We all like to breathe clean air, and this is especially true of the air in our homes. Clean air is healthier and lower in airborne particles and gas pollutants that can affect our short and long term health.

Find out more about air purifiers and how they can help with giving you cleaner air at home.

The average person breathes in around 10,000 litres of air in a 24 hour period. So it makes sense to ensure that when you’re at home your living, eating and sleeping environment is as unpolluted as possible. In big cities especially the quality of the air we breathe can be severely affected by airborne particles from outside such as vehicle exhaust fumes, pollen and bacteria. Indoor air pollutants such as cooking particles, cleaning products and dust can make air stale and unpleasant to inhale.

The best way to ensure the air you breathe indoors is the best it can be is to buy an air purifier.

How do air purifiers work?

Air purifiers suck in polluted air which is passed through a HEPA filter. This catches the contaminants and then blows the clean, unpolluted air out. The longer you leave it running, the more air is circulated through the filter with every pass and the cleaner the air becomes.

What size is best?

The square footage of the room you want to purify will depend on the size of the air purifier you need. Look for an air purifier that can effectively manage to clean the air in the room in the shortest space of time. If you want to speed up the process, a larger capacity air purifier in a smaller sized room will circulate the volume of air faster. Look for the air change per hour rate (ACH) on the specifications which indicates how often the air in a space is cleaned of allergens. For allergy or asthma sufferers, an ACH rating of at least a four is recommended.

What other features should it have?

As well as HEPA, carbon, and UV filters, here are some more convenient additional features to look for in an air purifier when you’re out shopping:

• Filter indicator – a unit that automatically alerts you when it’s time for a filter change is very handy.
• Auto air quality monitor – a unit that can automatically monitor the air quality and adjust the cleaning speed.
• Multiple fan speeds – more than one fan speed can be useful to give you a choice over purification speed and noise level.
• Quiet operation mode – putting an air purifier in your bedroom or the lounge? A quiet operation mode will help if you’re sensitive to noise or a light sleeper.
• Portability – handles or caster wheels to make your air purifier portable so you can move it from room to room.

Many split system and ducted air conditioners purify the air as well as cool/heat it, so it can be worth the extra money to install one of these instead of buying a stand alone air purifier. Contact Star Air Conditioning today to find out more about our range of air conditioners that will also act as air purifiers.