Indoor Air Cleaners: Portable Or Whole House?

Homeowners have many options for putting an indoor air cleaner in their homes. With choices ranging from UV lights in the ductwork to HEPA filters and from whole-house systems to portable single-room cleaners, the hardest part of getting an indoor air cleaner is choosing the right type for your home.

Indoor air quality affects your family in several ways. Air can carry bacteria and germs that cause illness. Dust and mold spores aggravate allergies and other breathing conditions such as asthma. By reducing or eliminating these microorganisms from your air, you can improve your family’s health and comfort.

Portable air cleaners

Portable air cleaners seem like an attractive option to clean your air at first glance. They’re generally small, not too expensive and can be moved from one area to another. Like many home appliances, however, their effectiveness can vary from one product to another. And in order to truly clean the air in your home, an indoor air cleaner needs to move all the air through your cleaning system. Most portable air cleaners only move a small volume of air. Only some of your air gets cleaned, leaving behind microorganisms and other particles for you to breathe.

Whole-house indoor air cleaning systems

Whole-house systems are more efficient about moving air. They work by turning your heating and air conditioning systems into massive air cleaners. Since your home’s HVAC system takes in and distributes air throughout your house anyway, it only makes sense that it would be the most effective method to clean your home’s air.

Whole-house systems come in different varieties. Some simply use a high-efficiency filter like a HEPA filter to remove microorganisms and other particles from the air. The air is passed through these filters several times an hour. This is effective as long as the filter is changed or cleaned regularly. Others use UV lights installed in the ductwork to eliminate microorganisms. Electrostatic charges can also be used to attract airborne particles.

For more information about using an indoor air cleaner in your home, contact Sobieski Services. We can answer any questions you may have about improving your home’s indoor air quality.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Wilmington, Delaware and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).

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