living healthier inside
Is Your Home Making You Sick?
While we worry about smog, worse pollution is closer to home. In fact it is in our homes.
As reporter Chandra Shikhar discovered, “more than three decades after the Clean Air Act, the air outdoors is much cleaner, even with many more people, cars and industries … but indoor air is another matter.” "It is an insidious kind of poisoning of our lives," said former California state legislator, Fred Keeley who successfully fought for indoor air regulation. “Pollutants inside buildings vastly outnumber those outside”, said Jed Waldman, who heads the Indoor Air Quality program at the California Department of Health Services.
Yet there’s good news. You can take a few, powerfully simple steps to make the air inside your home – the one place you can control – better than the air outside. Here’s to living healthier and longer with clean air at home.
Five Alarming Facts to Motivate You to Act
1. 50 percent of all illnesses are either caused or aggravated by poor indoor air quality.
2. Asthma is now the most common chronic disorder in childhood, affecting an estimated 6.2 million children in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association.
3. The EPA ranks poor indoor air quality as one of top five public health risks. (Asthma, allergies, and other breathing difficulties, lung and heart disease, headaches and dizziness.)
4. Americans spend nearly 90% of their time indoors.
5. Indoor air pollution can be two to fives times to sometimes 100 times higher than outdoor air pollution.
Who is Most Vulnerable to Dirty Air?
Those most at risk to polluted air at home:
• Infants and young children.
• People with asthma, allergies or other respiratory illnesses or who have heart or lung problems – especially those who also lead stressful lives.
• Elderly, most of whom have reduced lung capacity.
• Smokers and those who live with them.
• People who work at home.
• Those in colder climates who tend to stay inside even longer.
• People in urban areas.
• Those living in energy-efficient or other well-built homes that seal air inside.
Do Any of These Situations Sound Familiar to You?
• Cindy heard her eight-year son wheezing again. Despite ripping out the wall-to-wall carpets and following the other suggested steps for asthma sufferers, Cindy was worried. His attacks were getting worse. She wouldn’t wait any longer to take a whole home approach to removing allergy-inducing pollutants from her air.
• Diane and Nikolas love their home and community so they decided to “age in place”, making changes in their home like grab bars by the bathtub and an air cleaner.
• After renovating their home to make it more energy-efficient, Don and Marguerita noticed they were sniffling more. Perhaps their now well-sealed home is trapping more polluted air inside.
• Allen was delighted when his employer agreed to his working at home. No more long commutes. Instead he got adult-onset asthma.
• Alisa uses non-toxic products. Her appliances are Energy Star efficient. Even before home sales stalled she chose to match her “green” passion with her work. She became an Ecobroker. Her natural next step? Encourage clients to get healthier air in their homes.
• Rocco and Celia decided to move from the suburbs into new condo building in the center of more cultural opportunities downtown. Yes, there was more traffic and pollution, but their new condo building came with a special amenity that mattered more to them than a fancy stove – an air cleaning system that kept the air inside cleaner than fresh air.
• Arne quit smoking 20 years ago. After retiring, he dove into an online business he loved, spending long hours at the computer. Yet he was sniffling, sneezing and getting colds more often.
• Building homes to green standards not only felt good to Polly and Jackson, it also gave homebuyers an extra reason to choose their homes, especially if buyers had children. Or if anyone in the family was health-conscious or vulnerable to respiratory problems. Adding a high-efficiency home air cleaner was the “new” green feature that helped their homes stand out from others.
• When he got transferred, Bart brought Lady, his golden retriever. He also took his allergy. Bart couldn’t abandon a dear friend, but he could reduce the dander in his home.
Winter is coming. So are the holidays. Days get shorter. You’ll spend more time indoors. What better time to make the air healthier in your home?
Make the Air You Breathe Healthier in the One Place You Can Control. Your Home.
