Air purifiers are a popular home remedy for all kinds of ills, from smog to odors. But are they really effective at removing dust? Does it make sense to spend money on an air purifier when you can just use your air conditioner? Let’s look at whether air purifiers can really remove dust from the air, and if they’re worth the investment.
What is an air purifier?
An air purifier is a machine designed to improve the air quality in your home or office. They come in various shapes and sizes.
Air purifiers can broadly be classified as ACTIVE or PASSIVE.
Passive purifiers require that air pass through an internal filtering device first. This is effective, but what if the impure air hits your lungs before it hits the filter?
This is especially important to consider, given the recent infection rates of COVID-19 and its variants. One infected person could spread the disease to other people before passive purification can have a chance of removing the virus. HEPA filters and carbon filters are examples of passive purifiers.
Active purifiers are proactive, in contrast. Active purifiers can reduce contaminants in the air without first drawing the air through their mechanism.
Although active purifiers are still relatively new, they have been proven to be more effective than older standards such as passive HEPA. Active purification includes photocatalytic oxygenation, ion generators and ActivePure’s proprietary technology.
Purifiers can be either installed in a building’s ductwork or portable units.
Do air purifiers remove dust?
Well, yes and no – this question isn’t very specific, so it’s difficult to answer. First, what does “remove” mean? If you put your hand in front of an air purifier for a few seconds, you would definitely feel much less dust in your hand than if you didn’t use an air purifier.
Also, the term “dust” is very broad. Every single particle in the air is not dust. There are many tiny harmful particles in the air that air purifiers do not remove. Having larger particles in the air is actually better for you and the environment (at least, in some ways) because they reduce the amount of harmful UV rays that reach the ground.
The amount of dust in the air is pretty much decided by the environment. There is no such thing as a dust-free environment. Humans are constantly breathing in dust and putting dust in the air.
How effective are air purifiers at removing dust?
In theory, an air purifier should remove all harmful particles from the air. The problem is that there is no such thing as a perfect air purifier. They are not able to remove all particles from the air, even though they may reduce the amount of certain particles in the air.
The amount of dust in the air is mostly determined by factors such as the weather, the amount of dust in the surrounding area, whether the windows are open or not, and other small factors.
This means that, in theory, an air purifier could remove up to 99.9% of a specific particle, like the pollen found in pollen-infested areas, or the HEPA dust that is generated from hardwood floors. But in reality, an air purifier will never remove more than 50-60% of all particles in the air.
Is it worth it to buy an air purifier?
For some people, the decision to buy an air purifier is obvious. They have severe allergies or are constantly dealing with dust in their house. (Here’s more info on how air purifiers work to clean air.)
If you are one of those people, it is definitely worth the investment to buy an air purifier. The best thing to do is look for a model that has high reviews for dust removal, as this usually indicates that it will be more effective at removing dust.
If you aren’t one of these people, there are a couple of things to keep in mind before deciding whether or not to buy an air purifier.
The first is the upfront cost of the machine. While it is technically possible to run a machine 24/7 and save money by doing so, in reality, the air inside your home will be dirtier over time. This means that you will have to spend more time and money to clean your air filters more often.
The second is the ongoing cost of running an air purifier. These usually run on electricity and produce some type of grime, whether it be the filth that collects on your air purifier’s filters or the microwaved rocks that your UV purifier produces.
Final Words
The debate about whether or not air purifiers remove dust from the air rages on. While there are no clear-cut statistics that can tell us for certain, the general consensus is that they don’t remove dust very effectively. But then – that’s not their intent! They are designed to purify air and remove common pollutants, allergens and toxins. They don’t do your household dusting for you, unfortunately. If you have allergies or asthma, live in high-smog areas, or with a smoker, you should definitely consider investing in a dedicated air purifier. If you aren’t one of these people, there’s a benefit – clean air is always better than dirty air, even if you don’t notice it bothering you.
If you do decide to buy an air purifier, make sure you check out the one we recommend, from ActivePure.
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