Our homes in Florida are often sealed up against the outside. During the summer, it’s to make sure the heat stays where it should and the air conditioner can run effectively. In the brief winters, it’s to trap heat and make sure our heating systems have to come on as little as possible. Having a home this sealed up, however, can create severe indoor air quality problems—the contaminants inside the house, which come from wood, paint, cleaning supplies, and many other places, start to build up. We recommend homes have air filters put into their HVAC system to help remove larger unwanted particles from circulating.
But what if those filters aren’t enough? Too many minute particles can slip through them, and putting in more powerful filters is rarely an option because that will stop airflow through the ventilation system. In this case, the answer is to have an air purifier in St. Petersburg, FL. Or more than one, depending on what types of contaminants you’re targeting.
The Basics of the Air Purifier
An air purifier is an electrically powered system, unlike filters. A purifier uses several different methods to remove smaller particles from the air. The most common is through ionization. The purifier creates an electrical charge inside the ducts, which causes the ions of particles in the air to either lose or gain an electron, changing their charge from either negative (gaining an electron) or positive (losing an electron). Oppositely charged particles are drawn together, causing them to clump and fall out of the air. But the majority will be drawn down to the purifier and its pair of oppositely charged plates. The contaminants are captured there.
An air purifier should be paired with an air filter to handle the larger contaminants: they aren’t fully effective on their own. Our technicians can see you have the right power of air purifier that you need.
The UV Air Purifier
There’s a special type of air purifier that’s used for homes encountering problems with organic pollutants. In Florida, this usually means mold. However, the UV air purifier can eliminate a range of organic pollutants, such as microbes and bacteria, helping to create a healthier household.
The UV air purifier works by sending wavelengths of ultraviolet light toward the evaporator coil of the air conditioner, which is a place where all the air in the HVAC system must pass and also the spot where mold is most likely to develop. The UV radiation disrupts the cells of unwanted pollutants, either killing them or rendering them inert. It also stops mold from coming back once it’s eliminated.
The UV lights are harmless for people and pets, and the process places no chemicals into the air. UV air purifiers require little maintenance and can protect a home for many years.
To find out how best to purify the air in your home, speak to our HVAC team about air filters and air purifiers today.
The A/C Guy of Tampa Bay Inc. serves our Tampa Bay Family with Integrity and Honor. Call us for indoor air quality solutions.