We spend a good majority of our time in our homes. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approximated being within a building comprises 90% of our days. Although, the EPA also has found your indoor air can be three to five times dirtier than outside your home.
That’s because our residences are firmly sealed to increase energy efficiency. While this is great for your energy costs, it’s not so great if you’re among the 40% of the population with respiratory allergies.
When outdoor ventilation is limited, pollutants like dust and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may get trapped. As a result, these pollutants could worsen your allergies.
You can improve your indoor air quality with crisp air and routine dusting and vacuuming. But if you’re still having problems with symptoms during the time you’re at your house, an air purifier could be able to provide assistance.
While it can’t eliminate pollutants that have gotten trapped in your furniture or flooring, it could help purify the air moving across your residence.
And air purification has also been scientifically proven to help lessen some allergic symptoms, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. It can also be useful if you or a family member has lung trouble, including emphysema or COPD.
There are two kinds, a portable air purifier or a whole-home air purifier. We’ll discuss the advantages so you can determine what’s correct for your house.
Whole-House Air Purifier vs. Portable Air Purifiers
A portable air purifier is for a lone room. A whole-house air purifier accompanies your HVAC system to treat your full home. Some models can clean by themselves when your heating and cooling unit isn’t on.
What’s the Best Air Purifier for Allergies?
Go after a model with a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. HEPA filters are used in hospitals and offer the most comprehensive filtration you can find, as they catch 99.97% of particles in the air.
HEPA filters are even more powerful when used with an ultraviolet (UV) germicidal light. This dynamic mixture can eliminate dust, dander, pollen and mold, all of which are general allergens. For the best in air purification, evaluate a unit that also has a carbon-based filter to decrease household smells.
Avoid using an air purifier that makes ozone, which is the main component in smog. The EPA advises ozone might irritate respiratory troubles, even when discharged at small amounts.
The Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America has made a listing of questions to think over when buying an air purifier.
- What can this purifier remove from the air? What doesn’t it remove?
- What’s its clean air delivery rate? (A higher number means air will be purified more rapidly.)
- How frequently does the filter or UV bulb need to be changed]? Can I do that by myself?
- How much do new filters or bulbs cost?
How to Lessen Seasonal Allergy Symptoms
Want to get the {top|most excellent|best] outcome from your new air purification system? The Mayo Clinic advises completing other measures to reduce your exposure to problems that can cause seasonal allergies.
- Stay indoors and keep windows and doors sealed when pollen counts are elevated.
- Have someone else trim the lawn or pull weeds, since these jobs can irritate symptoms. If you have to do this work yourself, you may want to consider wearing a pollen mask. You should also bathe immediately and put on clean clothes once you’re completed.
- Avoid stringing up laundry outside.
- Run air conditioning while at home or while in the car. Consider adding a high efficiency air filter in your house’s home comfort unit.
- Equalize your home’s humidity levels with a whole-house dehumidifier.
- Hardwood, tile or linoleum are the suggested flooring kinds for lowering indoor allergens. If your home has carpet, use a HEPA filter on your vacuum cleaner.
Let Our Pros Take Care of Your Indoor Air Quality Needs
Want to take the next step with adding a whole-house air purifier? Give our professionals a call at 815-933-8213 or contact us online to request an appointment. We’ll help you locate the best unit for your family and budget.