Safe & Eco-Friendly Ways to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality

Did you know that according to some surveys, most of us spend as much spend over 90% of our time indoors? And every moment of that time we're indoors, we're breathing. Whatever is in the air is going in and out of our bodies constantly.

Air quality is an important consideration for everyone; but it's especially crucial for the elderly, for children and for anyone with health conditions.

Fortunately, you can improve your home's air quality - And do it in an eco-friendly way. Here's how.

1. Turn Off Your Air Conditioner

Air conditioner (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Air conditioners are huge energy hogs. It's hard to be truly eco-friendly when you're running air conditioners. They can also be very detrimental to your health.

Mold, even invisible mold, often grows inside air conditioners. AC units give mold the perfect environment to grow in: It's dark, it's moist and it's cool.

When you turn your AC unit on, that mold gets blown into your home. It can cause allergic reactions as well as worsen asthma. Instead, open up the windows and let in the fresh air! It will do wonders for your health as well as your mood!

2. Buy Some Plants

Nature built us an incredible air cleaning system: Plants. They are one of the most incredible filtration systems in the world.

Other air filtration systems can only filter out particles that are a certain number of microns or larger. Plants can basically filter out anything. They even turn the carbon dioxide you breathe out into fresh oxygen.

Plants also look fantastic. They can really add a sense of nature and joy to any house.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3. Work on Your Ventilation

Having good ventilation can go a long ways towards improving your home's air quality.

Install fans near windows and other sources of outside air. Open windows instead of using air conditioning. Install windows in rooms that might otherwise feel stuffy, such as the kitchen or the bathroom.

If heat loss is a concern, you can install air to air heat exchange systems that allow you to get fresh air while not losing heat.

4. Install an Air Filter

A high-efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA filter) is an extremely effective way of cleaning the air of any dust particles or allergens. It's a bit pricier than its cheaper counterpart, ionic filters, but does the job much better.

When buying air filters, make sure you do your research to see which devices are ozone-producing air filters. Ozone can be irritating to the lungs, but actually smells like fresh air. People often think their air is clean, when really it's not.

Make sure you change your filters on a regular basis, or else your air filter can end up spreading pollutants around instead of cleaning them out.

These are just a few eco-friendly ways you can keep your air clean and your home fresh.

How to Save Money When Buying A High-End Home Air Purifier

If you are looking to improve the quality of the air inside your home, as well as your health, you may be interested in buying a home air purifier.  If this is your first time looking to buy an air purifier, you will want to go with air purifiers that are considered high-end.  This is because they often produce the best results and last much longer.  Unfortunately, many individuals are turned off by the costs of high end air purifiers.  Although these quality air purifiers are more than worth their costs, there are also a number of steps that you can take to help you save money.

A Sharp FU-888SV Plasmacluster air purifier. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the best ways to save money on the purchase of a high-end home air purifier is to understand your options.  This is important, as it enables you to compare prices, brands, and quality.  In fact, comparing prices is another one of the ways that you can go about saving money on air purifiers.  You can visit a number of your local home improvement stores to compare air purifiers and their prices.  If this approach is too time consuming for you, the internet can also be used to compare prices, but at a much quicker rate.

When using the internet to compare prices on air purifiers, it is best if you know what you are looking for, especially if you are looking to save yourself time.  With that being said, the internet is also a great way to research, examine, and compare different high end air purifiers.  If you do already know what make or model air purifier you want to purchase, incorporate your wants and needs into your standard internet search.  This can help to give you targeted results.  These results should be links to online stores that sell the air purifier that you want more information on or that you want to buy.

In addition to using the internet to compare prices on high end air purifiers, you can also use the internet to make your purchase or purchases.  When doing so, a great way to save money is to examine manufacturer websites.  Although air purifiers are commonly sold in traditional retail stores, many product manufacturers also sell their products online themselves.  Many shoppers find it much cheaper to shop directly with the source, as the middleman and other expenses are eliminated.  Although the savings may not be huge, they can still help if you are shopping for a high end air purifier on a budget.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you would prefer to shop for a high-end air purifier locally, there are still easy ways that you can save money.  Consider calling a few local stores, like home improvement stores, to ask about available high end air purifiers and their prices.  This approach is a great way to compare prices, but without having to make multiple trips to different home improvement stores.  In addition to home improvement stores, air purifiers are also sold at many department stores and discounts stores.  Although these types of stores are known for their affordable prices, they may not have a large selection of high end or high quality air purifiers, if any at all.