Truly Green Homes Have Healthy Air Inside
In these uncertain times, two concerns top homeowners’ and buyers’ list:
1. Reducing their energy bills
2. Making their home healthier, especially by improving the air they breathe.
Ironically, as homes are built tightly to reduce energy needs, they trap more air and fumes inside. Dirty air gets re-circulated by the heating or air conditioning system. That’s how the home version of the Sick Building Syndrome kicks in. In fact, most homes now have air quality problems that can affect health. In a study by the independent testing firm, AirAdvice, almost 96% of homes had health-affecting indoor air quality problems.
Even Tidy, Conscientious People Get Sick From Their Home
Even if you use non-toxic products, clean regularly, have a HEPA vacuum cleaner and do not smoke, nor have asbestos or damp surfaces or use a fireplace or a wood stove, you are still vulnerable to the tiniest dust particles in your home – the respiratory suspended particulates (RSPs)
They become airborne from even slight actions such as walking on the carpet, sitting on a sofa or lifting a blanket. The particles are microbial air contaminants, ranging from bacteria and viruses to fungi and spores. They include pollens, spores, asbestos fibers, insect debris, food remnants, and pet dander.
What Makes RSPs So Dangerous?
Size does matter. RSPs are so small that you can breathe them deep into your lungs. Multiple studies show they cause acute or chronic health effects.
They enter the blood or lymph tissue and cause a host of respiratory problems. Those who are allergic to respirable particles succumb to a range of health problems, from allergic rhinitis to bronchial asthma. Radon and benzo-a-pyrene (suspected carcinogenic agents) are transported by RSPs into the lungs. Gases or other substances may also be carried by RSPs into the lungs. Respiratory illness, especially chronic illnesses like bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma may be linked to, or aggravated by, exposure to RSPs.
Lung damage may be small yet it is cumulative. That is especially devastating for young children as the effect of the damage increasingly reduces lung capacity as they age.
Recent research shows that respiratory problems from RSPs and other air pollutants can also lead to heart problems.
It Gets Worse
These pollutants affect you more if you are sensitive to them or the longer you are exposed to them – for example, the amount of time you spend at home. Health dangers range from itchy eyes to allergic reactions to more dangerous effects such as a damaged immune systems, reduced lung capacity, heart difficulties and cancer.
Slightly larger particles, such as pollen, dander and house-dust allergens, don't penetrate your lungs as deeply, but they can cause debilitating allergic responses.
Take the First Steps to Cleaning Your Air at Home
1. Avoid or reduce the use of certain products and other materials in your home
2. Change how you clean and maintain your home. (No it won’t take over your life).
3. Install the technology that can keep you safe and healthy at home. Protect yourself from fire or smoke, radon and carbon monoxide. Then install a good home air cleaner.
Consider Testing the Air Quality in Your Home
Get a whole home air test, conducted by a certified indoor air consultant. Also consider testing how efficiently your HVAC system is working. Most are at about 58% efficiency.
Some people simply buy a continuously high-performing, whole home air cleaning system for peace of mind. They want to feel secure that they are making the air healthy in the one place they can control – their home.
Now, here’s to helping you make the smartest choice in a home air cleaner.
Choose the Most Efficient Air Cleaner for Your Home
You can get a whole home air cleaner if you have a forced air system, meaning you have a furnace or furnace and air conditioner. Then you already have a basic mechanical filter. That’s your first, crude level of defense against air pollution.
These mechanical filters are typically made of a coarsely woven metal. They can only remove large particles of dirt and hair. Even that capacity is greatly reduced when the filters are not replaced regularly. Worse yet, these mechanical filters can’t capture the tiny RSPs. If you do not have a forced-air system or want to consider a portable, room-only device, here’s the basics you need to know.
Get a Portable Room-only Device or a Whole Home System?
The next step is to choose between a portable room-only cleaner and a whole home cleaner. Unfortunately, some don’t have that choice. You can’t get a whole home system if you do not have a forced-air home furnace or air conditioning system.
In considering portable devices you have two kinds: ones with mechanical filters or ionizers.
