Choosing an Air Cleaner? Don’t Overlook This Factor

Choosing an air cleaner for your home involves knowing what size room it will treat, what pollutants it will most efficiently remove from the air and how long it will take to do it. Fortunately, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers has made the job easier by consolidating all three factors into a single label called the clean air delivery rate (CADR). This rating, available on most home units, allows consumers to make at-a-glance comparisons among various models when choosing an air cleaner.

Here’s what the CADR label tells you when you’re choosing an air cleaner:

• The CADR label indicates the square footage of the room in which the cleaner is tested for use. Different air cleaners have differing size capacities based on the capacity of the intake blower, the filter media and other factors. Buyers should shop models that are certified for rooms equivalent to their planned use at home. If the room size is smaller than the suggested size on the CADR label, the unit will clean the air faster. A room larger than the suggested size will require more time.

• The label expresses the efficiency of the air cleaner in removing three common pollutants: dust, tobacco smoke and pollen. This permits the consumer to target certain pollutants that may be a greater issue for their particular home when choosing an air cleaner. The higher the rating for each pollutant, the more efficient the filter and the faster it will clear the air.

• The most efficient filter will show pollutant values equal to at least two-thirds of the square footage shown in the room size figure. For example, a CADR label on a filter tested for 120 square feet should show values of 80 for each pollutant for optimum efficiency. Values less than two-thirds of the square footage indicate that the cleaner is less efficient for that specific pollutant and will require more time to clean the air.

If you’re choosing an air cleaner to fit your needs, contact the experts at Sobieski Services.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).

Image Credit: konradfoerstner