According to the Trane Home Comfort Institute, electronic air cleaners are usually installed in the duct carrying air back to the furnace or air handler. A typical disposable furnace filter captures only 10% to 15% of the contaminants, while electronic air cleaners can remove many more of the undesirable airborne particles from the air it filters.

Operation of the unit is fairly simple. First, air passes through a mesh-type filter that catches large airborne particles. Smaller particles that get through the filter pass through an ionizing section where they receive an electrical charge.

These charged particles then pass through plates that have an opposite charge that attracts the particles like a magnet. The particles remain on the plates until the air cleaner elements are washed. The result is a healthier, cleaner indoor environment.