Air Purifier Benefits: Q and A
Key takeaways:
• This article addresses the benefits of whole-house air purifiers, AKA whole-house air cleaners/HVAC air cleaners.
• A whole-home air purifier can help with pollen, dust, allergies, asthma, smoke, and other indoor air pollutants.
• Trane offers two air purification products that work with your HVAC system to capture tiny particles.
By Anne Fonda
What is an air purifier?
Whether you’re talking about a portable room air purifier or a full home air purifier, the premise is the same. This article will focus on the benefits of an air purifier for your home rather than a single-room solution.
An air purifier for your home is a whole-house solution that can help improve your indoor air quality (IAQ). According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on average, Americans spend 90% of their time indoors. And since indoor air pollution levels can be as high, or even higher than outdoor levels, improving your home’s IAQ is important to your health.
Investing in a whole-home air purifier for indoor air quality can help everyone in your home breathe easier.
What do air purifiers do?
In a nutshell, air purifiers remove indoor pollutants.
“Air purifiers are a great tool to improve your home or building's air quality, removing contaminants for a cleaner indoor environment. Use an air purifier to reduce the presence of allergens or harmful particles, which is especially beneficial to those who suffer from respiratory conditions.”
- Sean Goddard, Product Manager, Coils & Indoor Air Quality
How do air purifiers work?
“There are many different types of air purifiers. In simple terms, an air purifier will intake contaminated air, trap particulate matter, before expelling cleaner air back into the space,” Goddard said. The following demonstrates the function of a Trane CleanEffects® Whole Home Air Cleaner.
How do air purifiers help? Keep reading for some examples.
Do air purifiers help reduce dust?
They can. Every home will have a certain amount of dust. But an air purifier for dust can help capture dust particles before they get recirculated through your home by your HVAC system. You may notice less dust in the air, on your furniture, and on your floors, making cleaning easier.
Do air purifiers help with allergies?
They can. A good whole-house air purifier for allergies will capture dust, dust mites, pet dander, pollen, and other common allergens. Whether you need an air purifier for seasonal allergies or one that addresses indoor allergies you have all year long, a whole-home air purifier can help you stop sneezing.
Do air purifiers help with asthma?
Once again, they can. Since asthma attacks can be triggered by dust and allergic reactions, reducing or eliminating certain allergens can help reduce asthma symptoms. If you’re looking for an air purifier for asthma, do your research. Look for products that are certified asthma and allergy-friendly. This can go way beyond whole-house air cleaners
“The Trane CleanEffects® Whole Home Air Cleaner is the first product of its kind to be certified asthma and allergy friendly by Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America®. This independent certification certifies CleanEffects® as more suitable for those with asthma and allergies.”
- Sean Goddard, Product Manager, Coils & Indoor Air Quality
Do air purifiers help with congestion?
Again, they can. It depends on the cause of your congestion. If it’s from a cold or the flu, the whole-house air purifier may not help. But if you’re congested due to allergies or asthma, a whole-house air cleaner can help remove the allergens that cause congestion.
Do air purifiers help with wildfire smoke?
Whole-house air purifiers certainly can. Keep wildfire smoke and hazardous outdoor air out of your home with a whole-home air purifier designed to capture smaller particles than your average HVAC filter. Look for a whole-house solution to help protect the air you breathe indoors during wildfire season.
Do air purifiers help with smells?
They can, although this is not their main function. For a home where smells linger, improving your ventilation might be the best overall solution. If your home smells musty, you may need to address high humidity.
How can Trane help me provide cleaner air to my home?
Trane has two air purification products that are tested and proven to provide the air purifier benefits we’ve mentioned, including:
- Reduced dust
- Help prevent allergy triggers
- Help prevent asthma triggers
- Help filter out wildfire smoke and particulate matter
- Help filter out some viruses and bacteria
- And more
Meet the Trane QuikBox™ Air Cleaner
The QuikBox™ Air Cleaner is available in two tiers - Premium and Superior, with respective MERV ratings of 11 and 13. Replace the 4.7” filter every 6 months.
