What Are HEPA Air Filters?
HEPA air filters are now the standard in respirator filters. They have been on the market for almost 60 years and are the highest residential and commercial grade air filtration systems on the market. The word HEPA goes a long way these days, so quite a few fakes and wannabes have popped up at retailers across the country, claiming to be HEPA-type or 99 percent HEPA. These are not legitimate claims and they do not meet the standard requirements of real HEPA products. You need to keep your eyes open for fakes, as they are not as effective as real HEPA filters.
Ones that are real HEPA air filters use three different methods to catch airborne particles in the air: interception, impaction, and diffusion. This is done via a sheet made of tiny fiberglass strings, arranged completely and effectively random. Because of the density of the fibres themselves and the quantity the three particle halting methods above work together to clean the air.
The interception method is when the airborne particles get stuck to the fiberglass pieces and can not get loose. The impact method is mostly utilized when particles weave through the strings and eventually collide with and embed into the strings. The diffusion method causes larger airborne particles to collide with smaller particles that have been slowed or stopped within the filter, which eventually causes them to come to a slow stop inside the filter.
The above are called “methods” but in all reality they are only results of the random arrangement of the fiberglass strings inside the filters. They are meant to remove at least 99.97% of all airborne particles which are 0.3 micrometers in diameter, but they also stop particles in a variety of ranges below and above 0.3 micrometers.
The string density is what makes HEPA air filters high grade, and is also what separates them from look-alikes. The more strings in density that a filter has, the higher quality it is. That is because the more dense the strings are, the less likely particles are to get through the filter.
You absolutely need to be sure that a filter is real HEPA if you are genuinely worried about unclean air getting into the home. Though filters that are of low quality can remove a portion of the common harmful particles in the air, many can only filter out particles that are within specific size ranges, such as o.3 or o.4 micrometers. If you or a family member has allergies you should be especially careful with the filter you choose as allergens do not come in specified sizes. A filter that is not HEPA quality is not guaranteed to keep all potentially harmful allergens from getting into your home and into your body.
Ensure that you are getting a real HEPA air filter. If you are truly worried about polluted air affecting you or your loved ones, price should not be a factor. Why risk getting your family sick for a few extra dollars.
If you are looking to get the cleanest air you can from your air purification system or air conditioning, you are going to need to get HEPA air filters. But with all of the fakes out there, you need to know which are real before purchase.
