If you’ve made the decision to improve your indoor air, you’ve made a good choice; now you have to decide exactly how you want to accomplish it. With so many indoor air quality products available for your HVAC system, it can be hard to tell which type of product will be best. Two popular and effective options are air filter systems and air cleaners. Let’s take a look at how these two products differ.
Using Electricity
The main difference between air filters and air cleaners is that air cleaners use electricity to clean your air. There are three types of air cleaners available:
- Ion generators
- Electrostatic precipitators
- UV germicidal lights
An air filter will fit into the air filter slot in your HVAC system, so there’s no need to connect it to a power source; the air in your system will naturally flow through it as part of the heating or cooling cycle.
Capturing Smaller Particles
A second difference between air cleaners and air filters is that air cleaners can remove more biological contaminants. This is mainly due to the very small size of biological organisms. Air filters can capture particles that are 3 microns and larger; virus and bacteria organisms tend to be smaller than this. However, an air cleaner like an electrostatic precipitator or UV lights, can help capture and remove more of these types of organisms from your home.
Which Do I Choose?
The best way to determine whether you should install and use an air cleaner or an air purifier is to sit down with an expert and review your needs. Your Comfort Flow Heating trained technician will be able to steer you in the right direction so that you choose the best product for your home in Eugene, OR.