Mechanical Filter-Based Portable Air Devices
The best kind meet the HEPA (high efficiency particulate air filters) standard. That means they can capture 99.97 percent of the airborne particles 0.3 microns and larger that pass through the filter. These include tobacco smoke, household dust and pollen. Mechanical filters draw air through a flat, pleated or high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) surface to trap particles.
That design means HEPA filters can be efficient in the beginning yet tend to clog easily. Clogging reduces airflow and thus their ability, over time, to remove pollutants. Filters must be changed with some frequency to maintain HEPA-level efficiency. Not all if us remain that diligent, even if we intend to be.
“Gary McEldowney, the marketing director for AllergyBuyersClub.com, said the cost of a purifier could range from $150 to $700, depending on size and features. Replacement HEPA filters cost $40 to $150.” Other models are much more expensive.
Another obvious disadvantage is that a single room cleaner can’t keep the rest of the air in your home clean. It can’t even maintain the high HEPA standard in the room in which it is used, unless it runs continuously and the door and windows to the room are kept closed – an unlikely possibility. This room-only approach is akin putting a bandaid on a wound.
Portable Room Ionizers
Ionizers emit a small charge to the air stream that cause particles to adhere to the filter or other surfaces by a magnetic-like attraction. But this is not efficient as particles can become re-suspended. Worse yet, ionizing emits ozone, a lung irritant that is also linked to other health problems. It can have damaging health effects, especially for those with asthma and other lung diseases, children and the elderly.
According to Consumer Reports and the EPA, “While some indoor air pollutant concentrations decline in the presence of ozone, other pollutants increase. In fact, upon reaction with ozone, some previously undetected, toxic chemicals emerge in indoor air, including formaldehyde and other aldehydes.” See the EPA’s "Ozone Generators Sold as Air Cleaners."
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html
To add insult to injury, the units make zapping and other noise as they emit ozone. Also it requires time-consuming cleaning and frequent filter changes to maintain even a lower level of performance.
As you can see, your best option, if you cannot get a whole home system is to get a portable device with a mechanical, HEPA-grade filter. If your home has a forced-air system so you can get a whole home system, you’ll now see your options. The good news is that there are clear choices. You do not have to spend a lot of time nor money to get healthy air throughout your home.
How to Choose the Most Efficient Whole Home Air Cleaner
Whole home air cleaners can be placed in the ductwork of forced-air systems heating or air-conditioning (also known as in-duct air cleaners). “If you are using forced air for, the best way to clean the air in your house is to add a filtration module to your system,” said Alex Wilson, president of BuildingGreen in Brattleboro, Vermont. Now, however, you don’t have to mess with the ducts. Instead one kind of high-efficiency air cleaner can be retrofitted, that is bolted right onto your existing unit.
Here are the kinds of whole home air cleaners from which you can choose:
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPS)
All electrostatic precipitators use electricity to charge particles passing through them and then attract them electrically (make them “stick”) to either plates or a filter.
As you compare systems consider these five key factors:
1. Performance over time: Efficiency goes down over time in some systems.
2. Maintenance: It is key to continuously high performance. Some systems are considerably more complex, messy and time-consuming - as are some filters. Even a diligent person can get tired of the upkeep and avoid doing it. Some systems require more frequent filter changes than others.
3. Ease and cost of installation.
4. Sound: Some systems create noise while others are quiet.
• Ozone: The pollutant in smog, ozone can cause lung damage and other health problems. It also creates noise as it arcs, sparks and pops.
They are described below according to increasing levels of air cleaning performance, maintenance needs and convenience.
1. Electrostatic Filters
This is the least expensive kind of filtering system, removing 90% of particles that are 0.3 microns or less. It requires frequent filter changes and, more importantly, performance goes down over time. One example is the Filtrete. Electrostatic units filter the air using static electricity. They have a static charge on the filter to allow airborne particles to "stick" to the filter, just like static-charged clothing sticks together.
