Air Purifier And Dehumidifier

Importance Of Air Purifiers In The House
High Humidity Problems
What Is The Most Appropriate Humidity Level?
Air Purifiers
Benefits Of Air Purifiers
Types of Air Purifiers
Types of Dehumidifiers
What Does A Dehumidifier Do?
Dehumidifier Air Purifiers
Best Dehumidifier Air Purifier Combos

Importance Of Air Purifiers In The House

We spend so much more time indoors now. Due to the pandemic, we have become more aware of the quality of the air we breathe. We are more aware of health issues.

High humidity makes people uncomfortable and sick. This is why you need an appliance that can remove the excess moisture. It comes in handy, especially in humid climates. An appliance that can also clear the air of allergens and pollutants is even handier.

Air purifiers remove allergens, dust mites, pet hair, and other unwanted particles. Dehumidifiers remove the excess moisture in the air.

Both help in places with poor ventilation. Excess moisture leads to the growth of mold spores and mildew and can lead to musty smells. A dehumidifier and an air purifier, used together, will help you get cleaner and drier air in your home.

High Humidity Problems

High indoor humidity creates an uncomfortable and harmful environment. It can be in your home or your office space. When the temperature is higher inside than outside, humidity is too high. When the air feels heavy to breathe, you have excess humidity.

High levels of humidity wreaked havoc in my household. You need to watch for physical signs, both in your surroundings and in the people around you. Here are other indications that your humidity levels are high.

I noticed that mold spores were starting to build up on the walls.
Then a powerful musty mold smell developed.
My young son started sneezing and seemed to develop allergy symptoms.
This had us rushing to the emergency room when he was having difficulty breathing.

The doctor asked us to go around the house and find out what had changed. So I took the home apart, and that is when I discovered the mold spores and mildew. They had spread into the damp basement, under my son’s room. There was a musty smell. I had always seen condensation on the windows, but I never thought anything of it.

I had to read up and figure it out. I discovered that high humidity issues cause a lot of trouble. Trouble or immune triggers like dust mites, mildew, and fungal blooms. High humidity leads to immune triggers. Then come the allergies you never even knew you had.

The allergies worsen the spread of colds and flu (lots of coughing and sneezing going around). In some severe cases, one can develop COPD. COPD is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Signs of difficult breathing include: wheezing, coughing, and excess mucus in the lungs .

I started looking for options to improve my comfort and health. I looked up dehumidifiers, air purifiers, and dehumidifier air purifier combos. I decided to choose a healthier living environment.

What Is The Most Appropriate Humidity Level?

For those who might not know what humidity is, it is moisture levels in the air. Not all humidity in the air is bad. We need some moisture in the air for health and comfort. There has to be a balance. A healthy indoor humidity level should be around 30-50 percent.

When humidity is too low, it has adverse effects. Dry air can cause difficulty in breathing, coughing, sore throats, and dry skin that itches. Low humidity makes your space very uncomfortable. Dry air also damages anything made of wood. Wooden windows, door frames, and floors, bend and split.

When humidity is too high, it also has adverse effects. Wet air also causes health and respiratory problems. Excessive humidity leads to mildew, mold, dust mites, pests, and allergens. High humidity can also damage the integrity of your home, furniture, and clothing.

This shows how important it is to balance the humidity level in your home or office. With inappropriate moisture levels, you need to do something before adversity arrives.

Your options include dehumidifiers, air purifiers or a combinations of the two. You want an appliance that maintains a comfortable humidity level and cleans the air. The size of appliance needed depends on the area of your room or home and the moisture there. Capacity is the number of pints of moisture removed from the air each day.

Air Purifiers

An air purifier filters air removing dust, dander and mold spores. Purifiers reduce airborne pollutants.

The aim is to improve air quality by reducing the spread of allergens and harmful residues. Air purifiers assist in preventing respiratory issues by removing allergy triggers.

Even if you don’t have any medical issues, you can still protect your family with clean air. Air purifiers combat atmospheric pollution and enhance indoor air quality. [1]

Benefits Of Air Purifiers

Air purifiers are handy devices to have in your home when you need to protect people with allergies. They remove harmful pollutants from the air. Finding the right air purifier for your space can work wonders. Some benefits include:

Allergens-

Airborne irritants, like mold, pollen, pet fur, dandruff, and dust mites are allergens. An air purifier with a filter helps trap airborne particles, removing them from the air.

