When you think about the indoor air quality, one immediately thinks about air conditioning systems and how they keep the air temperature at comfortable levels while the air filters located in these systems, keeping the dirt and dust particles out. Although these filters do an important job, they are far from being the total solution to indoor air pollution.
Why do I need an Air Scrubber?
Up until recently, these air scrubbers were mostly found in commercial settings like factory floors, warehouses, medical facilities as well as high pollution job sites like water and mold damage restoration. Lately, these devices are making way into residential use.
As the air pollution around us gets worse, the need for such a unit rises. One might ask “why? I have a very good air conditioning system with high quality filters”. Well, those filters are as good as their capability of catching harmful particles. They might catch the dander from your neighbors’ dog or fibers of dandelion weed in the springtime. How about the chemicals spewed by the construction machinery in the next block? Or the mold particles that you didn’t even notice, accumulating in your bathroom?
What exactly is an air scrubber?
In its core, it is a portable air filtration system that catches airborne particles, gasses, and also other hazardous chemicals from the air, improving the air quality. This can be a standalone, portable unit as well as it can be built into your existing HVAC system. They can remove up to 99.9% of all contaminants in the surrounding environment.
What is the difference between an air purifier and scrubber?
An air purifier is sort of a passive device. It takes in air from the surrounding environment and after filtering out the contaminants, it gives the same air back to the environment. It cleans the air but its effects pretty much stops there.
The scrubber on the other hand does much more than that. It takes the surrounding air in, passes it through filters, eliminating harmful particles, runs the air through a UV light, killing all the bacteria and most other living organisms in the air. Almost all air pollutants in the environment are positively charged particles.
Scrubbers can kill harmful germs, bacteria and pathogens unlike air filters which merely trap them. Most scrubbers often transform the killed pathogens into oxidizers and send them back into the air to eliminate any germs they find that are trapped on surfaces, such as the growth of mold and fungi, as well as bacteria embedded in the fabric of the carpet or furniture.
Some select systems also utilize ozone technology which can effectively fight unwanted smell in the air. Although, they are available both with and without ozone technology. Using ozone technology variety, one can remove the surrounding odors naturally instead of spraying Febreze, which consists of other airborne chemicals.
Will I benefit using an air scrubber?
Well, we all know that air pollution all around the world is getting progressively worse. An EPA study found that, our indoor air pollution is 2 to 5 times worse than outdoor air pollution. Ask yourself “Do I really want to breathe contaminated air?” The answer will manifest itself without much thinking.