With Air Quality Index levels reaching a potentially hazardous mark, many of us require clean air to breathe and with the hectic schedules people have nowadays, not everyone can leave for a vacation to greener areas with less pollution. To solve the issue, we have what is called an Air Purifier which is the best possible way to give you clean air while remaining inside the walls of your home. However, there are a lot of myths surrounding Air Purifier which prevents people from considering buying it. We are going to bust those myths today but before that, let’s get you through the basics.
What are Air Purifiers and how are they beneficial?
To keep your home’s atmosphere healthy, the purifiers remove contaminants from the air in a room. This improves indoor air quality. They consist of a filter or multiple filters and a fan to pull the air in your home. When the air moves through the filter, pollutants and particles are captured.
Finally, the clean air is pushed back out to your room. These purifiers are incredibly beneficial for allergy sufferers. Persons who suffer from breathing issues should also go for an air purifier. After continued use, it is said that you might experience fewer allergic reactions and asthma symptoms. We also have an in-depth guide regarding what to look for when buying an Air Purifier so you can buy the perfect one for yourself.
Myths about Air Purifier: What not to believe
1. Bad Smell? Means your Air Purifier isn’t working
A number of people believe in one of the myths about Air purifiers if there’s a bad odour in the area where the Air Purifier is kept, it means the Air Purifier isn’t working. However, that’s not the case. It totally depends on the type of air purifier you have and whether it will also clean up the bad smells or not.
Purifiers with a HEPA filter work to remove pollutants from the air, but have no impact on foul odours. This means you could have clean, quality air even if there’s bad odour around you.
On the other hand, devices which uses an activated carbon filter will generally remove odours and gas from the air as well as pollutants. If your carbon filter-equipped air purifier isn’t able to remove foul smell around you, it will probably be a good time to replace that filter.
2. There’s no need for an Air Purifier if you have an AC
An Air Conditioner might lead you to believe that the fresh cold breeze it is throwing out is all clean but again, this is just one of the myths surrounding air purifier. While air conditioner systems are often equipped with some basic filtration functions, they do not have an advanced air filtration system and cannot filter out the microscopic particles that a HEPA filter can capture.
An AC is not designed to trap airborne pollutants but to regulate the room temperature. However, some ACs nowadays do come with an air purifier built-in, meaning they can perform both the tasks mentioned above simultaneously.
Read More: Samsung AX46, AX32 Air Purifiers launched in India: Price, Features
3. All types of Air Purifiers can improve your health
Air Purifiers come in various types, and this is one of the myths surrounding Air purifiers that needs to be debunked, which says that all types of purifiers can improve your health. No, they cannot. While Air Purifiers often do help with your health conditions as they essentially clean the air, the method they use can harm you.
Ioniser Air Purifiers are the ones you should avoid. Ionisers are said to purify air by sending out negatively charged ions (anions) which in turn attract positively charged pollution particles (cations). This causes them to leave the air and stick to surfaces like ceilings, walls, and furniture.
Now, because these purifiers do not remove the pollutants and just make them stick to surfaces, including those inside your airways, such as your windpipe and alveoli, the sacs of air in your lungs, excess pollutant build-up can cause heart, lung, and other respiratory conditions.
Things don’t end here as some Ioniser Air Purifiers also generate harmful ozone. Indoor ozone can irritate your airways, trigger asthma attacks, damage your olfactory bulb, and can prove to be dangerous at high concentrations.
4. You do not have to change the filters in Air Purifier
One of the widespread myths about Air Purifier is that it does not need filter changing. Of course, this is false because the basic working of a purifier depends on the filter as the machine uses it to filter out air. And when the filters become full, they cannot operate properly.
After a certain point of time, an air purifier’s filter gets clogged up with dust which in turn pushes it harder to work. This can not only put stress on the purifier and slow it down but can also decrease its life expectancy. So one should change the filters / clean inside the Air Purifier at least in every 6 months.
5. Can you use an Air Purifier 24×7?
A certain population believes that running an air purifier continuously for 24 hours and 7 days a week can cause the machine to fail, increase your electricity bill, etc. At this point, all of these have become myths about Air purifier that needs to be busted.
While we have already talked in detail before as to why its safe to use an Air Purifier 24×7, all we can say is yes, you can leave the air purifier on continuously. This will allow the purifier to remove the new contaminants as and when they are introduced in the room.
6. Do Air Purifiers even work?
The sixth and one of the last most believed myths about an Air Purifier is that, does it even work? Put simply, Yes, it works. Some believe that as the machine doesn’t make any noise, it is not working at all. However, they do not know that purifiers are designed to operate at low noise levels so you don’t even know its working.
If you want to check whether your purifier is working or not, you can put the back of your hand close to where the device lets the air out. If you feel a gentle breeze, then it is working as intended.
Apart from that, sceptics also believe that air purifiers are purely a gimmick and do nothing. No, that is, once again, false. However, it is important to note that for an air purifier to do its job perfectly, you need to choose the one that is appropriate for the size of the room. Moreover, an air purifier must be regularly maintained to ensure optimal performance.
This was our take on some of the baseless myths regarding Air purifiers. These myths can spread wrong information about air purifiers which can lead to you believing false facts. An Air Purifier can definitely help you breathe cleaner air with positive effects on your and the health of your loved ones.