Allergy Product Reviews

Many homes these days are designed with energy efficiency in mind. Unfortunately, the tight seals in your house that make your energy bills cheaper may also be making your allergy symptoms a lot worse. In fact, the Evironment Protection Agency estimates that air pollution levels are two to five times higher indoors!

Those who suffer from indoor allergens (dust mites, mold, pet dander) or irritants (smoke, perfume) may want to consider using a home air purifier to clear surrounding air of indoor allergens and other nasty impurities.

So how do you know what kind of home air purifier to purchase? There’s a gazillion models to choose from! First of all, you need to know that there’s two types available.

1. HEPA Home Air Purifiers
HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air. Basically what this means is that the purifier contains a HEPA filter which removes particles of a certain size from the air. In order to be classified as HEPA, a filter must capture a minimum of 99.97% of pollutants at 0.3 microns or larger. In other words, the smaller the size of the pollutant the filter can capture, the better. This translates into less pollutants in the air.

2. Electrostatic and Charged Media Purifiers
These purifiers are known as less effective and place an electrical charge on dust particles as they pass through the filter although they can have some benefits when compared to HEPA. However, some of these purifiers emit ozone which can be cause for concern, especially to those who suffer from asthma.

No matter what type of home air purifier you choose, there’s a few factors to keep in mind when choosing which model to buy. On a piece of paper write down answers to the following questions. This will help narrow down the choices.

1. What kind of pollutant are you trying to eliminate?
Some models focus on fumes while others focus on eliminating allergens.

2. What size area are you trying to cover?
Make sure to select a model that will cover the square footage of the room where you intend to use it.

3. ACH Rating (Air Changes Per Hour) and CADR Rating (Clean Air Delivery Rate)
These numbers let you know how frequently the home air purifier can exhange all the air in a given room and  much of that air is actually purified.

4. Filter Information
How often will you need to change the filter? How much do new filters cost?

5. Other Important Issues
Don’t forget about other important issues like cost, reputation of the manufacturer, warrantly information, energy usage, ozone emission, noise levels, and extra features.

To view a large selection of home air purifiers please CLICK HERE. If you purchase a home air purifier using this link you’ll receive FREE SHIPPING and a $20 Gift Certificate which you can later use when it’s time to buy more filters for your new purifier!

© 2007 Amanda K. Jones