Mold-

If the air purifier has a HEPA filter, it can remove the mold spores. The air is cleaner and drier. Humidity stays in a comfortable range. You can breathe easier and live healthier.

Smoke-

Air purifiers can remove smoke from the air, but smells. An air purifier makes a big difference, even if it’s cigarette, cigar, or other smoke. But studies have shown air purifiers will not remove nicotine from indoor air.

Other toxins-

Air purifiers can also help lessen the impact of harmful toxins. Examples of injurious toxins are: personal care products, detergents, and cleaning products.

Allergy and asthma medications can help ease symptoms and prevent reactions. But air purifiers may help get rid of the source of your symptoms. You may experience fewer allergic reactions and asthma symptoms after continued purifier use.

It is still essential to prevent irritants from getting into your home in the first place. An air purifier is not a substitute for taking your medications. Always talk with your doctor before decreasing or stopping any medications. [2]

Types of Air Purifiers

There are five types of air purifiers. Let me break them down and describe how each one works:

1. HEPA air purifiers

HEPA filter stands for high-efficiency particulate air filter. HEPA technology was first used in gas masks during World War II. HEPA air filters were further developed during the atomic bomb; Manhattan Project.

Now HEPA purifiers are a popular household item. HEPA standards mean that filters extract 99.97% of particles of 0.3 micron size or larger.

HEPA air purifier start by pulling polluted air into the fan. The air passes through and sticks to a reusable filter. The filter traps airborne particulates in a maze-like tangle of fibers.

A few particles; 0.03% of particles evade the filter. Some particles disperse in the air. Ultra-fine particles are particles smaller than 0.1 μm. These small particles move through the reusable filter without clinging to any fibers

Airflow causes particles to move in a zigzag path. A meandering path increases the chances that particles will stick in the filter.

Clean air then passes through the filter and back out into the room, reducing pollutant levels. Many HEPA filters are washable and reusable.

2. Absorbent Purifiers

Adsorbent purifiers capture contaminants and odors that could be floating in your house. Adsorbents are for cleaning up pollutants, much like the cleanup of wastewater. Absorbents reduce environmental pollution.

Adsorbents use physical or chemical methods to draw in and hold onto pollutants.

3. UV Purifiers

UV purifiers start by sucking air into the device, like HEPA purifiers. Then, UV purifiers expose the air to a UV lamp that generally generates UV-C light.

UV light breaks down the chemical bonds formed between DNA molecules. It does this through ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI). This makes the viruses inactive and kills bacteria and fungi.

You heard about sunscreen “protection against UVA and UVB.” Well, this is because the sun destroys the DNA and RNA within your skin cells, increasing the risk of skin cancer. UV purifiers work the same way but on airborne microbes.

4. Ionic Purifiers

Ionic purifiers come in two forms: ionizers and electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). Ionic purifiers created a filterless alternative to HEPA purifiers. Ionic technology began in the 1990s and 2000s.

HEPA purifiers have surpassed ionic purifiers in popularity. This resulted in the rapid rise and fall of The Sharper Image’s Ionic Breeze. This was due to concerns that ionic purifiers emit ozone.

Ionizers produce ions. Ions are positively or negatively charged particles. These particles come about from corona discharge.

Most ionizers create negative ions. The ions bind themselves to particles floating around the purifier. Particles then settle around your home on surfaces where you can wipe, vacuum, or clean them.

Electrostatic precipitators use a similar concept. Particles settle inside the positively charged plates in the purifier.

ESPs are more common than ionizers. Particles stick the plates, rather than falling about the entire room.

5. Ozone Generators

Ozone generators are not for indoor home use. Ozone generators have industrial applications. Ozone reacts by “donating” an oxygen atom. Oxygen alters the surrounding molecules’ chemical composition, leading to captured particles. [3]

Types of Dehumidifiers

Types of dehumidifiers

Dehumidifiers come in four types:

1. Heat Pump Dehumidifier

This type consists of a fan, heat pump, and heat exchange coils to extract of moisture from the air. The fan drives the air past the heat exchange coils. The coils are very cold and the excessive humidity present in the air condenses and settles in a bucket.

2. The Dehumidifying Ventilator

The ventilator is a straightforward solution. The appliance removes outside air using an exhaust fan.

It uses a sensor activated by either a timer or the door closing that activates an exhaust fan. Dehumidifying ventilators are often used in basements, attics, and crawl spaces.

