Whole House HVAC Air Purifier: The Most Efficient Way to Filter Household Air

Learn about whole house HVAC Air Purifiers: what they are, how they work and how to choose one for your home.

Whole House HVAC Air Purifier: The Most Efficient Way to Filter Household Air

The most efficient way to filter household air is through forced air heating or central air conditioning in the house.

HVAC air purifiers

are installed in the air return ducts immediately before the air controller or furnace. Most are washable, but it's a hassle you might not want. There is a lot of misinformation about “whole house” air purifiers, some air purifiers are marketed as such, but in reality they are just large portable units. While they can filter relatively more air, larger portable filters don't actually clean all the air in the house.

A true whole-house air purifier is built into the HVAC system. It could be as simple as a filter where the return of air enters the oven (which is primarily intended to protect the oven components from dirt, rather than purifying the air), or it could be an electronic system integrated into the duct network. For it to truly be considered a whole-house air purifier, the filter must be placed in the airflow in the ducts of your HVAC system. Whole house air purifiers, on the other hand, require professional installation. If they are connected to your HVAC system, they will only filter the air when the air conditioner or heating system is turned on or when the fan is running.

According to the EPA Guide to Home Air Purifiers, HVAC systems only work about 25 percent of the time during heating and cooling seasons. Running the fan or running the heating and cooling for longer can increase electricity costs. HEPA filters: To qualify as a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, you must trap any particle larger than 0.3 microns. In addition, this model only filters moving air, such as when the heater or air conditioner is operating (although most HVAC systems have a “fan on” mode that keeps air flow through the ducts even when the heater or air conditioner isn't working). A whole-house air purifier is a device that is installed in line with the residential HVAC system that traps or destroys dust, pollen, and other harmful contaminants to clean the air and improve indoor air quality.

Usually, air filters are integrated into the heating and cooling system (filters for the whole house) or are stand-alone units that can be placed in individual rooms (portable filters with autonomous fans).It's almost impossible to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of whole-house air purifiers because there are many variables that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of the purifier, such as the layout and size of the house's ducts, the number and location of the air return grilles, and the HVAC equipment already installed and the conditions (for example, a lot of dust, a lot of pets, or mold problems) that the purifier may need to address. The manufacturer also suggests operating it with air that always flows through the HVAC system, which means that you must keep the HVAC fan running even when the system is not heating or cooling. The 3- and 5-ton versions of the Perfect 16 only differ in the amount of air they can filter per minute. If you're thinking about purifying your air because you or someone you live with has asthma, you can put a personal air purifier in the room where the person with asthma sleeps. An air supply system is placed between the oven and the ventilation system, which purifies the air before it reaches the different rooms of the house.

Whatever whole-house air purifier you choose, it's important to establish a regular maintenance program and to clean and replace filters and other components to ensure you maintain the healthiest possible air quality in your home. A return air system is installed where air from the house is returned to the oven, before it is heated or cooled. The advantage of multimedia-type air purifiers is that they effectively remove more than 99.9% of pollutants and allergens from the air. But ULPA filters restrict airflow so much that, in practice, they can clean less air than HEPA filters. Choosing the best whole-home air purifier system depends on your willingness and ability to perform the necessary maintenance, as well as the specific contaminants you want to remove from the air..