|
Indoor Air Quality
The quality of the air we breathe, both indoors and out, has a great impact on lung health. Fragile lung tissue is easily
damaged by pollutants in the air, resulting in increased risk of asthma and allergies, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and
other respiratory diseases.
Poor indoor air quality can cause or contribute to the development of chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and
hypersensitivity pneumonitis. In addition, it can cause headaches, dry eyes, nasal congestion, nausea and fatigue. People
who already have respiratory diseases are at greater risk.
Biological pollutants, including molds, bacteria, viruses, pollen, dust mites, and animal dander promote poor indoor air
quality and may be a major cause of days lost from work and school. In office buildings, heating, cooling, and ventilation
systems are frequent sources of biological substances that are inhaled, leading to breathing problems.
HEPA filtered air cleaners, air purifiers and vacuum cleaners are highly recommended for all allergy and asthma
sufferers.
What Is HEPA?
HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters are the highest efficiency air filters available for the filtration of small
particles. HEPA is actually a filtration standard created by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. HEPA filter media is proven
to be 99.97% efficient @ 0.3 microns. Due to their extremely high efficiency, HEPA filters have become widely used in medical,
electronic and industrial applications.
The Best on the Market
Around the time that HEPA air cleaning systems started to become popular, we compared several products that were available
both commercially, as well as at the leading department stores such as Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc.
Our criteria for selecting the best portable HEPA system besides efficiency, were the attractiveness of the unit itself, noise level,
available motor speeds and ease of maintenance. The Amaircare systems won in every category, and we have used their excellent
products exclusively ever since.
There are two types of HEPA systems that would be used in the home. Amaircare's portable HEPA filtration system, or Room-Aid ®,
is the smallest household HEPA that is available. Portable HEPA filters come in various sizes, since a larger room would require a bigger-sized unit
than perhaps a room that is only 10' x 10'.
Amaircare also makes whole-house HEPA systems as well, and these also come in various models according to the square footage of your home. This type of unit is normally installed beside your furnace, and uses your existing air duct system to distribute the clean air evenly throughout your home.
Sizing your HEPA filtration system is important, because the more air changes per hour (ACH) you can provide, the more effective a HEPA filter can be.
1 ACH provides excellent air cleaning results (higher is recommended for people with sensitivities).
Remember: More HEPA is better than less, but some HEPA is better than nothing at all.
|
