5 Helpful Home Air Filter Shopping Tips

You may not realize it, but the air inside your home could be incredibly dirty and saturated with a variety of pollutants. Some of the most common pollutants include dust and dander, but you could also have traces of mold and mildew. Of course, dander comes from pets - like cats and dogs - and if you are incredibly allergic, it could cause some serious problems. Mold is particularly dangerous, especially if it is a strand of toxic mold. One of the best combatants for indoor air pollution is an air filter. However, only certain air filters may work for certain homes. Not only that, but certain filters will work for particular types of pollutants. In order to get the most out of your air filter, you want to know what you are shopping for. Here are five helpful home air filter shopping tips.

1.   Decide what you want to filter out. When it comes to air filters, it all comes down to what pollutant you want to filter out. If you are looking to filter dust and pet dander, most air purifiers will be able to do the job. However, if you are trying to filter out cigarette smoke or fumes, you will need something a little stronger - a filter with more efficacy; you may also need a unit that has the power to ionize atoms.

2.   Decide how loud of a unit you need. Just because an air purifier is loud, it doesn't mean that it is doing a better job. In fact, the loudness of a particular unit has to do with poor noise insulation - the less expensive the unit, the louder it will be. Some of the more expensive air filters have noise reducing capabilities. So, if you plan on running the air purifier all day long, you may want to invest in a quieter unit. However, some people like the noise, especially if they use the purifier at night.

3. Decide how advanced you want the system to be. One of the biggest advantages of a programmable thermostat is that you have more control with your air conditioning unit, thus you can save more money and energy. Well, when it comes to air purifiers, you want to figure out if you want a unit that you can program. Some air purifiers have programmable options - you can program the unit to turn on at a certain time and you can even program what pollutants you want the unit to clean.

4.   Decide what type of filter you want. Some air purifiers come with an air filter that you can clean and then place back inside the unit. Some air purifiers come with a filter that you toss out. When it comes down to it, it is all a matter of how much time you want to invest.

5.   Decide how much air you want to filter at once. Most systems come with a CFM - or cubic feet per minute - average. If you have a large room to filter, you will need a larger unit - or a unit with capacity. Yet, if you have a smaller room, you will only need a smaller unit. In the end, if you have a unit that is too large or small, it could cause complications and it may not be as efficient.