The drawbacks to these units are that they capture fewer RSP’s and the filter needs to be replaced frequently
2. Conventional Electronic Air Cleaners
EACs charge particles and cause them to stick to plates inside the unit or to a filter. In this way they trap and filter up to 98% of pollutants from the air passing through your heating and cooling system. This kind of air cleaner can capture microscopic impurities like dust, smoke and smog particles in addition to larger particles like mold spores and cat dander.
Collected pollutants are removed by cleaning the plates in the sink or dishwasher. Some EAC’s use grounded filters instead of plates but these require expensive replacements (AprilAire) or messy cleanup (Trane).
3. Hybrid Electronic Air Cleaner
AspenAir Inside is a hybrid. It eliminates the need for wires (or pins) and plates. Instead it uses a non-metallic material to conduct the electricity and charge the RSP’s. Thus you can avoid the messy and time-consuming cleaning that comes with metal-based technology.
Then, it uses an inexpensive but highly-efficient, loosely woven filter to capture the particles. This loose weave allows the unit to operate with low static pressure. It is quick and easy to replace every six months or a year. Thus, you can get continuous high performance without the downsides (higher maintenance, costlier installation, etc.) of conventional EACs.
Winter is coming. You’ll be spending more time inside.
Find a competent local contractor to install your AspenAir Inside.
More About AspenAir Inside Your Home
Remove from your home air 99% of the harmful Respirable Suspended Particles (RSP) that can lead to asthma, allergies and other respiratory and heart conditions, using Aspen Air Inside. It removes up to 20 times the particle matter of conventional systems, making your indoor air better than fresh air.
Only AspenAir Inside Can Provide All These Benefits
• Continuously safe indoor air without purchasing a new HVAC system
• Quick, simpler, non-intrusive and less expensive installation.
• Much less maintenance.
(No wires to scrape, plates to clean, or surfaces to vacuum)
• Visible diagnostic system to see your system is working
• Fewer filter changes (1-2 a year, taking ten minutes or less)
• No harmful ozone emitted.
• Quiet (no zapping caused by ozone).
• Less energy to operate
As reporter Chandra Shikhar discovered, “more than three decades after the Clean Air Act, the air outdoors is much cleaner, even with many more people, cars and industries … but indoor air is another matter.” "It is an insidious kind of poisoning of our lives," said former California state legislator, Fred Keeley who successfully fought for indoor air regulation. “Pollutants inside buildings vastly outnumber those outside”, said Jed Waldman, who heads the Indoor Air Quality program at the California Department of Health Services.
Yet there’s good news. You can take a few, powerfully simple steps to make the air inside your home – the one place you can control – better than the air outside. Here’s to living healthier and longer with clean air at home.
Five Alarming Facts to Motivate You to Act
1. 50 percent of all illnesses are either caused or aggravated by poor indoor air quality.
2. Asthma is now the most common chronic disorder in childhood, affecting an estimated 6.2 million children in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association.
3. The EPA ranks poor indoor air quality as one of top five public health risks. (Asthma, allergies, and other breathing difficulties, lung and heart disease, headaches and dizziness.)
4. Americans spend nearly 90% of their time indoors.
5. Indoor air pollution can be two to fives times to sometimes 100 times higher than outdoor air pollution.
Who is Most Vulnerable to Dirty Air?
Those most at risk to polluted air at home:
• Infants and young children.
• People with asthma, allergies or other respiratory illnesses or who have heart or lung problems – especially those who also lead stressful lives.
• Elderly, most of whom have reduced lung capacity.
• Smokers and those who live with them.
• People who work at home.
• Those in colder climates who tend to stay inside even longer.
• People in urban areas.
• Those living in energy-efficient or other well-built homes that seal air inside.
Do Any of These Situations Sound Familiar to You?
• Cindy heard her eight-year son wheezing again. Despite ripping out the wall-to-wall carpets and following the other suggested steps for asthma sufferers, Cindy was worried. His attacks were getting worse. She wouldn’t wait any longer to take a whole home approach to removing allergy-inducing pollutants from her air.
