We spend a lot of time in our homes. As a matter of fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated being within a building makes up 90% of our days. However, the EPA also says your indoor air can be three to five times worse than outside your home.
That’s since our homes are tightly sealed to enhance energy efficiency. While this is good for your heating and cooling bills, it’s not so great if you’re among the 40% of the population with respiratory allergies.
When outdoors ventilation is restricted, pollutants including dust and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can get captured. Consequently, these pollutants could aggravate your allergies.
You can improve 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 residence, an air purifier may be able to help.
While it can’t get rid of pollutants that have gotten trapped in your couch or flooring, it can help freshen the air moving across your house.
And air purification has also been scientifically proven to help lower some allergic symptoms, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. It may also be appropriate if you or a loved one has lung trouble, such as emphysema or COPD.
There are two models, a portable air purifier or a whole-home air purifier. We’ll discuss the advantages so you can determine what’s appropriate for your residence.
Whole-House Air Purifier vs. Portable Air Purifiers
A portable air purifier is for a lone room. A whole-house air purifier works alongside your home comfort equipment to treat your full house. Some models can work by themselves when your home comfort equipment isn’t running.
What’s the Best Air Purifier for Allergies?
Seek a model with a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. HEPA filters are used in hospitals and offer the most comprehensive filtration you can get, as they catch 99.97% of particles in the air.
HEPA filters are even more powerful when installed with an ultraviolet (UV) germicidal light. This dynamic mixture can destroy dust, dander, pollen and mold, all of which are common allergens. For the best in air purification, consider equipment that also has a carbon-based filter to eliminate household odors.
Avoid using an air purifier that creates ozone, which is the primary component in smog. The EPA warns ozone might irritate respiratory troubles, even when emitted at small amounts.
The Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America has created a checklist of questions to consider when buying an air purifier.
- What can this purifier extract from the air? What doesn’t it extract?
- What’s its clean air delivery rate? (A bigger amount means air will be purified faster.)
- How often does the filter or UV bulb need to be changed]? Can I complete that by myself?
- How much do replacement filters or bulbs cost?
How to Lessen Seasonal Allergy Symptoms
Want to get the {top|most excellent|best] performance from your new air purification unit? The Mayo Clinic suggests taking other measures to decrease your exposure to things that can trigger seasonal allergies.
- Stay inside and keep windows and doors shut when pollen counts are heightened.
- Have other family members trim the lawn or pull weeds, since this work can irritate symptoms. If you are required to do this work yourself, you might want to consider trying a pollen mask. You should also bathe without delay and change your clothes once you’re done.
- Avoid hanging laundry outside.
- Use air conditioning while indoors or while driving. Consider adding a high efficiency air filter in your house’s heating and cooling unit.
- Balance your house’s humidity levels with a whole-house dehumidifier.
- Hardwood, tile or linoleum are the ideal flooring materials for decreasing indoor allergens. If your house has carpet, add a HEPA filter on your vacuum cleaner.
Let Our Pros Manage Your Indoor Air Quality Requirements
Prepared to move forward with getting a whole-house air purifier? Give our professionals a call at 601-736-7362 or contact us online to request an appointment. We’ll help you locate the ideal system for your family and budget.