Did you know that the average person inhales 3,000 gallons of indoor air per day? With all that air entering our systems comes a wide variety of invisible particles, including dust, odors, allergens, bacteria, and more – indoor air is up to five times more polluted than outdoor air. So, how do we combat these particles to improve indoor air quality and reduce the pollution we are breathing in? Studies agree that air purification is an effective solution. But, how do air purifiers work? How do you know you are picking the right device for your space? Read on for more information about how air purifiers can make your workplace healthier.
How Do Air Purifiers Work?
When pollutants are removed regularly and clean air is circulating, everyone can breathe easier. That’s where air purifiers come in. The purpose of an air purifier is to increase ventilation and the rate at which the air inside a space is exchanged for clean air. Air purifiers sanitize the air to remove germs and volatile organic compounds, which cuts off the source of sicknesses spreading and allergy symptoms.
How Do I Know Which Air Purifier to Choose?
An important factor to consider when choosing an air purifier is the Air Changes per Hour, or ACH, which is the air volume that can be added or removed from a space in a given hour. Some devices list the areas of square footage it can cover, but this is not enough information to know how often the device will exchange the contaminated air for clean air because it doesn’t take the capacity of a room into consideration. A room in your home may be the same size as a conference room in your office building, but there are many more people going in and out of the conference room. If you choose a device designed for home use, it may only change out the air once per hour, whereas in your office space or other high traffic locations air should be replaced three to five times per hour. In addition to this ACH level, it is recommended to use TRUE HEPA filtration along with HVAC systems to create proper air filtration and ventilation in your space.
We recommend Fellowes® air purifiers as a great solution for any space. AeraMax® Pro air purifiers with four-stage TRUE HEPA filtration was tested and proven as able to reduce an airborne coronavirus surrogate within an hour of operation by 99.99%. The coronavirus surrogate, Human Coronavirus 229E, was chosen to show effectiveness against fighting a similar virus to COVID-19, since it is not currently possible or responsible to test against aerosolized COVID-19 at this time. Fellowes is dedicated to their mission of improving indoor air quality, whether that be in virus reduction or getting rid of other pollutants. Their technology also detects when rooms are empty or the air is clean and switches automatically to standby mode, leading to increased energy savings and fewer filter changes. No matter what space you are working to reopen or keep visitors safe in, you can trust Fellowes to provide the solutions you need.
For more tips on how to improve indoor air quality, check out this post.
Sources
1. Cherney, Kristeen. “Do Air Purifiers Actually Work?”. Healthline, 16 December 2019, www.healthline.com/health/allergies/do-air-purifiers-work. Accessed 3 May 2021.
2. “Air Change Rate Matters”. Fellowes, 2021, www.fellowes.com/us/en/air-purifiers/healthy-air/air-change-rate-matters.aspx. Accessed 3 May 2021.
3. “Healthy Air”. Fellowes, 2021, www.fellowes.com/us/en/air-purifiers/healthy-air/default.aspx. Accessed 3 May 2021.
4. “It Doesn’t Stop at Viruses”. Fellowes, 2021, www.fellowes.com/us/en/air-purifiers/healthy-air/it-doesnot-stop-at-viruses.aspx. Accessed 3 May 2021.
5. “New Laboratory Testing Shows Removal of 99.9% of Airborne Coronavirus and H1N1 Flu with Fellowes Aeramax Pro Air Purifiers”. Fellowes, 15 Mar. 2021, assets.fellowes.com/documents/corporate/Fellowes_Air_Virus_Test_Release_FINAL_031521.pdf. Accessed 4 May 2021.
6. “Your Space – Education”. Fellowes, 2021, www.fellowes.com/us/en/air-purifiers/your-space/education.aspx. Accessed 3 May 2021.