The above mentioned ways are just a few of the many ways that you can go about saving money on the purchase of a high end air purifier both on and offline.  And for extra ways that you can save money, be sure to search for sales.  Many stores advertise their sales on air purifiers online or in local newspaper inserts.  Coupons are also a great way to save money.  Some home improvement stores place money saving coupons in their weekly newspaper inserts.  Although hit or miss, there are some product manufacturers that have may also have coupons available for printing on their websites.  These coupons, if you are able to find them are another great way to save money on your purchase of a home air purifier.


Home Air Purifiers Online: 
   

What to Consider When Buying an Air Purifier

Are you a smoker? What about a pet owner?  Do you keep all your doors and windows closed most of the time? If so, there is a good chance that the air inside your home isn’t as healthy as it could or should be. That is why you may want to think about purchasing an air purifier.  Air purifiers are electronic machines that work to clean up the air. They do this by trapping, and often eliminating, harmful bacteria and air particles, and other toxins in your home. In fact, you don’t even have to be a pet owner or a smoker to benefit from the use of an air purifier; anyone can.

Image via WikipediaIf you are like most other Americans, when it comes to purchasing an air purifier, you may make the decision to purchase one and then go right out and buy one.  Although it is nice to get a product right away when you want it, there are disadvantages to doing so.  Essentially, you may be purchasing a product that is poor in quality. Without the proper amount of research, you will never know.

As mentioned above, it is important that you examine the quality of an air purifier before purchasing it. You can easily do this online. A large number of online websites allow internet users to comment, rate, or write reviews on a product that they have purchased. These products also include air purifiers.  If you know of anyone who uses an air purifier in their home, you may also want to think about asking them for suggestions.  Feedback from those who own the same product is the best way to learn about the quality of it. 

In addition to the quality of the product, it is also important that you examine the size of the air purifier you are interested in buying. When it comes to the size of an air purifier, you do not necessarily need to focus on the size of the actual machine, but you should focus on the size of the space that it is designed for. With cheaper, low-cost air purifiers, you will find that they only tend to treat the air in small rooms. These rooms commonly have a square footage of about 250-350 feet.  If you are looking to treat the air inside a larger room, you may need to spend more money on a larger air purifier. 

Image via WikipediaIt is also important to consider the cost of an air purifier.  Many individuals, regrettably, make a mistake when doing this. That mistake is believing that the purchase price is the only cost that they need to worry about. While there are some air purifiers that are filter-less, not all are. Many of these air purifiers, the ones that require filters, need to have their filters changed every so often. This can be as little as once every couple of years or as much as a couple of months.  It is important that you keep the cost of replacement parts, including filters, in mind.  When doing this, you may find that an otherwise low-cost air purifier turns into one that is too expensive for you to afford.

Since, in many cases, air purifiers are considered expensive, you are advised to look for air purifiers that come with warranties.  In most cases, you will find that many air purifiers have a manufacturer’s warranty. That warranty typically tends to last about a year.  If you are spending more than $400 on an air purifier, you may want to think about getting an extended warranty.  If you purchase your next air purifier from a retail store, you may need to pay for the warranty.  Despite possibly having to pay for an extended warranty, you will find that it is worth the cost. Should anything happen to your expensive air purifier, a warranty would, in most cases, prevent you from being out of luck.

The above mentioned points are just a few of the many that you need to take into consideration, when buying an air purifier. As previously mentioned, an air purifier can be a large purchase. That is why you are advised to fully research and examine all aspects of that purchase before making a final decision. It is the only way to make sure that you are not wasting your money.

A Few Examples of Air Purifiers: