Archive for April, 2010

Breathing in clean, pure air is important for our health as we all know. The best way to do this is buy a good quality air cleaner for our home or office. The problem is the market is full of a ton of air cleaning products. When we try to learn which one we should buy we are hit with a lot of terms that can leave the average person downright confused.

I am going to try to answer some of your questions and give you some understanding of what these terms mean so that you can make an informed decision on purchasing the right product for your home.

HEPA

HEPA filters are High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance and were originated during the Second World War. Originally designed to prevent radioactive particles from entering the respiratory system, today they are the best air cleaners in the market. Their filtration rate is slightly below 100%. They can remove all particles of size 0.3 microns from the air.

OEM

OEM is the Original Equipment Manufacturer who not only sells you the product but also provides spare parts made by the same manufacturer when the parts in the product need replacing. You might be able to get generic parts in the market, which can be cheaper but they are often not of the same quality. Buying your product from the OEM, you can be confident of a good quality not only on the product but also on the spare parts you might need. Besides, the OEM will also take the responsibility for maintaining your air cleaner. This ensures that you get the best quality service for all your equipment.

MERV

MERV or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value tells you the efficiency of the air filters. This is the ability of your filter to remove particles from the air. You should be looking for values in the range of 12 to 16. Lower values tell you that the filter is not very efficient at removing particles. Values of 12 to 16 tell you that the filter is highly efficient at removing particles. This is a standard measurement used by all the air cleaner manufacturers. It makes comparing the different products on the market very easy.

CADR

CADR or Clean Air Delivery Rate is the rate at which air is filtered and free from three major problems (dust, pollen and cigarette smoke). The higher the number the higher the rate of filtration and thus both the efficiency and the quality filter. You really need to buy an air cleaner whose CADR is around two third of the area of the room that you want to filter. You should be able to find these numbers are marked on the box or in the information on the air filters. Note that they indicate how the filter will perform when it is brand new and when you are using parts supplied by OEM and not by the generic manufacturers.

For a healthier future consider using a HEPA filter in your home and let your whole family breath easier.