• Diane and Nikolas love their home and community so they decided to “age in place”, making changes in their home like grab bars by the bathtub and an air cleaner.
• After renovating their home to make it more energy-efficient, Don and Marguerita noticed they were sniffling more. Perhaps their now well-sealed home is trapping more polluted air inside.
• Allen was delighted when his employer agreed to his working at home. No more long commutes. Instead he got adult-onset asthma.
• Alisa uses non-toxic products. Her appliances are Energy Star efficient. Even before home sales stalled she chose to match her “green” passion with her work. She became an Ecobroker. Her natural next step? Encourage clients to get healthier air in their homes.
• Rocco and Celia decided to move from the suburbs into new condo building in the center of more cultural opportunities downtown. Yes, there was more traffic and pollution, but their new condo building came with a special amenity that mattered more to them than a fancy stove – an air cleaning system that kept the air inside cleaner than fresh air.
• Arne quit smoking 20 years ago. After retiring, he dove into an online business he loved, spending long hours at the computer. Yet he was sniffling, sneezing and getting colds more often.
• Building homes to green standards not only felt good to Polly and Jackson, it also gave homebuyers an extra reason to choose their homes, especially if buyers had children. Or if anyone in the family was health-conscious or vulnerable to respiratory problems. Adding a high-efficiency home air cleaner was the “new” green feature that helped their homes stand out from others.
• When he got transferred, Bart brought Lady, his golden retriever. He also took his allergy. Bart couldn’t abandon a dear friend, but he could reduce the dander in his home.
Winter is coming. So are the holidays. Days get shorter. You’ll spend more time indoors. What better time to make the air healthier in your home?
Make the Air You Breathe Healthier in the One Place You Can Control. Your Home.
Truly Green Homes Have Healthy Air Inside
In these uncertain times, two concerns top homeowners’ and buyers’ list:
1. Reducing their energy bills
2. Making their home healthier, especially by improving the air they breathe.
Ironically, as homes are built tightly to reduce energy needs, they trap more air and fumes inside. Dirty air gets re-circulated by the heating or air conditioning system. That’s how the home version of the Sick Building Syndrome kicks in. In fact, most homes now have air quality problems that can affect health. In a study by the independent testing firm, AirAdvice, almost 96% of homes had health-affecting indoor air quality problems.
Even Tidy, Conscientious People Get Sick From Their Home
Even if you use non-toxic products, clean regularly, have a HEPA vacuum cleaner and do not smoke, nor have asbestos or damp surfaces or use a fireplace or a wood stove, you are still vulnerable to the tiniest dust particles in your home – the respiratory suspended particulates (RSPs)
They become airborne from even slight actions such as walking on the carpet, sitting on a sofa or lifting a blanket. The particles are microbial air contaminants, ranging from bacteria and viruses to fungi and spores. They include pollens, spores, asbestos fibers, insect debris, food remnants, and pet dander.
What Makes RSPs So Dangerous?
Size does matter. RSPs are so small that you can breathe them deep into your lungs. Multiple studies show they cause acute or chronic health effects.
They enter the blood or lymph tissue and cause a host of respiratory problems. Those who are allergic to respirable particles succumb to a range of health problems, from allergic rhinitis to bronchial asthma. Radon and benzo-a-pyrene (suspected carcinogenic agents) are transported by RSPs into the lungs. Gases or other substances may also be carried by RSPs into the lungs. Respiratory illness, especially chronic illnesses like bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma may be linked to, or aggravated by, exposure to RSPs.
Lung damage may be small yet it is cumulative. That is especially devastating for young children as the effect of the damage increasingly reduces lung capacity as they age.
Recent research shows that respiratory problems from RSPs and other air pollutants can also lead to heart problems.
It Gets Worse
These pollutants affect you more if you are sensitive to them or the longer you are exposed to them – for example, the amount of time you spend at home. Health dangers range from itchy eyes to allergic reactions to more dangerous effects such as a damaged immune systems, reduced lung capacity, heart difficulties and cancer.
