Are you considering an air purifier or an ionizer to improve the air quality in your home or business? It's important to understand the differences between these two devices and how they can help you. In this article, we'll explore the debate between air purifiers and ionizers and how they can help you improve the air quality in your home or business. Ionizers work by charging particles in a room so that they are attracted to walls, floors, tables, curtains, occupants, etc. This process is known as abrasion and can cause these particles to be resuspended in the air.
Some ionizers contain a collector to attract charged particles back to the unit. While ion generators can remove small particles, some have suggested that these devices provide a benefit by correcting a hypothetical ion imbalance. However, no controlled study has confirmed this effect. In general terms, air purifiers and ionizers perform the same function: they clean the air and remove allergens and contaminants. Both can remove particles that measure a thousand times less than a millimeter, but the way they do it is very different.
Air ionizers are used in air purifiers to remove particles from the air. Particles suspended in the air become charged as they attract charged ions from the ionizer by electrostatic attraction. The particles, in turn, are attracted to any nearby grounded (grounded) conductor, whether they are deliberate plates inside an air filter or simply by the nearest walls and ceilings. The frequency of nosocomial infections in British hospitals led the National Health Service (NHS) to investigate the effectiveness of anions for air purification and discovered that recurrent airborne acinetobacter infections in a room were eliminated by installing a negative air ionizer; the infection rate dropped to zero, an unexpected result. A manufacturer has also discovered that positive and negative ions produced by air conditioning systems inactivate viruses, including the flu. This way, air purifier companies with few additional costs can market a higher CADR (metric that measures the effectiveness of an air purifier), making it an economical way to increase CADR.
Because they remove a much narrower range of particles, air ionizers may not be as good at eliminating triggers for allergies and asthma. Unfortunately, despite word that ionizers cause more harm than good, school districts and airports across the United States have been tricked into paying millions to companies that sell these harmful products. Ionizing air purifiers: These devices produce ozone indirectly, but they can still emit a large amount of ozone, especially compared to other standard appliances. If you're considering an ionizer to reopen your business during the COVID pandemic, it's best to consider it part of a more extensive air purifier system. A summary of the scientific testing of air purifiers revealed that most air ionizers have no discernible effect on particle levels. Instead, you can use an air purifier with multiple filtration stages to use less of the ionization method and take advantage of filters that effectively eliminate viruses and pathogens and neutralize mold, gases, allergens, pet dander and all types of particles.
Smart Air is a B-Corp certified social enterprise that offers simple and sensible air purifiers and provides free education to protect people from harm from air pollution. An air ionizer (or negative ion generator or Chizhevsky chandelier) is a device that uses high voltage to ionize (electrically charge) air molecules. Many of these particles are known irritants that can aggravate allergies and asthma, but they can be removed from the air with an air purifier. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that air purifiers with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can hypothetically remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns, including dust, pollen, mold and bacteria. Weighing up all these factors is essential when deciding whether an ionizer or an air purifier is right for you. While ionizing air purifiers are very effective at disinfecting air, they must be used with caution as they can also produce harmful ozone.
For that reason, it is important to weigh the positive impact that an ionizer can have on the level of particles in the air against any harm it can cause to health by producing ozone. In conclusion, both ionizers and air purifiers have their advantages and disadvantages when it comes to improving indoor air quality. If you're looking for an effective way to reduce allergens and other airborne contaminants in your home or business environment, then both devices could be beneficial. However, if you're looking for something more comprehensive than just removing particles from the air then an air purifier with multiple filtration stages may be your best option.
