...to get answers to questions about air purification

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Why should indoor air quality concern me?

2) Which are the filtration technologies available on the market today?

3) What are the advantages of using carbon filters instead of a cheaper electrostatic filter?

4) What does High Efficiency Carbon mean? What are the differences between this oneand other carbon varietis?

5) You offer an UV option. Does it produce ozone. Should I be worried ?

6) What is a True HEPA Filter?

7) I recently discovered mold in my basement. What should I do to stop and remedy the situation?

8) Can you explain me what does MCS mean ?

9) Why are your residential models cylindrical?

10) How many changes of air per hour are your air purifiers capable of?

11) Why are you using so much carbon? I searched the market and usually other manufacturers only use a small amount of carbon?

12) I enjoy smoking cigars at home. What can I do to prevent second hand smoke and odor issues?

13) Where should I place my air purifier in my room for a maximum of efficiency?

14) How easy is for a senior citizen to change the filters? Do you provide instructions?

15) How often should I change the replaceables filters?

16) Can you explain me what does VOC mean?

17)Why is ozone dangerous for my health?

Q: Why should indoor air quality concern me?

A: Today’s homes are sealed tight to shelter us efficiently from the heat or cold and this results in low circulation of air and infrequent changes. Our indoor air contains minute particles such as dust mites, pet dander, pollen and mold spores that can cause health isues such as asthma, allergies and other respiratory difficulties. To add to this, many of today's cleaning products, furniture, carpets and building materials release chemicals, which are hazardous to health. A high efficiency air cleaner will alleviate these problems by circulating the air through a series of filters that trap these toxins and remove them from the air you breathe. It is important to buy an air cleaner with the capacity to trap both particles and gases and odors. So many people are disappointed when they bring home an off the shelf unit that is only effective for particles and find that it doesn't help neutralizing odors and airborne chemicals. An AllerAir air purifier is an investment that can help you and your family live a longer, healthier life and avoid the distress of respiratory problems and expensive medical treatments.

Q: Which are the filtration technologies available on the market today?

A: There are several methods of air filtration, including electrostatic filters, ozone generator ultraviolet lamps, HEPA and activated carbon filters. The big advantage of AllerAir air purifiers is that they combine True HEPA filtration for particles with the power of activated carbon to trap gases and odors, offering you enhanced air filtration without generating ozone.

Q: What are the advantages of using carbon filters instead of a cheaper electrostatic filter?

A: The electrostatic filters help you in collecting dust particles. An activated carbon filter does more. It traps gases and odors helping people with allergies, asthma or MCS. Combined with a HEPA filter, it really offers you purified air in your home or office. Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) has the strongest adsorption power of any material known to man. In one pound of carbon there are over 200 miles of fissures to trap gases and odors. Activated carbon is the adsorbent used in the best military gas masks. Activated carbon is the safest efficient cost effective way to trap noxious gases and odors.

Q:What does High Efficiency Carbon mean ? What are the differences between this one and other carbon varieties?

A: The High Efficiency Carbon exclusive to AllerAir is a carbon that does not have any odor, a very important aspect for people having MCS.

Q:Why is ozone so dangerous for my health?

A: EPA's answer: "The same chemical properties that allow high concentrations of ozone to react with organic material outside the body give it the ability to react with similar organic material that makes up the body, and potentially cause harmful health consequences. When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs. Relatively low amounts can cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and, throat irritation. Ozone may also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections(www.epa.gov - How is ozone harmful)" :____ The same chemical properties that allow high concentrations of ozone to react with organic material outside the body give it the ability to react with similar organic material that makes up the body, and potentially cause harmful health consequences. When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs. Relatively low amounts can cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and, throat irritation. Ozone may also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections. People vary widely in their susceptibility to ozone. Healthy people, as well as those with respiratory difficulty, can experience breathing problems when exposed to ozone. Exercise during exposure to ozone causes a greater amount of ozone to be inhaled, and increases the risk of harmful respiratory effects. Recovery from the harmful effects can occur following short-term exposure to low levels of ozone, but health effects may become more damaging and recovery less certain at higher levels or from longer exposures (US EPA, 1996a, 1996b). Manufacturers and vendors of ozone devices often use misleading terms to describe ozone. Terms such as "energized oxygen" or "pure air" suggest that ozone is a healthy kind of oxygen. Ozone is a toxic gas with vastly different chemical and toxicological properties from oxygen. Several federal agencies have established health standards or recommendations to limit human exposure to ozone.

Q: But you also offer an UV option. Does it produce ozone. Should I be worried ?

