Have you been considering the addition of an air cleaner to your air conditioning system in Arlington Heights? Air cleaners offer several important benefits to your home, but there are a number of choices available. The best way to know which air cleaner is the right fit for your needs is to work with a trained professional, such as the ones at Lifeline Plumbing. To help you with some initial education, here is a list of some air cleaners that are available for whole-home use:

Mechanical Air Filters

Mechanical air filters are the types of filters you can place directly into your air conditioner. These filters are housed in a frame and capture particles within the filter material inside the frame. There are a few different kinds of mechanical filters to consider:

• Flat/panel filters – these types of filters come with your air conditioner. They are not for improving air quality or capturing allergens; rather, their job is to block dust, dirt and debris from clogging your system. These filters typically have MERV numbers of 1-4, which is low on the MERV scale.

• Pleated and extended surface filters – these filters are made to help improve air quality, and do so with tighter weaves and larger surface areas. Pleats are effective at capturing particles like allergens, including pollen and dust mites; these filters typically have MERV ratings of 5-9.

• HEPA filters – HEPA filters are well-known for their ability to screen out particles from indoor air, particularly for allergy sufferers. HEPA filters have the highest MERV ratings (9-17). One thing to note about HEPA filters is that they can be so effective they restrict air flow in your system. If you are interested in using a HEPA filter, always speak with your air conditioning expert first.

Electronic Air Cleaners

There are two types of electronic air cleaners:

• Ionizers – also known as ion generators or electrostatic filters, these air cleaners send charged ions into the air that attach to particles and charge them so that the particles will then stick to surfaces in your home due to opposite attraction.

• Electronic precipitators – electronic precipitators also charge particles, but then draw those particles to oppositely-charged plates in order to capture them. These plates require cleaning approximately every 3 months.

UV Germicidal Lights

UV germicidal lights are air purifiers. Unlike the above-mentioned air cleaners, UV lights do not remove dirt and dust; rather, they destroy biological pollutants by destroying the DNA of the pollutant with UV-C light. Because UV lights can’t remove dust like an air filter, it is recommended that they be used in conjunction with an air filter.

There are a lot of options available when it comes to air cleaners in Arlington Heights. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to call Lifeline Plumbing today and speak to one of our experts.