Does a Furnace Ionizer Air Purifier Really Clean the Air?

Furnace Ionizers and Air Purifiers

The importance of indoor air quality is something more and more Canadians and Americans are understanding. This is largely due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Research has shown that furnace ionizers installed as part of an HVAC system, and air purifiers located within the shared-spaces in buildings help to remove viruses and contaminants from the air, including mold, bacteria, and allergens as well.

This can help reduce the risk of airborne pathogens causing illness. Above all, these devices create cleaner and safer indoor environments for homes as well as small businesses. That’s compelling, but why does it really matter?

Indoor Air Matters

First, it’s important to understand how air purifiers and ionizers work.

What is an Air Purifier?

An air purifier is a device that removes contaminants from the air thus improving the quality of indoor air. This has benefits for everyone in the building whether that’s a home or small office or commercial business. In particular, it creates healthier air for people suffering from allergies or asthma. Air purifiers use carbon filtration to absorb volatile organic compounds or VOCs. They also use HEPA filtration to trap up to 99.97% of any remaining airborne pollutant and prevents them from circulating throughout the home.

What is a Furnace Ionizer Air Purifier

Bipolar ionizers remove harmful particles from the air. Furnace ionizers and HVAC ionizers release millions of tiny positive and negative ions into the air. These tiny atoms travel through the HVAC duct system where they meet airborne particles. After contact, the charged ions cluster around particles such as viruses, bacteria, or mold spores. This triggers cell oxidation thus destroying the pathogen. These clusters nutralize the contaminant and are large enough to be easily caught in the HVAC filtration system. Installing bipolar HVAC and furnace ionizers help eliminate harmful pathogens and odors too. 

The Health Benefits of Furnace Ionizer Air Purifiers

Air purifiers can also trap or breakdown VOCs. As we mentioned, VOCs are volatile organic compounds. These tiny particles show up in perfumes and household cleaners, but they also occur naturally. Most are harmless, but some pose health risks. For example, VOCs irritate the eyes, nose, and throat. They may cause headaches, nausea, and dizziness. All of these symptoms are a possible sign of what is known as Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).

Signs of SBS show in people while they are in an affected building. They disappear as soon as the person leaves. This happens in commercial buildings, classrooms, and offices. When workers suffer from SBS, their morale and productivity drop. They miss more days of work and business suffers as a result. An ionizer for a furnace does not filter VOCs but rather interacts with them by breaking down the compounds, effectively neutralizing the them. This method does not requite the changing of carbon filters like are required in the traditional air purifier.

How Does an Ionizer Work?

When an HVAC ionizer is installed in your HVAC system, it generates ions which are injected into the stream. These ions break down harmful pollutants and gases present in the system, leaving harmless compounds like water vapor, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. The ions created by this technology attached themselves to pollen, allergens, smoke, airborne particles, and more. The particles then continue to attach to each other creating “clusters” which are then caught in the air filter. Improving the effectiveness of your air filter while also neutralizing pollutants and improving the overall indoor air quality of your space.

Common Indoor Pollutants

Common pollutants found in the home and commercial buildings include:

• Building materials
• Upholstery, carpeting, and drapes
• Pesticides
• Paints and varnishes
• Cleaning products
• Fuel sources such as gas, kerosene, and wood

Pollutants also enter from outside the building. Car exhaust, mold, and radon enter through doors, windows, cracks in the structure, and ventilation systems. Sealing cracks and improving the ventilation system helps, but sealing off the building completely is not an option. Using furnace ionizer air purifiers add an extra line of defense against viruses, mold, and bacteria.

Air Ionizer for Furnace Price

When shopping for an air ionizer for a furnace or an HVAC ionizer, you can expect to spend around $500 for the average home furnace/HVAC system of the materials and if you are a savvy do-it-yourselfer, you may be comfortable doing the install yourself and saving on labor. The install for a common ionizer air purifier for a furnace take about 2 – 4 hours depending on the location of your furnace or HVAC system, how easy it is to access, your experience level, and other factors. Use a professional licensed contractor when needed.

Common Indoor Allergens

Air purifiers and bipolar ionizer filtration trap the following particles or neutralize :

• Dust
• Dust mite feces
• Allergens
• Pollen
• Mold
• Smoke

Air pollutants create a more serious risk to the health of young children and seniors. Allergy and asthma sufferers face risks of aggravating their condition as well. Using a furnace ionizer air purifier reduces these risks and create healthier indoor conditions for everyone.

Furnace Air Ionizer Air Purifier Products

Many products exist for cleaning the air inside the home. It’s important to get one that works. Different models clean larger areas of the home. If you’ve chosen to go the localized air purifier route, filters must also be changed on a regular basis. If you’ve chosen to go the Plasma Air purifier/ionizer direction, these systems do not require filter changes other than what would normally be done as part of your regular furnace filter change since they install into existing HVAC systems. Ionizers come in different styles and do not use UV light and are ozone-safe. The Home Needlepoint Ionizer – PURE-Plasma Air 600, for example, is easy to install and cleans areas up to 2,400 square feet, more than enough for the common home in Canada and the Northern US.

Options for room-based home air purifiers include models that clean anywhere from 250 to over one thousand square feet. For example, the AeraMax Professional II cleans rooms from 150-250 square feet while the AeraMax Professional III model cleans the air in rooms as large as 500 square feet. For larger commercial buildings, the AeraMax Professional IV changes the air every 20 minutes and works up to 1,100 square feet.

Start Protecting Your Home and Business Today

Furnace Ionizers, HVAC ionizers and air purifiers clean the air in homes and commercial businesses. If you are a homeowner or the owner of a small business and you believe poor indoor air quality affects the health of your family or staff, get in touch today. Call us at 727-572-4550.