Living Healthier – Air Purification Devices that HelpPublished: March 10, 2020
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Originally published in March 2017, updated in March 2020.

The air inside your home can harbor a variety of pollutants that compromise its breathability, causing discomfort and often compounding asthma and allergy symptoms. And the more well-sealed your home, the higher the level of airborne pollutants can be since these particles — which include dust, dust mites, pollen, pet dander, and smoke from cooking or cigarettes — are trapped inside your home, building up over time. Add to these particulates various microorganisms such as biologic particulates, bacteria and viruses, and you have a veritable petri dish of unhealthy substances that can invade your home.

Thanks to modern air purification technology, indoor air quality issues such as these can be easily corrected. The current crop of air quality solutions includes space age products that bring the technology of the future to your home today. By combining the right HVAC system components, you can create a multiple-step system that helps ensure that every type of indoor pollutant is addressed and handled in the appropriate manner: either by removal or destruction.

The First Step: Air Purification and Filtration

Air filtration is the first step in the air purification process that removes pollutants from your indoor air. This critical step removes the particulates that create or worsen existing breathing conditions, sensitivities or allergic responses. Designed by Trane as an add-on for your HVAC system, the Trane CleanEffects air cleaner provides the following advantages over other air filtration systems to keep your home healthier and more comfortable for you and your family:

  • Removes virtually all of the allergens from the air by filtration: up to 99.98 percent
  • Captures microscopic particles as small as the flu virus, via its .1 micron filtering capability
  • Out-filters standard 1-inch filter air cleaners by as much as 100 times
  • Reduces the amount of dust in your home by approximately half

The Second Step of Air Purification: Bacteria, Mold & Mildew Elimination

By installing a UV lamp in your HVAC system, you create a powerful elimination system for biologic particulates, and even harmful bacteria. Whereas an air cleaner removes airborne particles from the air by trapping them in the filter’s fibers — a valuable process in itself — a UV lamp takes the air purification process one step further by using powerful ultraviolet light to kill bacteria and deactivate biologic spores, preventing them from causing breathing issues or other ill effects, while stopping their further proliferation in your home. This is especially good news in Florida and other areas that experience high humidity, since these are the areas where these spores are often more prevalent than they are in drier climates.

The Third Step: Air Sanitizing

As in the second step of the air purification process, the installation of a UV lamp offers yet another benefit in addition to eliminating biologic spores and bacteria. It also creates peroxide that oxidizes germs in much the same way that pouring hydrogen peroxide over a cut cleans and protects the site of the injury from infection. This step helps remove germs from your indoor environment while also protecting the inner workings of your HVAC system from harboring a buildup of germs that would otherwise add to your existing indoor air quality issues. A clean, sanitized system will work better, last longer, and protect you and your family from germs as they grow, eliminating them before they can create or add to any existing health problems.

The Right Technology Means Cleaner, Healthier Air Inside Your Home

Air quality solutions such as those discussed in the above three steps can make a big difference in creating a healthier indoor environment for you and your family. Combining the revolutionary Trane CleanEffects air filtration system with a powerful UV lamp can give your HVAC system the boost it needs to keep your family warm in winter and cool in summer while helping you breathe easier and stay healthier year round. It’s a smart combination that many Florida homeowners are discovering and using to create a healthier, more comfortable home. Learn more about effective air purification, or call Ellington Air Conditioning & Heat.