3. Absorption Dehumidifier

The chemical absorbent dehumidifier is often referred to as a desiccant dehumidifier.

It uses hydrophilic materials, such as silica gel, that remove water from the air. Materials like calcium chloride attract moisture.

There are single-use desiccant-type cartridges, gels, and powders in most homes. Desiccant materials work very well in damp locations, like a basement.

4. Home-made dehumidifier

If you are handy, you can make your own dehumidifier. While I do not suggest it as a permanent solution, it might help in the short term. It is possible to make homemade dehumidifiers out of rice, charcoal, road salt or de-icing salt. [4]

What Does A Dehumidifier Do?

A dehumidifier pulls in warm air across its coils through its fan. Warm air contracts through the refrigerated coils, and condensation stays within the dehumidifier.

As the condensation gathers, it falls into a water tank connected to the dehumidifier. This happens one droplet of water at a time. The cooler, drier air is then discharged into your house from the other side of the machine.

Your dehumidifier gets the level of humidity in the air down to 30 to 50% relative humidity. Many dehumidifiers have a meter that measures the relative humidity in your house. You can adjust the moisture to the ideal level. It is all about humidity control. [5]

Dehumidifier Air Purifiers

Picking the right air purifier / dehumidifier

As I was considering options, I discovered that you could get a dehumidifier and an air purifier unit. Dehumidifier air purifier combos take multi-tasking to a whole new level.

Your combo appliance can sort out allergens and humidity levels. Your air is clean and dry. Your environment is safer. You need to do your research to pick the right air purifier dehumidifier combo for what you need.

Tank Capacity:

The capacity of your unit determines how well it works. Capacity means pints of moisture your air purifier dehumidifier combo removes each day. Larger capacity units remove more pints of water and purifier more air each day.

Is it easy to use? You don’t want to be stuck with a machine that only works when you are there. It’s plugin and play. Dehumidifier air purifier combo units also come with continuous draining.

Emptying a bucket each time its full is tedious. You may have to watch it round the clock to empty the bucket when its full. You don’t have to watch continuous draining appliance.

Coverage:

Get a air purifier dehumidifier combo that can cover the space you want dealt with and more. It’s always better to go with more capacity than you need to make sure it includes all corners. Always check how many square feet your device covers for effective operation.

Moisture removal depends on how humid your room is. A less damp room will need a smaller capacity dehumidifier. While a wet room will need a larger capacity dehumidifier.

Filter:

The air filter determines how well it purifies the air. For a combo machine, consider a HEPA air filters. HEPA means High Efficiency Particulate Air filters. HEPA filters clean air better. They trap many more harmful particles from the air. Particles including pet dander, mold, allergens, and dust mites.

Operating Temperatures:

You need a machine that can adapt to the temperature you live in. And, you get the best possible results. Most of these combos come with a touch control panel that is easy to use and easy to program. Make your air purifier dehumidifier work how you want it to. [6]

Best Dehumidifier Air Purifier Combos

Afloia Gala Air Purifier For Home Smokers With Air Quality Senor,true Hepa Filter Air Purifier For Living Room Bedroom Office, Adjustable Light& Quiet

Honati Air Purifier for Home and Dehumidifier All in One, Portable Air Purifier – H13 HEPA Filter Remove 99.97%, 25DB Ultra-Silent, Up to 215 Sq.Ft

BlueDri BD-AS-550-BL Negative Machine Airbourne Cleaner HEPA Scrubber Water Damage Restoration Equipment for Mold Air Purifier, Single Unit, Blue

Yaufey 1500 Sq. Ft Dehumidifiers for Home and Basements, with Continuous or Manual Drainage, Intelligent Control Quietly Removes Moisture

Final Thoughts

Dehumidifier-purifier combo units are now very popular. The modern design does double the work. You will notice your indoor environment improve.

Most of them have low noise levels. This is good because you can use them while you are home or even at night while sleeping. An ultra-quiet operation device is one you should look for.

A portable dehumidifier also makes it easier for you to set it up where you need it. You can get a nice compact design.

When you are shopping, you need to look for an energy-efficient device. These are usually Energy Star rated. When there are power outages, it will auto-restart when power is restored and you don’t have to worry.

If you want to improve the quality of life in your home, this is the way to go. With the sleek design it can fit right in with your home’s decor.

Air Purifier And Dehumidifier