Which is better, a conventional air purifier or a fresh air unit?What are the advantages and disadvantages of HEPA filter air purifiers?

Which is better, a traditional air purifier or a new ventilator?HEPA filterWhat are the advantages and disadvantages of air purifiers?

Today the market for air purifiers is saturated, gradually shifting from an incremental market to a stock market. And, with the enhancement of the concept of consumer-related knowledge, the air purification equipment gradually in-depth understanding, manufacturers also had to keep pace with the times, the introduction of a variety of black technology-added air purifiers - negative ion air purifiers, non-consumable air purifiers, ultraviolet circulating air disinfectant and other emerging products, once again pulling the consumer into the entanglement and The consumers are once again pulled into the whirlpool of entanglement and confusion.

Air Purifier vs. Fresh Air Ventilator
These two types of equipment are used to purify indoor air, but in the principle of purification, the two are very different, here we come to understand the new air machine and various types of air purifiers.

new ventilator

The working principle of the new air conditioner is to pump the outdoor air into the new air conditioner for filtration and purification, and then blow the healthy and pure air into the room, and the continuous incoming airflow will discharge the indoor air to the outdoor through the doorway and window to achieve the role of air purification. The new fan not only purifies the air, but also injects fresh air into the room, which is something traditional air purifiers cannot do.

Because traditional air purifiers work by drawing in indoor air, filtering and purifying it and then discharging it indoors for the purpose of purification, and are unable to produce fresh air, fresh air systems will gradually become the wind vane of air purification in the future. However, for the time being, a standard fresh air system is quite expensive and is usually installed in tandem with the interior decoration.

Of course, the market has also given birth to some wall-mounted, or even mini-type fresh air machine, these models are relatively low installation requirements, the price can also be accepted by ordinary families. But in the purification effect is not as good as the traditional standard fresh air system, and in the beauty, space occupation will form a certain burden.

In addition, since the new air system needs to continuously filter outdoor air, it will greatly exceed the air purifier in terms of cartridge loss (cost). A set of standard fresh air system is also quite troublesome in daily maintenance, so the complete set of civil fresh air system is less, and the current civil fresh air machine market is mainly dominated by wall-mounted fresh air machine.

HEPA Filter Air Purifier

Those air purifiers on the market that require regular filter replacement can basically be categorized as HEPA filter air purifiers. As the name suggests, the filter element mainly uses the HEPA filter material. The principle is quite simple, when the air passes through the filter, large particles of impurities are filtered to stay on the filter.

This type of air purifier is sure to regularly replace the filter, time generally 3-6 months, determined by the frequency of use. Consumers need to pay attention to is that the same HEPA filter is also a distinction between good and bad, so try to buy a well-known brand as the first choice, after all, the big brands do not dare to fool around. And those who claim to be able to wash the HEPA filter must be deceptive, if you see can be directly ignored.

This category of air purifier in the air purification market accounted for a fairly large proportion, of course, but also due to the purification effect is good, withstand the test of the market. But the HEPA filter air purifier also has some shortcomings: the filter cost is relatively high; with the extension of the use of time, the purification effect will gradually reduce; noise is relatively large; the ventilation holes on the filter is very small, because it is necessary to filter PM2.5, so the wind resistance will be particularly large. In order to ensure effective purification speed, can only increase the speed of the fan, so the noise will be relatively loud.

Enhanced HEPA Filter Air Purifier

This type of air purifier is based on the HEPA filter, adding some other cartridge materials, such as activated carbon, in order to filter formaldehyde, such as the addition of antimicrobial coatings, in order to kill bacteria, mites. Advantages and disadvantages of the basic and HEPA filter air purification is much the same, not filter cartridge cost will be higher. And need to pay special attention to is, most of the so-called formaldehyde filter cartridge, just adsorption formaldehyde, not "eliminate" formaldehyde. So if not replaced in time, there will be formaldehyde secondary pollution disadvantages.

Negative Ion Air Purifier

Smaller, simple negative ion air purifier does not need a cartridge, because the principle of negative ion air purifier is to release negative ions through ionization, so that the negative charge in the air adsorption of small particles in the air, and then "fall", to achieve the purpose of purifying the air. However, the small particles adsorbed by negative ions will eventually land on the furniture, clothes and skin in the room, and even be inhaled by the human body! Unlike HEPA cartridges that keep harmful substances on the cartridge. In addition, in the ionization process will produce ozone, if the ozone concentration exceeds the standard, will seriously affect human health. So the standard for manufacturers to control ozone concentration will be very high.

Consumable-free/ion field air purifier

This type of air purification is not the mainstream of the market, but is now gradually trying to compete with traditional HEPA purifiers for market share. The characteristics of this type of purifier are quite attractive, deformaldehyde, bacteria removal, odor removal, air purification, fast speed, low noise, not only full-featured, but also the main no consumables. The purification principle of the ion field air purifier is to use the generator pole cartridge (positive phase) and the collection pole (negative phase), in the case of high voltage energization, an ion field will be formed, and the bacteria, formaldehyde and air impurities passing through the particle field will be decomposed by the high-voltage electricity, in order to achieve the effect of completely purifying the air.

Ion field air purifiers do not have HEPA cartridges and there is a large space between the generator and the collection pole, so wind resistance is relatively low, and purification is fast and noisy. But the ion field air purifier also has corresponding shortcomings: ozone problems (ionization incidental ozone production is inevitable relationship); cartridges need to be cleaned and dried, maintenance of manpower is in fact also the cost, and the collection of pole is generally very heavy, the girl family a person can not handle.

Ion field air purifier is not something new, the United States in the 90s there has been a similar technology air purifier, the domestic development of the technology is also touching some years, in recent years the iteration of the update, the ozone problem has been solved through the use of catalytic net absorption.

UV Air Purifier

The main feature of this type of purifier is the addition of UV sterilization to the traditional class of air purifiers. The process of UV sterilization also produces ozone, which must be knocked on the head.

Hybrid Air Purifier

Hybrid air purifiers are equivalent to a combination of the different classifications of air purifiers described earlier in this article, retaining the advantageous parts. It is quite a perfect and strong type in the air purifier classification. However, the price is high and the consumables of this type of air purifier are divided into partially replaced and partially cleaned and washed, that is, you have to spend money and manpower to maintain it again.

Sensors for air purifiers
The sensor of the air purifier is also quite an important part, accurate testing can let you know the air quality, while the air purifier can also be more accurate to use the corresponding mode for purification. Currently on the market civilian air quality testing programs are mainly PM2.5, formaldehyde concentration, carbon dioxide concentration, TVOC value. For the PM2.5 sensor, be sure to pay attention to screening whether the use of cheap infrared sensors, because the error will be quite large.

For formaldehyde sensors, I don't think there is a need to be too harsh. Because professional-grade formaldehyde detection sensors at least 10,000 yuan or more, so for air purifiers, it is rare to use such a high-precision sensor. The mainstream sensors in the current market are also able to detect the value of formaldehyde, only that this value is often affected by some odor substances such as flower water and perfume, which is slightly inaccurate. As for the carbon dioxide concentration and TVOC sensor will rarely be placed in the air purifier, so there is no significance is not very big.

Air Purifier Buying Advice

If you have plenty of money, don't care about cost, and are looking for the most extreme pure air experience, I recommend a standard fresh air system with a hybrid air purifier that supports ion field technology. An efficient fresh air system paired with ionization technology will purify the air most efficiently in, for example, a smoky smoking environment.

Traditional HEPA filter air purifiers and consumable-free air purifiers have their own advantages and disadvantages. Usually filter air purifiers will be cheaper, but considering the cost of its later cartridge consumables, so when comparing the cost-performance ratio, the length of time to pull a little larger, you can make a choice between spending money on replacement cartridges and washing and maintaining cartridges according to their own needs.