Considering the amount of irritants that are present in the air today, those who suffer from allergies and other breathing disorders are challenged to find effective ways to clean the air that they breathe within their home environment.

Not so many years ago, this simply meant making sure that the house was dusted regularly and that pets were bathed and brushed - outdoors - as often as possible, in order to cut down on the most common allergy inducing factors. Today, there's far more at stake, when we consider the types of contaminants that are present in our environment as a result of pollution. Bigger challenges, then, require better tools for providing a solution - enter, the air purifier.

The cleaning of the air within your home can be accomplished in a variety of different ways. A simple, straightforward air cleaner is designed to reduce the dust build-up within the home, offering the benefits of cleaner air and less need to perform common household chores, such as dusting. These are electronic in nature and use a basic filtering system that's designed to draw in, clean and re-circulate the air.

Air purifiers are a bit more complex, in that they are specifically designed to eliminate pollutants such as pollen and other airborne irritants, in addition to the dust that the air cleaner removes from the environment.

These purifiers are available in a number of sizes, including the portable version. In this case, the air is drawn to the bottom of the cleaner and is then pushed upward through an aluminum mesh filter. This is where the pollutants are trapped before the air is moved on to the next phase of the process.

An electronic cleaning cell (two-stage) is the next stop for the airflow, which ionizes dust particles that are invisible to the naked eye and cleans them from the air. From there, the air is diverted to an activated charcoal filter which deodorizes any odors that may remain before the air is re-circulated.

An electronic air purifier should be placed in an area where the highest amount of family traffic takes place, though it can be installed in any room of the home. Complete with a two-speed fan that can typically clean an area of up to 300 cubic feet when on the highest setting, this type of air purifier would be ideal for a room that measured 20' x 30'.

As economical as it is useful, an electronic air purifier doesn't require any special wiring, and uses less electricity than that of a 100-watt light bulb.

The electric air cleaner is utilized by placing it in the central duct system, and cleans the air through the process of electrostatic precipitation. Basically, this just means that when the furnace blows smoke and other contaminants into the air, they are forced into a filter, then a charging station that provides charges from tungsten wires.

From there, any remaining particles are forced into a collection area, where they're trapped and washed away by the cleaning process. Charcoal filters are in position to eliminate any leftover odors from the air, which is then forced out into the home for re-circulation.

Depending upon the design of your home, your economic constraints and the level of allergies that your family members possess, there's a system that will work for you. Once the air in your home is properly cleaned and purified, you'll all be breathing much easier.

Copyright 2005 Mike Spencer