Buy Ionizer Air Purifier
Ionizers use high voltage to give an electrical charge (usually negative) to either particles that move through the ionizer, or to molecules in the air. These charged molecules are called ions, and the ions will then stick to particles. In either case, the end result is particles with an electrical charge.
buy ionizer air purifier
Charged particles are attracted to particles or surfaces with the opposite charge. This causes the particles to clump together, forming larger, heavier particles that settle out of the air onto nearby surfaces. Alternately, particles can be attracted to, and stuck to, charged surfaces like carpet or curtains that have gained a positive charge through static electricity. Electrostatic air purifiers take advantage of this fact by providing a positively charged collector plate that attracts particles. Regular ionizers do not have a plate, so the particles end up on the floor or stuck to the curtains somewhere else in the room.
There are two types of pollutants you need to deal with to improve your indoor air quality: particulate pollutants and gaseous pollutants. To determine if ionizers are effective, we need to address both types.
The process of using an electrical charge to generate ions also creates ozone gas. Ozone can be used to decontaminate and sterilize indoor areas, and is often used for that purpose. However, at effective concentrations, it is very dangerous. Ozone is toxic and is a lung irritant even at low concentrations. It can also react with gaseous pollutants, but there is no way to predict what other chemicals this reaction will create (ozone reacts with some common household pollutants to create formaldehyde, for instance). Generating ozone in your house is a major drawback for ionizers.
Given their general lack of effectiveness and the potential hazards of generating ozone in your house, we do not recommend using an ionizing air purifier if someone in your house has asthma or other respiratory problems. The EPA also cautions against generating ozone in your house.
If you want to remove particles such as dust, pet dander, pollen or mold spores from the air in your home, HEPA filters are a decent option, known for their efficiency and track record. If you have problems with gaseous pollutants, including fumes from paint or out-gassing from carpets or furniture, or simply want to get rid of bad smells, a carbon filter will do a good job for the most part. However, carbon filters also need regular changing, and are not effective against particulate pollutants. There are units on the market that contain both HEPA and carbon filters. Molekule even offers ozone-free air purifiers.
Our solution for indoor air pollution, the Molekule air purifier, contains PECO technology, that goes beyond trapping particles on filters to destroying particulate and gaseous pollutants, so it could be an excellent option for removing pollutants in your home.
Most of the major air purifier companies use ionizers in their air purifiers, including Xiaomi, Blueair, Levoit, and many more. The reason is simple: a cheap ionizer can slightly improve the efficiency of the HEPA filter. This way, air purifier companies with little added costs can market a higher CADR (metric measuring the effectiveness of air purifier), making it a cheap way to get a boost in CADR. Unfortunately, much of the time the user is unaware an ionizer is being used and unaware of the possible harmful effects.
Ionizers can create a variety of VOCs, including those produced by the Global Plasma Solutions bipolar ionizer in schools: acetone, ethanol, toluene, butyraldehyde, and acetaldehyde. Furthermore, an academic research study found that ionizers can actually create formaldehyde.
Smart Air is a certified B Corp founded by myself, Univerity of Chicago professor and clean air nerd Thomas Talhelm. I started Smart Air to combat the myths big companies use to inflate the price of clean air. Unlike many purifier companies, Smart Air uses no ionizers in its purifiers to achieve its high CADR numbers, only safe, effective HEPA filters.
Smart Air provides empirically backed, no-nonsense purifiers and masks, that remove the same particles as the big companies for a fraction of the cost. We believe clean air should not be a luxury, therefore we are not-for-profit to make our purifiers as affordable as possible.
Smart Air is a social enterprise and certified B-Corp that offers simple, no-nonsense air purifiers and provides free education to protect people from the harms of air pollution. We are proud to be the only certified B-Corp dedicated to fighting air pollution.
We're delving into everything you need to know around the air purifiers vs ionizers debate and how these could help out in your home. Air pollution and the quality of the air we breathe is a hot topic, but discussions generally focus on the state of the air outside. What about the air inside, in our homes, schools and workplaces?
