Air Filter vs. Ionizer: What’s the Best Way to Keep Your Home Smelling Fresh?
Whether you buy an air filter or ionizer, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that you need to eliminate foul odors in the home at the source if you want your air purifier to do its job as effectively as it can.
20/04/2020
The air purifier is surely one of the most confusing types of consumer products. There aren’t many other markets in which you can buy one product for $50 or another product for $1,000, and both products claim to do exactly the same thing. Do the more expensive air purifiers cost more because they’re actually better, or do they cost more because of better marketing and brand recognition?
In this article, we’re going to shed some light on your buying decision by comparing air filters vs. ionizers. You’ll find that air filters are often some of the most expensive air purifiers on the market, and an air filter also requires upkeep because you’ll need to replace the filter media periodically. An ionizer, on the other hand, tends to cost less and may only have a metal plate that you need to wipe off occasionally. Could an ionizer really do the same job for less?
Remove Unpleasant Smells at the Source Before You Buy
Whether you end up buying an air filter or ionizer, one of the most important things to keep in mind before you buy is that you need to eliminate foul odors in your home at the source if you want your air purifier to do its job as effectively as it can. An air purifier won’t remove your cat’s litter box, and it won’t clean your stinky drains.
• Quit smoking. If you can’t quit, switch to vaping with an e-cigarette from a company like V2 Cigs UK. When you quit, clean or replace your home’s carpets and curtains.
• Isolate litter boxes and pet beds. If your pet has an accident, clean it promptly with an enzyme-based cleaner.
• Control moisture under sinks and in closets with desiccant or activated charcoal.
• Keep your drains clean.
• Vacuum the floors frequently. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
• Take the trash out promptly.
• Open the windows whenever possible to promote air circulation.
There are many sources of foul odors in the home that you can control, but there are also many that you can’t. Maybe you live on or near a farm. You might live in a congested city with smog problems. Perhaps you live in an older house in which there are persistent moisture issues even though you’re using a dehumidifier. Those are all problems for which a good air purifier is the perfect solution.
How Does an Air Filter Work?
An air filter works by using a fan to force ambient air through one or more filters that trap pollutants. The air passes through the filter stages and comes out clean via the other side of the filter.
An air filter may have multiple stages, such as:
• A pre-filter stage that traps larger airborne pollutants such as dust and pollen. Since a pre-filter prevents larger pollutants from reaching other, more expensive filter stages – such as a HEPA filter – it helps to extend the life of those filter stages.
• An activated carbon stage that traps volatile organic compounds and other gas-based pollutants. An activated carbon filter can greatly improve the smell of a room. To work effectively on odors, though, the filter needs to be thick and heavy.
• A HEPA filter stage that traps tiny particles as small as 0.3 micrometers. A HEPA filter can remove small particles like smoke, mold spores and pet dander.
Pros and Cons of Air Filters
The benefit of air filters is that the particles they trap are actually removed from the environment because they’re stuck in the filter media. When the media is full, you remove it from the air filter and throw it away. Used properly, a good air filter can definitely improve indoor air quality.
There are a few potential drawbacks, however, of using an air filter.
• Room position is important. If you want an air filter to work as efficiently as possible, you need to put it where it will circulate the most air.
• The air filter needs to be rated for the room size in which you’ll be using it. That generally means you’ll need an air filter with a large fan and large filter media, and that means the air filter won’t be cheap. An inexpensive true HEPA air filter is better than nothing, but it won’t do much in a large room.
• You’ll have ongoing costs when you buy an air filter because you’ll need to replace the filter media periodically. An air filter with multiple stages for large particles, gas and fine particles may cost upwards of $200 per year to operate.
• An air filter only works if you replace the filter media promptly when it’s time. A HEPA filter will trap organic matter such as mold spores. If the filter is full, though, it’ll throw those spores back into the air.
• No air filter is as efficient in a real home as it is in a lab. Take any air filter’s efficiency rating with a grain of salt.
• “HEPA-like” and “HEPA-type” aren’t the same as true HEPA. Read the marketing language carefully when shopping for an air filter.
• An air filter won’t remove particles caught in your carpet, curtains and furniture. It can only do its job if you keep your home as clean as possible.
How Does an Air Ionizer Work?
An air ionizer works by flooding the air with negative ions. The negative ions are attracted to airborne pollutants, which are positively charged. The pollutants then seek out and stick to grounded surfaces. An ionizer generally has its own grounded surface – a metal plate – on which the dust collects. Periodically, you need to remove the plate and wipe it down to maintain the efficiency of the ionizer.
Pros and Cons of Air Ionizers
The primary benefit of air ionizers is that they’re typically very inexpensive compared to air filters. With an air filter, you’re buying several pounds of expensive filter media and a fan designed to operate continuously for years. An ionizer, on the other hand, is more electronic than mechanical and can be produced much more cheaply. An ionizer also has lower ongoing costs because it doesn’t have filters that require periodic replacement.
Using an ionizer, however, does have several drawbacks.
• The pollutants that an ionizer removes from the air aren’t really gone. Some of the pollutants are stuck to your wall and floor, and they’ll eventually be released back into the air. Other pollutants are stuck to the ionizer’s collection plate, which you’ll have to clean manually.
• An air ionizer isn’t efficient unless it has a fan. Without a fan forcing air through the system, it can take a long time for an ionizer to improve air quality. With a fan, an ionizer can be noisy. An ionizer won’t work nearly as well as a good air filter.
• An ionizer may emit environmental ozone. In 2005, Consumer Reports tested several air ionizers and found that they all created unsafe ozone levels in closed-room environments.