If you’re looking to improve the indoor air quality in your home, there are a number of different options that can help. Both air purifiers and dehumidifiers can be a great choice for allergy sufferers or people with asthma and other respiratory issues. Nonetheless, it is important to understand how each one works and the differences between them to determine which is the best for your specific situation.
How Does an Air Purifier Work?
An air purifier works by circulating air through a filter in order to trap allergens and other airborne contaminants. Depending on the type of air purifier and the filter it uses, this can include bacteria as well as allergens such as pollen, dust, pet dander, mites, mold spores, and even smoke.
You can find both smaller, portable air purifiers that can help to clean the air in a specific room and whole-home air purifiers that connect directly to your HVAC system. These whole-home systems are generally much more effective as they work to trap allergens before they can be spread throughout the house via your furnace or air conditioner.
How Does a Dehumidifier Work?
A dehumidifier is designed to draw excess moisture out of the air. Typically, these products use a series of coils filled with a refrigerant. As the warm air is drawn through the dehumidifier, the coils cool the air in order to cause any moisture in the air to condense into liquid water. The result is that the air coming out of the dehumidifier is much drier than the air going into it. While a dehumidifier doesn’t actually clean the air, it can help to eliminate problems with mold and mildew caused by excessive humidity. It can also help to tackle dust mites and other pest problems, as high humidity levels can create the ideal breeding ground for these pests.
As with air purifiers, dehumidifiers are available in both portable and whole-home units. Although portable units are great for drying out the air in a specific room, such as your bedroom, whole-home dehumidifiers are generally always the best choice for allergy sufferers.
Benefits of an Air Purifier
The biggest benefit of an air purifier is that it is far more effective at filtering out allergens and contaminants than your normal HVAC filter. In this way, an air purifier can add a second level of protection to ensure that pollen, mold spores, and other contaminants don’t trigger or worsen your allergy symptoms. Air purifiers are also great for asthma sufferers since these same contaminants may also trigger an asthma attack.
Benefits of a Dehumidifier
Dehumidifiers can be a huge help for anyone living in a damp home or an area with high humidity levels. Despite not actually cleaning the air, dehumidifiers can still make a huge improvement in your indoor air quality by drying out the air and thus eliminating any issues with mold, mildew, and pests. This can be beneficial for both allergy sufferers and individuals with respiratory problems. Using a dehumidifier can also help to protect your home’s underlying structure and your furnishings and hopefully ensure you won’t find yourself facing the huge cost of mold remediation.
Which One Should You Choose?
Deciding whether an air purifier or dehumidifier is best for you isn’t always an either/or question. In fact, many people choose to use both in order to provide a better layer of protection against allergies and asthma attacks. Nonetheless, the easiest way to determine which option is right for you is to have an indoor air quality test done inside your home. This way, you can find out what potential issues you’re facing and determine the best way to tackle them.
The ideal humidity level inside a home should be around 50%. If your home’s humidity level is much above this, installing a dehumidifier is definitely something you should consider. Alternatively, if your humidity levels are at or near 50% and you’re mostly just concerned about eliminating allergens from the air, an air purifier will get the job done.
Indoor Air Quality Solutions to Fit Any Need
If you’re concerned about the air quality in your Boling-Iago home, Faught Service Company offers a wide range of solutions that can help, including air purifiers, ventilation systems, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, and more. As a full-service HVAC company, we can also assist with any heating or cooling installation, maintenance, or repair tasks you may have. Did you know plants can also improve your indoor air quality? For more information on indoor air quality solutions or any of our other services, give Faught Service Company a call today.