Indoor air contains allergens like dust, pollen and pet dander, bacteria, viruses and particles released by cosmetics and cleaning products. Many of these particles are known irritants that can exacerbate allergies and asthma but can be eliminated from the air using an air purifier.
Air purifiers capture pollutants, toxins and allergens in the air using a fan and a filter. They are good at what they do and cleanse the air of particulates of various sizes, including coarse particles like pollen and dust, fine particles like pet dander, and ultrafine particles such as viruses.
Air ionizers perform a similar task, except they purify the air in the room by creating negative ions that attach to allergens, which are positively charged, helping impurities settle to the ground. Here, we take a closer look at the difference between air purifiers and ionizers. If you're considering investing in either, we do have a guide to the best air purifiers right now.
Air purifiers consist of one or more filters and a fan. How do they work? An internal fan pulls room air over the filter. Particles are then captured within the filter's many layers and pleats. Once that process finishes, clean air is recirculated in the room. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (opens in new tab) says that air purifiers with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can hypothetically remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns, including dust, pollen, mold and bacteria.
In contrast, air ionizers exploit the chemical properties of ions to remove particles and microbes from the air. Ionizers create negative ions using electricity and discharge them into the air. The negative ions attach to positively charged particles in the room to create a dense particle that is heavy enough to fall to the floor.
The negative ions used by ionizers can stop the growth of viruses (opens in new tab), while the ozone produced by the interaction of negative ions and other particles can kill bacteria, fungi, and mold (opens in new tab). However, the EPA (opens in new tab) says air ionizers are relatively ineffective at removing larger particles like dust and pollen, and they are more suited to removing smaller particles such as tobacco smoke and smog, which measure between 0.01 and 0.1 µm/microns.
Air purifiers and ionizers use different technology to cleanse the air. While air purifiers remove particles from circulation by trapping them, ionizers simply make them heavy enough to fall to the ground meaning they still need to be cleaned up, and they can easily be disturbed and reintroduced into the air.
Air purifiers also work on a wider range of particles such as large allergens like dust and pollen as well as smaller ones such as pet dander, bacteria, and viruses. This means they are helpful for those suffering from pet allergies, hay fever, and asthma. If you need more, we have a full feature on air purifiers and allergies.
The negative ions associated with ionizers have been identified to positively affect psychological health, productivity, and overall well-being (opens in new tab) and could help those with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) (opens in new tab).
For that reason, it's important to weigh the positive impact an ionizer may have on the level of particles in the air against any damage it could do to your health by producing ozone. In the short term, the EPA (opens in new tab) says that inhaling small amounts of the gas could lead to throat irritation, chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing. Long-term effects include worsening asthma symptoms, a decrease in lung function, and lung inflammation.
Whether you choose an air purifier or an ionizer will depend on what you need. Air purifiers are well suited to removing pollen, pet dander, and other particulates from the air, so they are ideal for those with allergies and asthma who want to remove the trigger of their symptoms.
How effectively they do this depends on the type of purifier and the filter they use. HEPA filters, with their dense network of superfine fiberglass fibers that are thinner than a strand of human hair, remove particles as small as 0.3µm/microns, around the size of some cat and dust mites allergens. It's worth noting that air purifiers are largely safe for pets themselves, although you should still check basic safety measures if you have a pet at home.
In a new section, we cover a few other purifiers that fit specific needs, including a purifier for handling VOCs, an especially energy-efficient small-space purifier, and a truly smart air purifier. We also discuss the much-hyped IKEA Förnuftig in its own section.
HEPA air purifiers do one thing and do it very well: remove fine particles from the air. They rapidly filter out the most common airborne allergens, including dust and pollen; mold, mildew, and fungal spores; pet dander; dust mites and their excrement; soot from automobiles; and tobacco, marijuana, and wildfire smoke. HEPA purifiers also capture airborne pathogens, including bacteria and most if not all viruses. For a detailed discussion of how air purifiers handle the coronavirus, see the following section. 041b061a72