A: The UV lamps used in AllerAir Air Purifiers are classified as non-ozone producing generator lamps. All electrical devices produce a quantity of ozone but the level produced by AllerAir's germicidal lamps is well below the allowable standards. Choosing the UV option will afford you protection against airborne pathogens, and bacteria

Q: What is a True HEPA Filter?

A: A True HEPA filter is guaranteed to trap 99.97 % of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns

Q: I recently discovered signs of mold in my basement. What should I do to stop and remedy the situation?

A: Call a professional to assess the problem. and use a true air purifier to trap the mold spores so the mold will not grow. It is impossible to get rid of all mold and mold spores indoors; some mold spores will be found floating through the air and in house dust. The mold spores will not grow if moisture is not present. Indoor mold growth can and should be prevented or controlled by controlling moisture indoors. If there is mold growth in your home, you must clean up the mold and fix the water problem. If you clean up the mold, but don't fix the water problem, then, most likely, the mold problem will come back.

Q: Can you explain me what is MCS?

A: MCS stands for Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. People having MCS feel uncomfortable in the presence of any smell. :__ Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is basically a subset of Environmental Illness (EI), which is caused by living in a toxic world. The chemicals that were synthesized after World War II (including, pesticides, synthetic fragrances, cleaning products, detergents, etc.) are mostly "petro-chemicals" (petroleum based) and are quite toxic to humans. There have been virtually no studies done on the majority of these chemicals to see how they affect humans - the industry just placed the chemicals in the environment with the assumption that they are "safe, till proven toxic", instead of the other way around. One of the biggest offenders is PERFUME and other scented products. Did you know that many of the ingredients in your perfume are the exact same ingredients found in GASOLINE??!! I didn't either! The scary thing is that the perfume industry is NOT REGULATED at all - they can put any number of chemicals in fragrance without revealing what those chemicals are - or how they affect humans.

Q:Why are your residential models cylindrical?

A: AllerAir residential air purifiers are cylindrical in order to maximize the air flow through them and to offer a higher efficiency. In square units air can get trapped in the corners.

Q10: How many changes of air per hour are your air purifiers capable of?

A: There is a simple formula. One technical characteristic of an air purifier is the CFM (cubic feet per minute). If one air purifier has 400 CFM that means that it can filter 400 cubic feet of air in one minute. That means that applying a 70% coefficient that exclude the furniture in the room it will perform about 5 complete air changes an hour in a 7200 cubic feet room (30*30*8). Every 12 minutes you will get clean air.

Q: Why are you using so much carbon? I researched the market and usually your competitors only use a small amount of carbon?

A: We offer carbon filters that last up to 5 years and we recommend you change them every 3 years for best results. They offer you better protection. The life of a carbon filter is proportional with its volume. It acts as a sponge trapping gases and odors. The mass activated carbon bed (MAC-B™) filter adsorbs gases and odors. (Adsorb: no it’s not a typo. This is the process by which activated carbon captures gases and odors.) Most off the shelf air cleaners have a few token ounces of carbon sprayed on the pre-filter. This is only sufficient to capture a small amount of the noxious gases and odors in the air and for only a short period of time. The MAC-B carbon filter has pounds of activated carbon (from 7 to 160 lbs.) that will trap 90% of gases and odors that pass over it and will continue working for many months before needing to be replaced.

Q: I enjoy smoking cigars at home. What can I do to prevent second hand smoke and odor issues?

A: AllerAir manufactures a unit specifically for smokers. It comes standard with a Tar Trapping Hepa filter as well as pounds of activated carbon to control the chemicals and odors associated with smoking.

Q: Where should I place my air purifier in my room for a maximum of efficiency?

A: Because of its cylindrical shape you can place it anywhere in your house. AllerAir air purifiers are on casters for easy maneuverability

Q: How easy is for a senior citizen to change the filters? Do you provide instructions?

A:Every unit comes with complete instructions. It is extremely easy to change the replaceable filters. A pre-filter will change in less than a minute you simply pull out the old one and change with the new one. AllerAir air purifiers are designed so that changing filters are almost effortless and that one person can do this job

Q:How often should I change my pre-filters? What about the carbon filter? And the HEPA filter?

A: Depending of the application and of the level of dust the pre-filters should last for 3 months. We supply pre-filters in packages of 4, 8 or 10 so you wont have to call back and order them often. The HEPA filter has to be changed at least at 3 years but works fine up to 5 years.

Q: Can you explain me what VOC means?

A: VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds, molecular gases as formaldehyde and ammonia that are extremely dangerous for your health. AllerAir produce a specialized line of air purifiers based on impregnated carbon to deal with these VOC's.

Q: Why are you selling double and extra carbon models?

A:Double and Extra carbon air-purifiers are to be used in heavy polluted places with persistent odors or fumes.