Slightly larger particles, such as pollen, dander and house-dust allergens, don't penetrate your lungs as deeply, but they can cause debilitating allergic responses.
Take the First Steps to Cleaning Your Air at Home
1. Avoid or reduce the use of certain products and other materials in your home
2. Change how you clean and maintain your home. (No it won’t take over your life).
3. Install the technology that can keep you safe and healthy at home. Protect yourself from fire or smoke, radon and carbon monoxide. Then install a good home air cleaner.
Consider Testing the Air Quality in Your Home
Get a whole home air test, conducted by a certified indoor air consultant. Also consider testing how efficiently your HVAC system is working. Most are at about 58% efficiency.
Some people simply buy a continuously high-performing, whole home air cleaning system for peace of mind. They want to feel secure that they are making the air healthy in the one place they can control – their home.
Now, here’s to helping you make the smartest choice in a home air cleaner.
Choose the Most Efficient Air Cleaner for Your Home
You can get a whole home air cleaner if you have a forced air system, meaning you have a furnace or furnace and air conditioner. Then you already have a basic mechanical filter. That’s your first, crude level of defense against air pollution.
These mechanical filters are typically made of a coarsely woven metal. They can only remove large particles of dirt and hair. Even that capacity is greatly reduced when the filters are not replaced regularly. Worse yet, these mechanical filters can’t capture the tiny RSPs. If you do not have a forced-air system or want to consider a portable, room-only device, here’s the basics you need to know.
Get a Portable Room-only Device or a Whole Home System?
The next step is to choose between a portable room-only cleaner and a whole home cleaner. Unfortunately, some don’t have that choice. You can’t get a whole home system if you do not have a forced-air home furnace or air conditioning system.
In considering portable devices you have two kinds: ones with mechanical filters or ionizers.
Mechanical Filter-Based Portable Air Devices
The best kind meet the HEPA (high efficiency particulate air filters) standard. That means they can capture 99.97 percent of the airborne particles 0.3 microns and larger that pass through the filter. These include tobacco smoke, household dust and pollen. Mechanical filters draw air through a flat, pleated or high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) surface to trap particles.
That design means HEPA filters can be efficient in the beginning yet tend to clog easily. Clogging reduces airflow and thus their ability, over time, to remove pollutants. Filters must be changed with some frequency to maintain HEPA-level efficiency. Not all if us remain that diligent, even if we intend to be.
“Gary McEldowney, the marketing director for AllergyBuyersClub.com, said the cost of a purifier could range from $150 to $700, depending on size and features. Replacement HEPA filters cost $40 to $150.” Other models are much more expensive.
Another obvious disadvantage is that a single room cleaner can’t keep the rest of the air in your home clean. It can’t even maintain the high HEPA standard in the room in which it is used, unless it runs continuously and the door and windows to the room are kept closed – an unlikely possibility. This room-only approach is akin putting a bandaid on a wound.
Portable Room Ionizers
Ionizers emit a small charge to the air stream that cause particles to adhere to the filter or other surfaces by a magnetic-like attraction. But this is not efficient as particles can become re-suspended. Worse yet, ionizing emits ozone, a lung irritant that is also linked to other health problems. It can have damaging health effects, especially for those with asthma and other lung diseases, children and the elderly.
According to Consumer Reports and the EPA, “While some indoor air pollutant concentrations decline in the presence of ozone, other pollutants increase. In fact, upon reaction with ozone, some previously undetected, toxic chemicals emerge in indoor air, including formaldehyde and other aldehydes.” See the EPA’s "Ozone Generators Sold as Air Cleaners."
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html
To add insult to injury, the units make zapping and other noise as they emit ozone. Also it requires time-consuming cleaning and frequent filter changes to maintain even a lower level of performance.
