Do Air Purifiers Help with Dust?

It’s a constant battle – no matter how much you clean, your floors, shelves, counters, and other surfaces seem to collect dust so quickly! Air is constantly circulating inside your home when your air conditioner runs, creating opportunities for dust in the home to move around and settle in other areas. Luckily, there is something that can help. In our most recent blog, the technicians at Hans Heating and Air discuss how whole house air purifiers can help eliminate dust in homes.

What Exactly Is Dust?

Dust is basically a blanket term used for different types of particles floating around in the air or on surfaces. Some people assume it is just tiny dirt particles, but it’s more than just soil. In most cases, dust inside the home is made up of particulates that originate outside, like pollen, mold spores, and other organic matter. People and pets inside the home can also add matter that combines with outdoor matter to form the dust in our houses.

Dust particles come in all different sizes. Some pieces are large enough you can see them floating around in the air in the sunlight. Others are so fine they are impossible to see with the naked eye. For most people, dust doesn’t pose a risk to their health – but because dust can contain common allergens, those with allergies and asthma can be greatly affected by dust inside the home.

Do Air Purifiers Help with Dust?

If you’re looking for ways to rid your home of this seemingly endless supply of matter, you may be wondering whether air purifiers help with dust? The answer is, it depends on the kind of air purifier. 

Most air purifiers do help reduce the amount of dust in the home because they utilize filtration, sometimes in addition to other methods. Mechanical filters use some sort of media to physically trap dust particles circulating in the air. 

The size and amount of dust particles trapped by any one particular filter will depend on the filter’s MERV rating (minimum efficiency reporting value). Lower-rated filters do an OK job of catching the largest particles, while the smaller ones pass through, remaining in the air and home. As the rating increases, the filter offers better performance and the ability to capture even smaller particles. HEPA filters (high efficiency particulate air) capture as much as 99.97 percent of particles down to 0.3 microns, which includes pollen, mold, and bacteria.

So, do air purifiers help with dust using only filter media? Some use strictly filters, which are sometimes called media air purifiers or air cleaners. Other air purifiers create an electrostatic charge to help trap more dust particles in the filter or cause them to settle out of circulation on nearby surfaces.

You may also wonder whether UV light air purifiers help with dust. Air purifiers that are strictly UV light purifiers with no filtration will not remove dust from the house. The ultraviolet energy from the bulbs kills biological material circulating through the air inside the air conditioning system, such as mold spores in dust so they no longer cause allergy symptoms or trigger asthma attacks. But, they do not remove that dead particle from the air. Similarly, ozone-only air purifiers do not remove dust from the air.

Contact Hans to Get Help with Dust Today!

If you’re interested in having an air purifier installed in your home, Hans Heating and Air can help! Call us today to request an estimate for air purifier installation and take the first step toward cleaner air and a cleaner home.