ARE AIR PURIFIERS WORTH IT?

But, as simple as that answer sounds, there’s more to it than a simple yes or no.

Air purifiers range from small, inexpensive products you can pick up at a pharmacy to robust appliances that require professional installation.

In this article, we’ll help you choose the right one for your East Dundee, IL home. We’ll review how they work, the signs you may need one, and how to decide which kind is right for you.

1. Allergy or Respiratory Problems Flare Up

We mentioned seasonal allergies, asthma, and COPD before. If you experience flare-ups at home, or if it’s worse in the house, an air purifier can help.

In many cases, the cause of a flare-up is pollutants you’re breathing in: Pollen, dirt, and dust. Eliminate these, and your symptoms should ease up.

2. Excessive Dust or Pet Dander

Likewise, if you often see even thin layers of dust on furniture, an air purifier can help get rid of it. The more the machine sucks up, the less of it you have to clean. Then, the less there is to irritate you.

How Air Purifiers Work

Let’s start with off-the-shelf air purifiers that use filters. These work just like the air filter on your furnace: As air passes through the system, the screen catches dust, dirt, and other small contaminants.

This way, the air is much cleaner when it exits the appliance.

These models usually have much stronger filters than the average one-inch screen you buy for your HVAC system. That means they’ll catch even tinier particles, including dust mites, bacteria, and possibly even cigarette smoke and cooking odors.

That strength depends on the model you buy. Some also use charcoal-activated filters to catch even more particles.

Then, you get into more robust consumer products and the heavy-duty appliances that require professional installation.

We’ll use APCO as an example since we install many of these in Barrington, East Dundee, and other Fox River Valley towns.

That’s the name of the purifier, and it stands for “Advanced Photocatalytic Oxidation.”

What the process boils down to is that it uses UV-C light to defuse and disintegrate bacteria, germs, VOCs and other pollutants.

You’ve probably heard that sunlight is an excellent disinfectant. That’s true, and these work along the same lines. The UV-C light literally scrambles the DNA of microorganisms so they can’t reproduce.

Meanwhile, the UV-C light also reacts with other elements to disintegrate those contaminants along with dust, dirt, and other non-organic contaminants.

You’ll see other products like this talk about ionization and other methods. They all boil down to the idea that these stronger purifiers actively work throughout your home and eliminate many more contaminants. Many times, you can feel the difference almost instantly.

Choose The Right One For Your Home

First off, how big is your home? How many rooms do you have?

The more area you need to cover, the stronger your appliance has to be. The same goes for if you have an open floor plan or multiple rooms. Or, if one part of your house seems to need more treatment than others.

Consumer-grade air purifiers usually only work in one room at a time. So, if you have an apartment or condo or worry only about the bedroom in your home, you can get away with a small investment.

But, that changes when you have a larger home or walls breaking up the air circulation. At that point, and especially if you really want to make a big difference, it’s time to think about a whole-home solution.

What you want is something like APCO. It requires professional installation because it attaches directly to your heating and cooling system.

This way, it treats your entire house, just like your furnace or central air. And, you don’t need to worry about plugging it in or turning it on and off.

Just like you don’t manually switch your heater or AC on and off all day, a whole-home purifier does the job on its own.

Honestly, if you’re worried about anything other than one room, an APCO is the way to go. You’ll breathe easier and feel healthier, almost instantly.

Air Purifier Installations in East Dundee, IL