How does an air purifier work?

An air purifier is simply a filtering device which filters airborne contaminants like dust, odor, smoke, pet dander, germs, pollens, etc. from a room or a particular space and improves the quality of air. The pollutants which are mentioned above and the many others cannot be seen with the human eyes alone. These microparticles are most of the time harmful for the human body. So it is better to eliminate them from the air surrounding you. There are many types of air purifier currently available in the market. And not all of them work properly. Some of them could be even dangerous for you or the people around you like mostly children and pets. So if you know how air purifier works you will know which air purifier is best for you.

Before we get to how air purifier works, there are some other information about the air purifier that you should know if you are interested in an air purifier

There are specific groups of air purifiers which can filter 99.97% of the particles in the air. These air purifiers are certified as HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Arrestance). To get the HEPA brand, the air purifier must have to remove at least 99.97% of the particles from the air which are 0.3 microns or larger in size. This HEPA can be considered as a standard unit of an ideal air purifier enforced by the Department of Energy. So if you want to use an air purifier, then you can buy the one which is HEPA certified. But there remains one problem. There are many types of HEPA type air purifiers. 

Here Are 6 Steps of How Air Purifiers Work

#1 Air Purifiers CAN Clean Air

Do you know that the air outside is a few times cleaner than the air inside your room? And sometimes it is a hundred times cleaner. It is seen that the people who use good air purifier remain healthy and get less attacked by the airborne contaminants than the people who do not. From the previous paragraph, you can understand which one is a good air purifier and how much of the purification work they can perform. However, they have to be a good one.

#2 The Air Purifiers Can Trap Dust

No matter how much you clean your room or home or anyplace, or no matter what you do to keep them clean, the dust is sure to gather there. You cannot stop them. And if you have a sensitive sinus, dust can make your life hell. But if you have a good air purifier then they can do the work of catching those dust for you and give you a fresh dust-free room and also give you less effort to clean the dust.

#3 The Air Purifier Can Eliminate 99% of The Germs

There are millions of bacteria floating in the air all the time. They are the reason behind most of the illness in humans. If you have an air purifier which can remove bacteria, they can kill 99% of these bacteria and also pollens and molds from the air. They can also remove the seasonal allergies which cause problems for many people in different seasons and weathers.

The air purifier puts a stop to the germs from spreading also. So if have an air purifier then you do not have to worry about catching flu or other airborne diseases.

If you have a pet in your home, you should know that your cute little furry buddy can spread dander or allergens which can cause disease in your body also. But do not worry, you air purifier can also trap those allergens and dander and furs and also the smells.

#4 The Air Purifier Can Remove Odor And Smoke

It is whether the smell coming from the foods you have cooked or the odor coming out of the fish or any other type of smell in your home or office or any of your rooms, the air purifier can help you get rid of all of those smells.

They can do the same for smokes. Whether it is the smoke coming out of someone’s cigarette or from the fireplace you love to light, they create smoke and smells. The air purifier can trap those smoke too before they get into your air bladder.

#5  The Working Mechanism of An Air Purifier

How air purifier works is pretty simple. Air gets sucked in and passed through some filters one by one and gets unpolluted and then passed out in the air again. This all you need to understand about the working mechanism of the air purifier.

#6 Different Types of HEPA Air Purifiers

Of all the types of HEPA air purifiers, only the HEPA air purifiers have the industrial standard. There are some other types of HEPA called HEPA-like or HEPA-type air purifiers available in the market. There is now an industrial standard for them. They are only marketing strategies to sell these products. Only the true HEPA air purifiers are the best and those are the ones you should be targeting to get.

True HEPA/UV-C Air Purifiers

The true HEPA/UV-C air purifiers are the best and the expensive air purifiers. They are expensive because they are the best in the market for air purifiers. They have the feature of HEPA and also UV light which makes them the most efficient product. They indeed can clean 99.97% of the airborne particles whether dust, smokes, dander, furs, or odor or allergens, bacteria, virus, fungi, etc. They are the best choice in the high allergen or pathogenic areas.

True HEPA air purifier

These air purifiers are also the true type of air purifier and also the second-best air purifier after true HEPA/UV-C air purifier. They are the second-best because they only lack the UV light feature. The UV light is used in the true HEPA air purifiers to kill germs. The true HEPA air purifiers can do all the other air cleaning work just except for the germ-killing part. And they are also a bit less expensive than the true HEPA/UV-C air purifier as they do not have the UV part. Without it, they are still the most efficient air purifier in the market.

HEPA type air purifier

I have told you earlier that they are not the true HEPA air purifiers. They are less efficient than the true HEPA air purifiers. They may or may not trap 99.97% of the airborne particles. They can trap and remove larger particles in the air but their filters are not powerful enough to remove smaller particles like pollens or germs or dust mites or allergens.

Permanent HEPA type air purifier

They are also just like the HEPA type air purifiers. The only variation in them is that they do not come with a removable filter. Except that there is no other significant dissimilarity between them. They work the same; less efficient than the pure HEPA air purifiers. As they do not have a filter changing feature, you do not have to replace it from time to time. This may save some money.

Air purifiers other than HEPA

UV air purifiers

They do half of the work done by true HEPA/UV-C air purifiers. They just do not have the HEPA class. They can fight germs from the air purify it. These type of UV air purifiers are very rare. They are used with other types of purifiers like HEPA or HEPA type ones.

Carbon filters

Carbon filter air purifier or activated carbon filter air purifiers use small absorbent pores to capture the pollutants. Activated carbon filter air purifiers purify the air by causing chemical reactions inside them. But they are best for removing odor and smoke from the air.

Ionic air purifier

They do not directly or properly purify the air. They work by sending streams of ions in the air. These ions attach to the airborne particles of their opposite charge and settle at the surface of the room and remain stuck there. Moreover, they also stuck in places like you trachea or windpipe, alveolus, etc. they can cause respiratory diseases.

Ozone generators

Ozone generators release ozone molecules in the air. The ozone molecule attaches to other molecules such as the dust molecules and blows it up by causing oxidation. The ozone is a toxic gas molecule for the human body. They cause irritations in the respiratory system, trigger asthma attacks, and also can cause damage in the olfactory bulb (one of the organs for smelling). High concentrations of ozone can be fatal. Besides, the ozone molecules take years to get clear from a small room.

Of all the types of air purifiers, I would like to discourage you from buying one with ozone generators or ionic air purifier. They cause more harm than they come to your use. If you are to buy an air purifier, my suggestion would be to buy anyone with the true HEPA feature. Now you know how air purifier works. Which air purifier is good and which one is bad. So I think you can make your own decisions on buying the perfect air purifier for you and your family.