Loading ...
common
pollutants
Particle sizes in microns* (1 micron = 1/25,400 inch)
*American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineering Guide
0.01 0.1 1
POLLENS & SPORES
SMUDGING
DUST
SMOKE
AIRBORNE BACTERIA
5 10 50 100
FIGURE 2 – COMMON POLLUTANTS
PERFORMANCE
OPERATION
An Aprilaire whole-house air purifier is installed by your heating and air
conditioning contractor as one of the components in your heating and
cooling system. It cleans the air that circulates through your home (see
FIGURE 1).
When the heating or cooling equipment turns on, the air in your home
travels through the registers and return duct(s) to the heating and
Household dust is typically an accumulation of particles in a size
range of .01 micron up to 100 microns. Pollens and spores, which can
aggravate allergy symptoms, are usually in the 10-100 micron size range.
The visible household dust particles, and nearly all pollen and spore
particles, therefore, can be caught and permanently held, very easily,
if you can get them to the air purifier. With central high efficiency air
purifiers, the blower of your heating/air conditioning system performs
the air movement function.
Continuous air cleaning will be accomplished when your thermostat is
set for continuous air circulation (“Fan On”). If continuous air cleaning is
not required, or desired, set your thermostat to “Fan Auto”.
For those who choose periodic cleaning, (as opposed to continuous
cleaning through continuous furnace blower operation), the most
important period is during—and for several hours after—vacuuming
your home. The vacuuming process (unless you have a central vacuum
system) stirs up a large volume of dust particles which must be drawn
into your air purifier.
cooling equipment where it is conditioned and sent back into the rooms
of your house through the supply ducts. Small particles from numerous
sources are suspended in your home’s air, just as they are suspended
in the air outdoors. The largest of these particles will eventually come
to rest and appear as dust. Smaller particles may come to rest, but
with even the slightest disturbance will re-suspend into the air. These
particles are very small, and come from natural sources such as dust
and pollen and from manmade sources such as tobacco smoke or
exhaust. The air purifier is installed on or near the furnace/air handler
and removes the particles that travel with the air that circulates through
your heating and cooling system. Removing these particles keeps the
equipment components clean and more importantly removes particles
from the air you breathe. Particles are measured in microns, which
is a unit of measure used for very small things (1 micron = 1/25,400
inch). For reference, the diameter of a human hair is approximately 100
microns. FIGURE 2 shows the size of various particles that can be found
in the air.
Many of the dust particles generated, while vacuuming, are so heavy
they “fall” out of the airstream before they can be drawn out of
your living area. This is why it is important to do household dusting
several hours after vacuuming. Normally once the heavy particles “fall
out”, they are only reintroduced to the air by vacuuming, or similarly
vigorous activity.
Where allergy symptoms, which are aggravated by pollens and spores,
are a concern, continuous cleaning is strongly encouraged.
To recap, when removing household dust is the major benefit you
are seeking, you should operate your air purifier during and following
periods when dust is being generated or “stirred up”. For pollens and
spores which aggravate an allergy condition, your air purifier must be
operated continuously when these pollutants are in the environment.
The air purifier can only be effective when air containing the
contaminants is drawn through the filter.
FIGURE 1
90-1148
2 English
Loading ...
Loading ...
Loading ...