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Why You Should Get a Whole-Home Purification System
All it takes is just one little particle to disrupt your home’s air quality—and your body as well! A home that’s contaminated by pollutants, pollen or dust can lead to health concerns for the entire household.
So what does that mean, exactly? It means that a home purification system is critical to your family’s health and safety. It’s also critical that you understand the importance of installing a total home solution that will actively purify the air in your home.
A home purifier does more than just improve your indoor air quality; it enhances your ecosystem and promotes healthy living.
What Is a Whole-House Air Purifier?
A whole-house air purifier is quite literally what it sounds like—an air purifier with the ability to clean the air throughout the entire house. It works as a whole-home solution because it installs directly into your home’s existing HVAC system. This makes it an in-duct solution that works to provide cleaner, healthier air to every nook and corner of your home.
The appeal of whole-home air purification, rather than portable devices, is clear. It’s a solution for the entire space, boundless compared to a standalone unit that targets a single room at a time. This is ideal considering the air in your home does not remain in a single room, it circulates.
Eliminate Odors and Allergens, Breathe Easier
There’s nothing more unpleasant than stepping into the comfort of your own home and being greeted with red itchy eyes, sneezes, sniffles and unseemly smells.
The floaties in the air, the bacon grease from this morning’s brunch, the trash that wasn’t taken out, your pets hair, the chemicals under your sink, neighbors smoking—all these elements negatively impact your indoor air quality.
If you have people in your home who suffer from respiratory conditions, asthma, allergies and other health conditions that are exacerbated by poor air quality—purification is the ultimate solution. Home is the only place where you have complete control over the air you breathe … why not keep it clean? Give your family the best air quality by having a home air purification system installed.
How to Deal With Indoor Allergies: If you suspect that indoor allergens are causing your symptoms, you should take all precautions possible to get away from them as much as possible! Learn more →
Purification for Every Type of Pollutant
- Fungi
- Pet hair/dander
- Aerosols
- Pollen
- Pathogens
- Plant spores
- Mildew
- Cooking smells
- Toxins
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- VOCs
- Dust mites
- Tobacco smoke
- Pesticides
- Cat litter
How Do Whole-House Air Purifiers Work?
Whole-home, whole-space or whole-building systems install directly into the existing HVAC system. They work in tandem with the forced air system. To be specific, the device is positioned within the air handler unit and conveniently works with the home’s HVAC processes. The system you use to control your home’s temperature is now also providing cleaner purified air.
When the HVAC system is on and the air is circulating, the purifier is simultaneously working to remove contaminants from the indoor air. Whether heating or cooling your home, or simply running the HVAC fan, the whole-house air purifier is actively removing air contaminants.
How is this possible? When you turn your home’s HVAC system on, fans pull air into the vents. Air then flows through the ductwork, going through the normal air conditioning process. With a whole-home air purifier solution installed, it instead also passes through the purification device. There, pollutants are removed and cleaner air returns to circulation.
Is My Home Air Filter Enough or Do I Need Air Purification? While air filters are known to significantly increase indoor air quality, occasionally they require the assistance of an air purifier. But how can you tell when you need air purification for your home? Let’s take a look at why air filters aren't always enough →
Are Whole-House Air Purifiers Effective?
Air Purification Technologies
There are various whole-house air purifier technologies. There are lots of terms associated with air purification, including UV-C light, ionic purifiers or ionic oxidation, bipolar ionization or the negative ion, photocatalytic oxidation, HEPA filtration, ozone and activated carbon to name a few. Certain devices use only one technology while others use multiple in combination. They all vary in effectiveness, purification goals and safety. So it’s important to understand the difference and fully research the product you’re buying.
A few helpful tips to guide your decision:
- First and foremost, avoid ozone generators. These are devices that purposefully use ozone to purify the indoor air. There is no agreed upon level of safe ozone exposure and any device purposefully using ozone to clean the air is not considered safe for human exposure.
- HEPA is a popular purification type, however, this is not a whole-home solution. Rather, a HEPA filter is used in combination with another purification technology in a standalone device. These are very powerful single-room units and the superior choice for those looking to target one specific room or homeowners without a central air system.
- When it comes to electronic, ionic and oxidation purification processes, it’s crucial to choose a device that provides third-party verification. The world of air purification is largely unregulated. Therefore, you want a device that has been tested and verified by an independent testing lab. This data is separate from the manufacturer and confirms the purifier’s effectiveness and that it emits an acceptable level of ozone byproduct.
Third-Party Testing: Understanding the importance of third-party verification and what it can look like is crucial in order to choose the best purification solution for your home. Learn more about third-party verification →
- UV-C light technology is used both in combination with other purification technology and as a standalone solution. Upper room UVGI or UV-C lights are considered sterilizers or disinfectants and are highly effective at keeping the HVAC system itself (coils, parts, drip pan, etc.) clean and contaminant free. This is another highly useful whole-home solution to consider.
UV-C Sterilization: Interested in UV-C technology products as a standalone solution? Or possibly in addition to a whole-home air purifier. It’s a good strategy.Learn more →
Benefits of Whole-Home Air Purification
Improving indoor air quality means minimizing indoor air pollution. Targeting and removing air contaminants is one of the more effective ways to reduce air pollution in an indoor space. This is the main benefit of air purification.
By definition, to purify is to remove contaminants. Thus, purifying the air quite literally reduces the number of indoor air pollutants. Purification solutions provide cleaner, safer and healthier indoor air.
The benefits of whole-home air purification are aplenty. To name a few:
- You don’t have to choose which room gets purified air. You also don’t have to buy multiple devices to ensure whole-home coverage.
- With a whole-home system, there are no concerns about noise levels, devices taking up space or trying to hide an unattractive unit.
- You and your entire family get to breathe cleaner, healthier air everywhere in the house.
Are Purifiers or Houseplants Better at Purifying Indoor Air? It’s a common belief that houseplants improve indoor air quality, but are purifiers or houseplants actually better at purifying indoor air? Learn more →
Frequently Asked Questions
The best home air purification system is a whole-home active purification solution. These differ from whole-home air filters and passive air cleaning styles by proactively cleaning the air in your home. The best system is an in-duct device that is able to purify the air throughout your entire space, working with the home’s existing HVAC system.
Yes. But we also acknowledge that we’re slightly biased. On the whole, the health benefits of having cleaner, safer, healthier indoor air is worth the cost.
When it comes to facing the serious adverse health effects from indoor air pollution, investing in an HVAC air purifier is well worth it. Persons with existing respiratory conditions, allergies or asthma may feel those benefits even more.
Indoor air pollution is a serious health, environment and home quality threat. Intervening in your home to improve indoor air quality is well worth it—and quite necessary for most spaces.
Does a whole-house air purifier need to be your first choice? That depends. If you haven’t first tried upgrading your home air filter, consider that as a first step. If you notice a lot of dust regardless of how often you clean, health-related symptoms in the home because of poor air quality or live in a location with lots of nearby outdoor air pollution sources … those are all great reasons to invest in a whole-house air purifier!
In the end, it really depends on what IAQ problems you’re facing, what issues your home is having and finding the best IAQ control strategy or solution for your home. An air purifier is always a great choice.