Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Aug 31, 2024 4:04:53 GMT
My 6 Favorite HEPA Filters & Air Cleaners - Published Aug 31, 2023
Portable HEPA filters and air cleaners are the cheapest and quickest way to increase indoor air cleaning rates. They can help protect you from wildfire smoke, allergens and airborne diseases. However, there are a lot of poor products on the market and finding the best ones can be challenging. These are my 6 favorites.
How to Assess Portable Air Cleaners
The most important part of air cleaning equipment is the clean air delivery rate. It is measured in liters per second (lps), cubic feet per minute (CFM) or cubic meters per hour (m³/h). It tells you how quickly it can supply clean air. The faster clean air is supplied, the lower the concentrations of pollutants will be and the safer the environment will be. However, not all spaces are created equal and some spaces need more clean air than others. There are multiple ways to determine how much clean air is required.
Area
One way HEPA filters are measured is by area using AHAM’s 2/3 rule where the clean air delivery rate in CFM should be 2/3 the room size in square feet. This means 1.5 ft²/CFM or 0.29 m²/lps.
People
Another way to measure HEPA filters is how many people they can provide clean air for. ASHRAE 241 set the standard at 20 lps/person or 40 CFM/person for classrooms.
Noise
Another important factor is noise which is measured in dB or dBA. For a typical classroom, you would like levels to be below 45 dBA. Every 3 decibels is doubling the value of noise. So if 45 dBA is just tolerable in a classroom, 48 dBA is twice the tolerable limit. I have not included data from speeds with high noise levels.
Information here is either from the manufacturer website or from Clean Air Stars. Without further adieu, these are my favorite ones you can find.
Read the full article at the link!
Portable HEPA filters and air cleaners are the cheapest and quickest way to increase indoor air cleaning rates. They can help protect you from wildfire smoke, allergens and airborne diseases. However, there are a lot of poor products on the market and finding the best ones can be challenging. These are my 6 favorites.
How to Assess Portable Air Cleaners
The most important part of air cleaning equipment is the clean air delivery rate. It is measured in liters per second (lps), cubic feet per minute (CFM) or cubic meters per hour (m³/h). It tells you how quickly it can supply clean air. The faster clean air is supplied, the lower the concentrations of pollutants will be and the safer the environment will be. However, not all spaces are created equal and some spaces need more clean air than others. There are multiple ways to determine how much clean air is required.
Area
One way HEPA filters are measured is by area using AHAM’s 2/3 rule where the clean air delivery rate in CFM should be 2/3 the room size in square feet. This means 1.5 ft²/CFM or 0.29 m²/lps.
People
Another way to measure HEPA filters is how many people they can provide clean air for. ASHRAE 241 set the standard at 20 lps/person or 40 CFM/person for classrooms.
Noise
Another important factor is noise which is measured in dB or dBA. For a typical classroom, you would like levels to be below 45 dBA. Every 3 decibels is doubling the value of noise. So if 45 dBA is just tolerable in a classroom, 48 dBA is twice the tolerable limit. I have not included data from speeds with high noise levels.
Information here is either from the manufacturer website or from Clean Air Stars. Without further adieu, these are my favorite ones you can find.
Read the full article at the link!