Get the Maximum Benefits from Your Air Purifier
Preliminaries
It is important to keep all original packaging and paperwork
for your new air purifier.
Before using your unit for the first time, read the manuals carefully.
While air purifiers are not a total solution for clean air, they are an important
element in an overall 3 step plan
to create a fresher, cleaner, healthier personal environment.
Good ventilation and air
circulation are essential for optimum health. Some gases
such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide cannot be effectively
and safely removed by residential air purifiers. Therefore
it is important to periodically open windows to allow contaminants
out and fresher air in, when the outside air quality and
temperature are suitable.
Combustion appliances such as gas furnaces need permanent intake of air from outside and
proper venting, since they use up oxygen and produce carbon monoxide.
Maximize Your Air Purifier
To maximize the efficiency of your air purifier, follow
the manufacturer's directions carefully. Use it in conjunction
with Healthy Living and the
3 step plan to improving air quality.
Where To Place Your Room Air Cleaner
Of all the things you can do for your health, providing
eight hours of clean air while sleeping is the easiest and
most beneficial. While you get the proper rest for your
body, you are reducing stress to your heart and respiratory
system. These are vital hours when the air must be especially
clean for an uninterrupted sleep.
For people with allergies and asthma, bedtime can be a difficult experience,
since often allergy and asthma symptoms worsen during the
night when we are trying to rest. The air we breathe often
contains many particles including dust, pollen, pet dander,
mold spores, bacteria and viruses. At the same time our
body's respiratory system has slowed down to a crawl as we sleep, and
while we are lying in a prone position it is more difficult
to breathe. By morning, we feel tired from the lack of deep, restful sleep.
Children are especially vulnerable to indoor
contaminants since a child's respiratory system is still developing.
The good news is that there are steps you can
take to help reduce air pollution in your home. You can
significantly improve the sleep environment in your bedroom,
and your children's bedrooms, by positioning an air cleaner that hasa true medical
grade HEPA filter and an activated carbon filter, where it will maximize your
intake of fresh, clean air as you sleep.
For asthmatics the flow of clean air directly in the face is a welcome
relief. However, if you find that the airflow is too strong
for you, you can position the air purifier so that the airflow
is directed away from you.
To enhance the air quality throughout your home, you could place suitable
air cleaners in central locations in your largest rooms.
These should be filtration systems with true medical grade
HEPA and deep bed activated carbon filters. Position them
at least a few inches away from walls, cabinets or other large objects.
Your air cleaners should be placed so the
clean air flows freely into occupied areas. Effectiveness
of your room air purifiers will be increased when the outflow
air is adequately mixed with room air before re-entering the devices.
If you find the stream of clean air is too strong, you can turn your air
purifier so that the air does not flow in your direction.
Placing an air purifier with a deep bed activated carbon filter in
your office is a wise decision. For example, the ink in
printers contains acetone and other chemicals which can be very draining to your body.
If you are extremely sensitive to chemicals, leave the room while the printer is operating.
Let your air purifier clean the air with at least one complete air exchange before re-entering.
Since each person is unique with different needs, we recommend that
you experiment with how to position and use your air purifiers.
For example, some people like a clean breeze blowing in
their face while they are falling asleep or when they are
having trouble breathing. Others prefer a more subtle air cleaning.
We would be interested in hearing about your most
beneficial experiences with your air purifiers. Please feel free to
contact us.
What Fan Setting To Use
When you first purchase your equipment, run it on high
for two hours in a clean room. If anyone in your home or
workplace has allergies, asthma, or MCS it is best to put the
unit in an unoccupied room and shut the door when the unit
is operated for the first time.
For normal operation, it is best to start the machine on high to activate the motor,
then switch it to low and run it continuously on a low setting
to allow maximum dwell time of the air over the filters.
In extreme conditions it may be necessary to run the machine on high until the air has cleared.
Maintenance
To maximize the effectiveness of your air purifiers, follow
the manufacturer's instructions.
Mark your calendar for scheduled filter changes. Replace filters at suggested
intervals, or sooner if you are capturing high amounts of
pollutants; for example, excessive use of aerosol sprays-perfumes,
body mists, air deodorizers, etc – which we do not recommend
at any time for health reasons – will shorten the life of
your filters. They may shorten your life, too!
Regular cleaning of your unit as recommended will also help to keep
your units running efficiently.
If you detect an odor coming from a unit that is operating, it could be time for a filter change.
First make sure the pre-filter is clean. Try vacuuming it first
(except for tar trapping pre-filters) and replace it if necessary especially if
its recommended filter life has expired.
If you still detect an odor it could be time to replace the carbon filter.
Or it could be that a particular pollutant in the air requires several air exchanges before
it clears. This sometimes happens with perfume.
If the air flow seems restricted, it could mean that the HEPA filter needs to be replaced.
Again, first check your pre-filters to see if they are full of hair or dust which restrict airflow.
During maintenance of your air purifiers, ensure that pollutants
do not get re-emitted back into the air. For example, when
filters are removed, excessive movements or air currents
should be avoided to prevent redistribution of particles
into the air. Use gloves and handle the filters carefully.
Enjoy!
With an appropriate size, safe, and well maintained high efficiency air purifier in your home
and workplace, you will be breathing fresher, cleaner air every day!
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