room, but they are usually quiet and non-invasive, if not totally silent.
However, for larger rooms with a lot of air movement due to foot traffic, open windows, the use of aerosols, or other polluting tools, an air purifier with a HEPA filter is the more practical option, as they can recycle air much faster. It's best to try dehumidifiers on a case-by-case basis; having one might work if your house is particularly humid, and trying different patterns and operating times to find one that doesn't dry out the air to the point of causing asthma. While humidifiers can be effective in controlling symptoms, experts believe that air purifiers can also help alleviate this condition. Air filtration is just one of several measures that can benefit children and adults with allergies and asthma.
Some whole-house air filtration units bring fresh air from outside to the inside and filter it before distributing it to the rest of the house. Air filters in your home's central heating and air conditioning ducts or portable room air purifiers help remove indoor pollutants. Some units equipped with ultraviolet (UV) light kill viruses and bacteria, but even this light doesn't purify all the air you breathe. Permanent whole-house air filters can be added to an air conditioning system, but the unit and installation cost between several hundred and a few thousand dollars.
To make sure you get the most out of your purchase, it's important to understand what an air purifier does and how it works. An air purifier is an appliance designed to remove airborne particles from indoor environments. The appliance industry has established a Clean Air Supply Rate (CADR) so that consumers can choose the right air filter for the room they want to treat. This rating system helps you determine how well an appliance will clean a given area based on its size. It also helps you compare different models so you can find one that meets your needs. When shopping for an air purifier, look for one with a high CADR rating for particles such as dust mites, pollen, pet dander, smoke particles, mold spores, bacteria, viruses, and other allergens.
Also consider features such as noise level (some models are very quiet), energy efficiency (some models use less energy than others), filter replacement costs (some models require more frequent filter changes than others), portability (some models are more portable than others), and warranty coverage (some models come with longer warranties than others).Finally, we'll summarize some of the key things to consider before buying an asthma purifier: efficiency (CADR rating), cost (unit price plus filter replacement costs), noise level (some models are very quiet), energy efficiency (some models use less energy than others), portability (some models are more portable than others), warranty coverage (some models come with longer warranties than others).
