Air Ionizer Purifier – Pro’s and Con’s

by admin on May 20, 2010

Air Ionizer Purifier Pro’s and Con’s

Purifier Technology

Nowadays, a lot of purifier systems are marketed with various claims of improving health and well-being. Purification systems can mainly be divided into two categories based on the medium they are used upon: air and water. This article takes a look at the various purifier technologies available for air and drinking water and examines their effectiveness. Air Purification: Air purification is usually useful for people with conditions such as asthma and other allergies. It can also be effective in improving the overall atmospheric hygiene of buildings and improving well-being by preventing the onset of several allergies. Several types of air purifier systems that differ in the methods of purification are available. Depending on the mechanism of action in the purifier, they are capable of removing smoke, dust, spores, pollen, and other microscopic particles from air. Below are the most popular air purification technologies. * UV Purifier: Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation passes air through ultraviolet lights. It sterilizes the air by killing or inactivating 99% bacteria and microorganisms there. But it does not remove dust or particulate matter. The purifier is available as stand-alone and for forced-air units. The latter is more effective and energy efficient. * Air Ionizer: It uses highly charged electrical surfaces to ionize particulate matter. These ionized particles are removed by passing through opposite charged filter. The filtering effectiveness of air ionizers vary widely. Some models produce excessive ozone which can be harmful. * HEPA: High Efficiency Particulate Absorbing devices use filters capable of arresting 99.9% of particles at 0.3 microns. It is most effective when it’s part of a forced-air system. There are no emissions, but it can be expensive if regular filter changes are needed. * PCO: Photo catalytic Oxidation purifier units include a combination of all three technologies previously listed. These are extremely effective devices, which provide the highest levels of air purity. But, they are also the most expensive technology. They are available as both stand-alone and for forced-air systems. Drinking Water Purification: Drinking water purification technologies are also credited with improving well-being. There’s quite a bit of evidence to substantiate these claims. Although a wide range of methods exist for water purification, only a few processes are relevant to drinking water. The most widely used methods are listed below: * Boiling: It sterilizes water of most bacteria by heating to boiling temperatures. However, it does not guarantee continued sterility once the water cools down. This is an energy intensive method. It does not remove salts or foreign particles and can render water more concentrated (salty). * Microporous Ceramic Filtration: This is the simplest type of water purifier that uses a ceramic filter with tiny pores in it, which allow water to pass through. It is time-consuming to process large volumes of water with micro porous ceramic filtration. Plus it’s not very effective with smaller microbes. * Carbon Filtering: It cleans water by passing through layers of adsorbent activated charcoal. It is most effective only with sediments, so it is often combined with other methods in a multi-step process. * UV Water Filtration: This type of a purifier device typically includes a filtration such as carbon filtering, and sterilization through exposure to UV. It eliminates particulate matter and bacteria, but again, it does not maintain sterility for long. As you can see, each purification technology has its own pros and cons. Different methods have varying levels of effectiveness. Keep these considerations in mind when choosing a purifier for your home or office.

About the Author

Healthy Air and Water Purifiers deals in UV Air and Water Purifier products, which improve the quality of air by destroying virus and bacteria, and protect from various kinds of allergies.

Air Ionizer Device

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

markedwr2003 February 11, 2009 at 6:01 pm

Good overview of Ionizers

AirPurifierReview April 29, 2009 at 1:36 pm

Is an ionizer the same as Ozone?

01mustang05 May 8, 2009 at 11:33 pm

Negative Ion Generation will clean the air by allowing dust particals to fall to the floor and not float in the air. Then, hopefully, you wet mop or vacum (ideally…) with a central vac system exhausted to the outside.

DrWheelman May 27, 2009 at 12:47 pm

Ionizers don’t do a very good job of cleaning the air, but do make the air healthier…

AirPurifierReviews June 23, 2009 at 2:28 pm

Good info

AliveAir July 14, 2009 at 3:09 pm

Thanks

AliveAir July 14, 2009 at 3:10 pm

I agree with you on that. Most people think ionizers are the name of air purifiers.There is alot of confusion about ions and Ozone, which are different.

AliveAir July 14, 2009 at 3:11 pm

Good comment.. thanks. Negative ions are an inexpensive way to clean some , but not all, of what’s in the air. Not all molecules are charged so it doesn’t clean everything.

AliveAir July 14, 2009 at 3:13 pm

NO. Ozone is o3 – an oxygen molecule (02) with an added molecule. Ionizers use the postive and negative charges of dirt and pollution to attract them to a metal plate like a magnet. Ions are the natural charge of air.

bigdogg805 December 18, 2009 at 10:12 pm

i read a comment from a consumer that said Ionizers should only be used for a feaw minutesd only because they can cause health problems. Ever heard of that?

AliveAir December 19, 2009 at 3:16 am

It’s Ozone that can create health problems. Ions (and ionizers) are what makes the air healthy, and plenty of negative ions is the difference between cuntry air and city air.

bigdogg805 December 20, 2009 at 5:50 pm

Im sure many other people are wondering the same thing, but where does ozone come from? do air purifiers produce them….

TomXD69 January 14, 2010 at 7:15 pm

Healthy ion concenteration is: 2000 ion/cm3 ; Ionizers produces 1000000 ion/cm3 and 0,05 ozone/cm3; the safety limit is 0,01 ozone/cm3;

but 0,05 x 2000 / 1000000 = 0,0001
so it can produce 2000 ion/cm3 and 0,0001ozone/cm3 in a room.

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: