How Do Electronic Air Cleaners Work?

Because we live in such a hot geographic region, a lot of the work that our team does pertains to air conditioning systems. There is no denying the enormous importance of your air conditioner in this part of the country. That being said, there are other considerations to keep in mind when it comes to your overall comfort. As important as keeping your home cool and comfortable during the summer may be, for instance, you also need to keep the air quality in your home as high as can be.

This means that you may need some help from our IAQ (indoor air quality) specialists. There is no guarantee that the air in your home will be of a satisfactory quality. In fact, it is very possible that the quality of the air surrounding you in your home is lesser than that of the air outside! Pollution is not only a factor outdoors. Read on to learn about the benefits of using an electronic air cleaner in Tucson, AZ, as well as how they work.

Air Filtration vs. Air Cleaning

Chances are that you know that there is an air filter in your forced air heater and/or air conditioning system. Furnaces, heat pumps, and central ACs all use filters that must be changed regularly, generally every 1-3 months (so hopefully you did know about them!). Even those homeowners that know about these filters and that change them regularly, however, often misunderstand the real purpose of these air filters. They are not actually there to boost the quality of the air in your home. Instead, they filter pollutants out of the air entering the system itself to be conditioned.

Now, you can use more efficient filters in order to improve upon your indoor air quality. It is important to remember, however, that using a filter that is too efficient for your system to handle is very detrimental. it can drive up energy costs and put a lot of strain on the system.

This is why many homeowners turn to designated air cleaning systems that are integrated into the HVAC system at large. The electronic air cleaner, such as an electronic precipitator, is a prime example. Rather than allow pollutants in the air to be trapped on a filtering media, these devices actively remove pollutants from the air in order to clean it.

How It Works

There are various electronic air cleaners on the market today. Most, including the aforementioned electronic precipitator, depend upon an ionization process. Basically, the air passes through an ionization chamber. The pollutants within that air are given an electric charge. These pollutants are dealt with in a few different ways.

Some air cleaners simply allow the ionized pollutants to cling to walls and other surfaces in the home. They can then be removed during basic household cleaning. Others, such as the electronic precipitator, are more convenient. The pollutants wind up trapped on oppositely charged collector plates — remember, opposites attract — that are simply removed by the homeowner and cleaned off.

Either way, you are breathing air with a much lower concentration of airborne pollutants in it. If you have any questions, contact our staff. We’re happy to help you find the right electronic air cleaner for your needs.

Goettl Air Conditioning is the right choice for all of your IAQ services.