Air Quality
Air equals life
We breathe in and out 20,000 times each day, drawing 12,000 liters (more than 3,000 gallons) of air into our lungs to obtain the oxygen we need to survive. However, we don't all spend a large part of our time in the fresh forest air. On the contrary, we spend 90% of our time indoors where the air is at its worst.
There are up to 20 million particles in a cubic meter of room air. This level is twenty times greater than that found in the air at a busy road junction, and up to two hundred thousand times greater than at the seaside. To make matters even worse, when we heat our homes and work areas in winter, the air becomes far too dry. The consequences for our health of dry or impure air can be severe.
Air purification and humidification have to play a key role in our efforts to obtain the optimum room climate for the protection of our health.
A good humidifier helps you maintain your most important air purifier, your own body! When dry air dries out your eyes, nose and mucus membranes you are more susceptible to pollution in the air including viruses and bacteria.
Particles per 10 cu ft of air
Total Air Quality
Total air quality involves more then just cleaning the air. Proper humidification and low noise levels are essential factors in the overall air quality equation. Understanding how these factors effect your health and well being allow you to understand the importance of proper cleaning and humidifying of your indoor air.
Better Air!
The air we breathe every day is increasingly full of harmful substances. House dust, mites, pollen, tobacco smoke and so on, encourage allergic reactions and respiratory diseases. It is not surprising that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies indoor pollution as one of the five most dangerous environmental threats to our health.
The number of allergy sufferers increases dramatically with the levels of air pollution. Today every third person suffers from an allergy. Even the economy is affected: more than 30 % of workplace absences are caused by respiratory diseases.
Potential consequences of impure air
Size of harmful airborne particles
So what is more obvious than the use of an air purifier or air washer to improve room air, particularly those air purifiers fitted with HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters, originally developed for use in clinical settings. They can remove up to 99.97% of particles as small as 0.0003mm from the air. When an active carbon filter is included, there is simultaneous removal of odors, fumes and noxious gases.
Air Washers improve air quality using an effective combination of ionization and filtering. The ionization process charges harmful airborne particles, binding them into larger clusters. The air then passes through a system of discs that rotate through water; the particle clusters adhere to the wet discs and moisture is added to the air as it re-enters the room. This unique filtering combination not only cleans the air of particles as small as 1.5 microns, but properly humidifies it as well.
The consequence of dry air
What is humidity and why should we want to add humidity to our homes?
Humidity is the amount of moisture or water vapor in the air. People tend to feel more comfortable when the relative humidity is within a certain range (between 40-60 %). If the humidity is too low, people may experience physical discomforts such as a dry nose, throat, lips, and skin. Low humidity may also wreak havoc on your home causing static electricity, cracks in furniture and paint, and peeling wallpaper. High levels of humidity also cause a room to feel stuffy and create an environment in which biological contaminants can thrive. Moisture is often added or removed from indoor air to make a room feel more comfortable.
One Example
This professional work study correlates directly to the well being of healthy home living.
The Bona Building & Management Co., in Ottawa, ON, Canada, installed humidifiers in the three towers that make up the office and retail buildings known as Place Vanier. The beholding manager stated,” I’ve been here for eight to 10 years, and if it’s too dry, people will have symptoms where they can’t tell what it is.” Employees would complain about itchy eyes, dry skin, and head-aches, which he said all point to low humidity. Since the towers have installed humidification, “complaints have been reduced by 95%,” he said.
Studies prove the importance of humidity; ASHRAE has published statistics provided by Theodore D. Sterling & Associates that claim humidity levels affect your health. When humidity drops below the optimum level of 50%, employees are more susceptible to respiratory infections, not to mention viruses and bacteria.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) investigations have found a connection between employee illness and humidity levels. When the relative humidity drops below 40%, more employees miss work due to illness.
Concern’s of low humidity
Despite high outdoor relative humidity readings in the cold weather months, indoor relative humidity is dangerously low.
Opening the window ensures a fresh supply of oxygen in the room. This is particularly important in winter. However, while the air that streams into the room in winter may be very fresh, it contains very little moisture to humidify warm room air sufficiently. If moisture is not added to the air artificially, it will try to quench its thirst by taking the moisture from our skin, mucous membranes, plants, wooden furniture, etc. If we wish to maintain an acceptable level of air humidity during the cold season, we need to use a suitable air humidifier.