STACK #207 Jan 2022

Do you sneeze your way through spring and summer? Love cooking but not the odours that come with it? Or just want to improve the air quality in the house?Well, it might be time to look at an air purifier. FAIR AIR

LIFE TECH FEATURE

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Image: Anton Maksimov Juvnsky

G lobally, there’s one thing we’ve shared in common over the last 18 months – we’ve all spent more time indoors than ever before. Temporary working from home conditions have now become permanent for many of us, as we adjust to

exist inside the home. Installing a portable air purifier is a good place to start to eliminate impurities in the air. They can be especially helpful for asthmatics, allergy sufferers, households with babies and pets, or homes with smokers.

complications with our health. A report by the US environmental protection agency found that pollutants inside buildings can be up to five times higher than the air outside. Pollen, dust mites, pet dander, smoke and mould spores are just some of the irritants that

conducting business from within the four walls of our abode. In fact, it’s estimated that Australians spend 90 per cent of their time indoors. However, spending so much time inside can expose us to poor air quality, and that can lead to

Image: Artem Beliaikin

Pollen: Suffering from seasonal allergies is no fun at all. And pollen isn’t restricted to just the outside, either. An open window or a poorly sealed home can wreak havoc on allergy sufferers. Dust mites: The waste from dust mites can be a major trigger for allergy and asthma sufferers. Exposure to dust mites can happen while you’re sleeping or even just walking through the house. Pet dander: Pet dander is another enemy of asthmatics or those prone to allergies. Dander is tiny particles of skin shed from an animal and it’s a protein in the dander that causes allergic

What is an air purifier? An air purifier can be installed as part of a ducted system or as a single portable unit, and it’s these that are more commonly found in the home. Air purifiers work using a fan to draw the air in a room through a single or series of filters. When the air passes through these filters, pollutants and particles are trapped and clean air is redistributed back into the room. What can they catch? This depends on several factors, the first of which is the quality of the unit and the type of

filter installed. It’s unlikely you’re going to get the same level of performance from a $50 air purifier than you are from a unit ten times that price. A budget model will be restricted in the space it can clean and the number and type of impurities it will trap. Additional features like real-time sensors, multiple speed control, Wi-Fi connectivity and voice control will also be limited. As we’ve already mentioned, the other important factor is the filter used in the filtration process. This will determine what the unit can trap. An air purifier can catch the following:

30 JANUARY 2022

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