We spend lots of time indoors. In reality, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated being inside comprises 90% of our schedule. Although, the EPA also says your indoor air can be three to five times worse than outside your home.
That’s because our residences are tightly sealed to boost energy efficiency. While this is good for your heating and cooling bills, it’s not so great if you’re amid the 40% of the population with respiratory allergies.
When outdoor ventilation is limited, pollutants such as dust and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may get trapped. As a result, these pollutants might irritate your allergies.
You can enhance your indoor air quality with fresh air and regular dusting and vacuuming. But if you’re still having issues with symptoms while you’re at your house, an air purifier might be able to help.
While it can’t eliminate pollutants that have settled on your furniture or carpet, it might help clean the air circulating across your home.
And air purification has also been scientifically verified to help lessen some allergic symptoms, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. It might also be useful if you or a loved one has lung trouble, including emphysema or COPD.
There are two options, a portable air purifier or a whole-home air purifier. We’ll go over the differences so you can figure out what’s appropriate for your residence.
Whole-House Air Purifier vs. Portable Air Purifiers
A portable air purifier is for one room. A whole-house air purifier works alongside your HVAC equipment to clean your entire home. Some kinds can purify on their own when your heating and cooling unit isn’t running.
What’s the Best Air Purifier for Allergies?
Seek a purifier with a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. HEPA filters are installed in hospitals and provide the most comprehensive filtration you can get, as they remove 99.97% of particles in the air.
HEPA filters are even more effective when combined with an ultraviolet (UV) germicidal light. This powerful mixture can destroy dust, dander, pollen and mold, all of which are general allergens. For the ultimate in air purification, evaluate a system that also has a carbon-based filter to eliminate household odors.
Avoid buying an air purifier that creates ozone, which is the main component in smog. The EPA warns ozone may irritate respiratory problems, even when released at minor amounts.
The Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America has compiled a listing of questions to think over when getting an air purifier.
- What can this purifier remove from the air? What doesn’t it extract?
- What’s its clean air delivery rate? (A bigger number means air will be purified more quickly.)
- How regularly does the filter or UV bulb need to be replaced? Can I complete that without help?
- How much do new filters or bulbs cost?
How to Lessen Seasonal Allergy Symptoms
Want to have the best results from your new air purification unit? The Mayo Clinic suggests completing other measures to reduce your exposure to things that can trigger seasonal allergies.
- Stay inside and keep windows and doors closed when pollen counts are high.
- Have someone else trim the lawn or pull weeds, since these tasks can aggravate symptoms. If you must do these jobs on your own, you might want to consider trying a pollen mask. You should also bathe right away and change your clothes once you’re finished.
- Avoid drying laundry outside your home.
- Use the AC while indoors or while in the car. Consider using a high-efficiency air filter in your house’s heating and cooling unit.
- Even out your residence’s humidity saturation with a whole-house dehumidifier.
- Hardwood, tile or linoleum are the suggested flooring materials for reducing indoor allergens. If your residence has carpet, add a HEPA filter on your vacuum cleaner.
Let Our Specialists Handle Your Indoor Air Quality Needs
Want to move forward with installing a whole-house air purifier? Give our specialists a call at 509-284-4265 or contact us online to schedule an appointment. We’ll help you locate the ideal system for your home and budget.