Although air filters do a great job of protecting your heating and cooling equipment from airborne particles, they are not as effective at protecting the health of your family. San Francisco area homeowners who are concerned about their indoor air quality, especially anyone who has family members who suffer from asthma and allergies, would greatly benefit from switching to a whole house air purifier.
Today we’re going to discuss the kinds of particles in your air and why a whole house air purifier is more effective than an air filter at removing the particles that are most hazardous to your health.
Particle sizes and their effects on your equipment and your health
Airborne particles are measured in units called microns, where 1 micron is 1/25,400 of an inch (VERY small). All of the particles that cause equipment problems from dirty air filters are larger than 1 micron in size, and many are 20 microns or greater.
However, 98 percent of the particles in your air are smaller than 1 micron in size. Even though these particles don’t cause equipment problems, they are the most hazardous to the health of you and your family. Particles from things like tobacco smoke, cooking smoke, viruses and the most dangerous fungi and bacteria are all smaller than 1 micron in size.
The effectiveness of a whole house air purifier vs. an air filter
Standard air filters are about 80 percent effective at blocking out particles that are 20 microns in size. The best filters on the market are about 94 percent effective at blocking out particles that are 1 micron in size. However, all store-bought air filters are 0 percent effective at blocking out particles smaller than 1 micron in size.
What does this mean? Even the best air filters on the market are only 94 percent effective at blocking out 2 percent of the particles in your air.
Whole house air purifiers, on the other hand, can be as high as 99 percent effective at removing airborne particles smaller than 1 micron in size. That’s because they use a technology that relies on the positive and negative charge of particles to pull them out of your home’s air. Whole house air purifiers can have profound effects on improving your indoor air quality and relieving symptoms from people who suffer from asthma and allergies.
If you have any questions about a whole house air purifier, or if you’d like one installed in your home, contact Cabrillo, your San Francisco plumbing, heating and cooling company. We service the San Francisco area and surrounding cities like Orinda, Pacifica, Palo Alto and Portola Valley.