Air Purifiers and Allergens

Air Purifiers and Allergens
There are a multitude of websites who are only too willing to sell the desperate Allergy sufferer an Air Purifier which will supposedly 'remove over 99%' of airborne allergens including the above mentioned mould spores.

On the face of it you can see how such a sweeping statement can seem like the answer to all of an allergy sufferers prayers. And of course with units costing as little as £40.00 you can see why it is a popular avenue to take. However care needs to be taken when choosing as things are not always as cut and dried as they seem.

One of the most popular types of air purifiers are called 'Hepa' ( High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter' ), These units usually claim to remove over 99% of airborne allergens etc. However this does not necessarily guarantee that the unit you purchase will actually give you this kind of performance.

You see, it is not the air purifier as a whole which guarantees 99% efficiency , it is only the HEPA filter itself inside the machine which has been stringently tested to ensure that it catches 99% of the air passing through it.

The point made here is that once the actual filter has been fitted into the machine and then switched on, how do you know how much of the air going through the machine is actually passing through the Hepa Filter itself? Air will always take the path of least resistance - and that means if dirty air can find a way around the filter it will.

The biggest difference between top of the range Hepa Air Purifiers like the Blueair 402 and a less expensive model like the Prem-I-Air PJ152 is the quality of the casing, the fan (which is of immense importance for longevity and for keeping the noise down) and the care that has been taken to ensure the best possible 'seal' between filter and machine so that all the dirty air drawn into the machine is passed through the filter with none of the above mentioned by-pass.

So for Hepa filter type air purifers, choose a machine with a good quality fan (less noise, good airflow) and try to talk to the retailer to make sure the unit you are considering has a good seal between the filter and the rest of the housing to minimise unfiltered air by-pass.

For the pinnacle of air filtration in the home or office, then you may want to consider an Airfree machine. These units ( P60, P80 and P125 ) clean the air to a higher degree than any of the Hepa type units and also destroy all viruses and bacteria. Completely independent testing from renowned testing houses and Universities worldwide substantiate these claims making them as safe a bet as you are likely to make. However this kind of air purification comes at a price and you can spend up to £199 for the stand alone P125 or as much as £239.00 for the Stainless Steel Wall mounted WM120.