Does your family suffer from allergies caused by dust and particles in the air? Want to know about air filters and what they can do to help you? First, it is advised that you replace indoor air with outdoor air. But how? You can open windows and doors, but still the risk is the air-borne problems. One of the best solutions is to keep a healthy and clean house to minimize and control unwanted substances. Usually, common airborne particles can range from .001 to 100 microns in size. Very small air-borne particles are so small that you may have a hard time removing them.



Cigarette smoke and household dust can eventually enter the lungs and may create complications. Air filters and cleaners are devices which help remove particles from the air, but not all. There are two groups of air cleaners. The first group is the portable air cleaners. They are also known as table-top models, and they are created to clean air in small places and locations but not the entire house. These air cleaners have filters and use electrical attraction or ozone to get rid of the minute particles from the air. The finer the particles, the better it is in removing these unwanted substances. HEPA or high efficiency particulate arresting filters is the best kind.

Almost 99 percent of the particles which are as small as 0.3 microns in size are captured. However, gas molecules like those from cigarette smoke and radon can still pass through the filter. Some companies have decided to use an activated charcoal or carbon filter to take care of the job. Pleated filters are also called ?mean? filters and they are composed of materials, which are similar to that of the HEPA. However, particles and dust may still get in. Remember, that the pleated filters capture smaller particles.

It is said that it removes 40 to 96 percent of household dust. Electrical attraction is utilized in electronic cleaners. Here, electrostatic precipitation, static charge, or particle ionization is used to capture particles through a foam pre-filter. With this, the larger particles are removed. Then the particles are charged by a high-voltage wire and are then attracted to the precipitating cell.

After this, a carbon filter gets rid of the odors and other particles. An electric cleaner utilizes cellulose fibers and polyester having a static charge to capture particles aside from the carbon and the pre-foam filter. Ozone generation is another type of air cleaner that also uses a high-voltage electrical charge to convert oxygen to ozone. With this, gas molecules and some substances or microorganisms like mold can be demolished by the high concentrations of ozone present. However, a negative ionizer also uses a foam pre-filter as well as a carbon filter. But, the difference lies in the wires. It has charged wires which, in turn, create ions.

Consequently, the fan blows these charged particles into the room and they are sucked in again. These different kinds of air filters and cleaners may give you a background on their features and which will best suit your needs.