As you can see, your best option, if you cannot get a whole home system is to get a portable device with a mechanical, HEPA-grade filter. If your home has a forced-air system so you can get a whole home system, you’ll now see your options. The good news is that there are clear choices. You do not have to spend a lot of time nor money to get healthy air throughout your home.
How to Choose the Most Efficient Whole Home Air Cleaner
Whole home air cleaners can be placed in the ductwork of forced-air systems heating or air-conditioning (also known as in-duct air cleaners). “If you are using forced air for, the best way to clean the air in your house is to add a filtration module to your system,” said Alex Wilson, president of BuildingGreen in Brattleboro, Vermont. Now, however, you don’t have to mess with the ducts. Instead one kind of high-efficiency air cleaner can be retrofitted, that is bolted right onto your existing unit.
Here are the kinds of whole home air cleaners from which you can choose:
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPS)
All electrostatic precipitators use electricity to charge particles passing through them and then attract them electrically (make them “stick”) to either plates or a filter.
As you compare systems consider these five key factors:
1. Performance over time: Efficiency goes down over time in some systems.
2. Maintenance: It is key to continuously high performance. Some systems are considerably more complex, messy and time-consuming - as are some filters. Even a diligent person can get tired of the upkeep and avoid doing it. Some systems require more frequent filter changes than others.
3. Ease and cost of installation.
4. Sound: Some systems create noise while others are quiet.
• Ozone: The pollutant in smog, ozone can cause lung damage and other health problems. It also creates noise as it arcs, sparks and pops.
They are described below according to increasing levels of air cleaning performance, maintenance needs and convenience.
1. Electrostatic Filters
This is the least expensive kind of filtering system, removing 90% of particles that are 0.3 microns or less. It requires frequent filter changes and, more importantly, performance goes down over time. One example is the Filtrete. Electrostatic units filter the air using static electricity. They have a static charge on the filter to allow airborne particles to "stick" to the filter, just like static-charged clothing sticks together.
The drawbacks to these units are that they capture fewer RSP’s and the filter needs to be replaced frequently
2. Conventional Electronic Air Cleaners
EACs charge particles and cause them to stick to plates inside the unit or to a filter. In this way they trap and filter up to 98% of pollutants from the air passing through your heating and cooling system. This kind of air cleaner can capture microscopic impurities like dust, smoke and smog particles in addition to larger particles like mold spores and cat dander.
Collected pollutants are removed by cleaning the plates in the sink or dishwasher. Some EAC’s use grounded filters instead of plates but these require expensive replacements (AprilAire) or messy cleanup (Trane).
3. Hybrid Electronic Air Cleaner
AspenAir Inside is a hybrid. It eliminates the need for wires (or pins) and plates. Instead it uses a non-metallic material to conduct the electricity and charge the RSP’s. Thus you can avoid the messy and time-consuming cleaning that comes with metal-based technology.
Then, it uses an inexpensive but highly-efficient, loosely woven filter to capture the particles. This loose weave allows the unit to operate with low static pressure. It is quick and easy to replace every six months or a year. Thus, you can get continuous high performance without the downsides (higher maintenance, costlier installation, etc.) of conventional EACs.
Winter is coming. You’ll be spending more time inside.
Find a competent local contractor to install your AspenAir Inside.
More About AspenAir Inside Your Home
Remove from your home air 99% of the harmful Respirable Suspended Particles (RSP) that can lead to asthma, allergies and other respiratory and heart conditions, using Aspen Air Inside. It removes up to 20 times the particle matter of conventional systems, making your indoor air better than fresh air.
Only AspenAir Inside Can Provide All These Benefits
• Continuously safe indoor air without purchasing a new HVAC system
• Quick, simpler, non-intrusive and less expensive installation.
• Much less maintenance.
(No wires to scrape, plates to clean, or surfaces to vacuum)
• Visible diagnostic system to see your system is working
• Fewer filter changes (1-2 a year, taking ten minutes or less)
• No harmful ozone emitted.
• Quiet (no zapping caused by ozone).
• Less energy to operate
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