| PARTICLE TYPE | GENERIC 1” FILTER MERV 8 EFFECTIVELY FILTERS PARTICLES DOWN TO 3-10 MICRONS IN SIZE | QUIKBOX PREMIUM MERV 11 EFFECTIVELY FILTERS PARTICLES DOWN TO 1-3 MICRONS IN SIZE | QUIKBOX SUPERIOR MERV 13 EFFECTIVELY FILTERS PARTICLES DOWN TO .3-1 MICRONS IN SIZE |
| POLLEN | X | X | X |
| DUST | X | X | X |
| DUST MITES | X | X | X |
| MOLD SPORES | X | X | X |
| LINT | X | X | X |
| BACTERIA/FUNGI | X | X | |
| PET DANDER | X | X | |
| SKIN FLAKES | X | X | |
| HAIR | X | X | |
| VIRUSES | X | ||
| TOBACCO SMOKE | X | ||
| COOKING SMOKE | X | ||
| SMOG | X |
MERV 8
EFFECTIVELY FILTERS PARTICLES DOWN TO 3-10 MICRONS IN SIZE
MERV 11
EFFECTIVELY FILTERS PARTICLES DOWN TO 1-3 MICRONS IN SIZE
MERV 13
EFFECTIVELY FILTERS PARTICLES DOWN TO .3-1 MICRONS IN SIZE
Meet the Trane CleanEffects® Whole-Home Air Cleaner
The Trane CleanEffects air cleaner does everything the QuikBox does, and more. The CleanEffects has been performance-tested by LMS Technologies and Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc. (EH&E), with the results verified by professors from the Harvard School of Public Health.
It uses patented technology to provide cleaner air throughout your home.
Features include:
- Removes up to 99.98% of fine particles (including some bacteria and viruses) from your indoor air, as small as .3 microns, 1/1,000th the diameter of a human hair.
- Industry-leading clean air delivery rate (CADR) of 1,200.
- Certified by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) as Asthma and Allergy Friendly®
- Certified as a Zero Ozone product by Intertek Sustainability.
- 100x more effective than standard 1” air filters, assuming <1% removal rate of 0.3 – 10 micron particles
- Cleaning indicator on the outside of the unit.
- Cleanable filter saves you money on replacement filters. Just vacuum once every 2-9 months, depending on your home and usage.
The CleanEffects can cost several thousand dollars installed, but since you can clean the filter, you’ll have reduced operational costs and cleaner air for the long term.
See what some homeowners had to say in their reviews:
- “Less dust blowing in the air…”
- “A game changer for air quality.”
- “The best protection against allergies we’ve ever had.”
- “Great whole home air cleaner for those with asthma.”
Customized air cleaning
If you have the Trane Home App, you can customize your air cleaning beyond the standard settings. You can run the Clean Air cycle from the app to remove dust, allergens, and other airborne pollutants. This can be especially helpful in keeping heavy pollen or wildfire smoke in the air outdoors from circulating through your home via your HVAC system.
Within the Trane Home App, you can set the clean air cycle mode within the Climate section. There are three settings:
- Auto: This mode operates the fan and air cleaner whenever the HVAC system is running.
- Quick: This mode operates the air cleaner and runs the fan at full speed for 3 hours even if the heating or cooling is not running.
- Allergy: This mode operates the air cleaner and runs the fan at full speed for 24 hours, even if the heating and cooling system is not currently running.
You can keep it on Auto most of the time, but run the Quick clean or Allergy mode when needed for removing airborne pollutants during a wildfire or heavy pollen season.
“Before installation, a CleanEffects will retail for roughly $1,000 or more, depending on the size and application need. The QuikBox or Slimfit filter may be a more cost-effective option,” Goddard said.
Get a free indoor air quality assessment
Your local Trane dealer can assess your home’s IAQ and help you decide the pros and cons of an air purifier for your home. They can also discuss solutions to problems such as low or high humidity and stale air. Trane has whole-house solutions for a variety of indoor air quality issues.
Anne Fonda
Content Writer, Trane Technologies
A Content Writer with Trane Technologies, Anne Fonda researches topics and writes for Trane® and associated residential HVAC brands. She works in collaboration with Trane Technologies subject matter experts, offering easy-to-understand, informative content on complex topics. Her goal is to help consumers make informed decisions on the products and services they need.
She has written for HVAC and other service provider websites for over 16 years. Before transitioning to web content writing, Anne had a 14-year stint as an award-winning journalist. She graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism.
When she’s not working, Anne enjoys playing word games, reading, gardening, spending time with family, and visiting gardens and museums.
Expert review by Sean Goddard, Product Manager, Coils & Indoor Air Quality
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