The air purifier and air cleaner jargon guide

When you're looking to purchase an air cleaner or air purifier, all of the different options and jargon can become quite confusing. So here’s our go at explaining some of the jargon you might come across when looking for an air purifier: Air Purifier / Air Cleaner – Air purifier and air cleaner are often used interchangeably to mean a machine that removes pollutants from indoor air. Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) - ACH is the number of times all of the air in a room will be cycled through the air purifier in an hour. It is worked out by the volume of the room and the capacity of the machine. Look for an air purifier which will provide you with at least two air changes per hour for the room that you want to put it in. When it comes to heavy pollutants like tobacco smoke try to choose one powerful enough to give up to five. HEPA Filters - A High Efficiency Particulate Air or HEPA filter is a filter which has been certified to remove at least 99.97% of contaminants of at least 0.3 microns in size, from the air. Like HEPA Filter – A look-alike HEPA filter but without the quality, as ‘like’ filters have not met the 99.97% requirement. Micron – A micron is a unit of measurement that’s the same length as a thousandth of a millimetre. To give you an idea how tiny that is, a piece of paper is about 50 microns thick and strand of hair about 17 microns. Lifetime filters - Certain air purification machines can be purchased with a lifetime HEPA filter. These filters will not need to be replaced; instead they will need cleaning every couple of months. Activated Carbon Filters - Carbon Filters are very effective at removing fumes, gases and VOC's from the air such as smoke, cooking smells, pet odours and also for removing nasty chemicals given off some household cleaning products , new furniture and carpets etc. Ozone - This a molecule which has three oxygen atoms, compared to the normal oxygen molecules which contain just two atoms. This extra oxygen atom means that Ozone can be very reactive so it’s not good for your health. Look for air purifiers which are proven to produce no ozone. Ionizer – Ionizers are a type of air purifier which relies upon charging airborne particles and forcing them to stick together (and to the nearest surfaces in the room). The air will seem fresher, but generally the allergens and pollution is still actually there. This type of technology is generally recognised as a poor relation to a good HEPA air purifier. Also most Ionizers are prone to giving off ozone which is a known trigger of allergic reactions. CFM - CFM stands for cubic feet per minute, it’s a unit used to measure how quickly air flows through a purifier. The higher the CFM is, usually, the better the purifier as faster air flow will mean more air changes per hour. Energy Efficiency - Energy efficient air cleaners will reduce the amount of energy consumed without losing any of the function or power. Many of the best air purifiers nowadays will consume less energy than a light bulb. CADR - Clean air delivery rate (CADR) measures how fast a purifier cleans the air. If you have severe allergies, lots of pets, or want to get rid of cigarette smoke, you should opt for a machine with a high CADR. AHAM Seal - An AHAM (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers) seal is given to air purifiers/air cleaners that meet or exceed the recommended clean air delivery rate (CADR) standards. PM10 particles - PM10 particles are particles in the air that are around 10 microns in size. They are usually pollutants from traffic, power generation or factories and are harmful because they are small enough to enter the lungs. Most quality air purifiers will remove PM10 from the air. PM 2.5 particles - PM2.5 particles, also known as fine particles, measure less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. These particles come from different types of combustion, power plants, burning wood, and motor vehicles among other things. Again, a good Hepa air purifier will have no great difficulty in removing these so long as the machine is sized correctly for the room. We hope we’ve made the world of air purifiers a little easier to understand! A couple of final pieces of advice when you’re choosing an air purifier: always be sure to read the products description and make sure it’s covered under a warranty. Please feel free to pick up the phone if you'd like more advice, call us on 01207 507 444.