Spring is in the air, we’re throwing our windows open, getting the first fresh air of the year blowing the cobwebs out and also blowing pollen and pollutants in.
Briant Communications offices are located a few minutes’ walk from the sea so we don’t suffer with hay fever much. We don’t get much in the way of airborne particulates, we just get seagulls and gales instead. In summer the air indoors doesn’t get awfully dry but in autumn and winter the air can be very damp. A penetrating damp which makes you cold right through and you feel like you’ll never be able to get warm again.
Thanks to the fresh sea air and good stiff breezes we don’t get too much pollen or dust. There’s a popular myth that household dust is mostly made up of human skin particles, in reality house dust is made up of a delicious cocktail of skin cells, from humans and pets, pollen, traffic pollutants, fabric particles and soil. So not as icky as common legend suggests, but still an unpleasant blend of grot which we all breathe in all day every day. Because so many of these particles are allergenic we have need to come up with a number of different machines, including humidifiers, dehumidifiers and air conditioners in order to filter and purify the air to make it breathable. Now, one good place to start off searching and reading the reviews of these appliance is unclutterer. Check it out, you won’t regret it.
It’s impossible to filter out all of the particles that are in the air, because every time you open a door or window pollution and pollen come in with every breeze. However there are things we can do to reduce the amount of pollution there is in the air in your home. Humidifiers will cause dust to have a higher moisture content which results in it being heavier and more adhesive, making dust clump together and fall to the floor. Vacuum up with a HEPA filtered cleaner and you’ll go a long way to eliminating the majority of allergens that collect on surfaces.
But surely there’s a Smart solution?
Indeed there is. Smart filters can connect to your ventilation system and intelligently monitor, filter, and report back on the allergens and pollutants which are being filtered out. On a hot day it’s unpleasant to have to keep the windows shut, but if you have hay fever it’s more unpleasant to keep them open, so a filter which cleans the air attached to your air con will make your indoors a cool, comfortable, and less itchy, sneezy, coughing place to be. The real-time monitoring means that you will receive new filter pads in the mail when they need to be replaced.
If you don’t have air conditioning or a ventilation system, that doesn’t mean you can’t have Smart filtered air. Floor standing heaters are available which monitor the air quality in a room and adjust filtering as they blow air around the room. If it’s cold they will blow warm air around, and if it’s hot then they act as a fan, blowing cool, clean air instead. The HEPA filters clear 99% or particles meaning that they not only clear pollen and pet dander, they’re even capable of filtering out bacteria and bad smells. Ideal if you have any allergies or hay fever.
And like all Smart devices, these air filters can be operated by voice or via an app that you download to your phone or computer, so if you’re not as mobile as you’d like to be, getting up to turn thermostats up and down, or struggling with air conditioning and humidifying units is no longer necessary.
Heating, Cooling, Filtering, Purifying
And what if your temperature is just right, or you want to clean the air by night? The Dyson Pure can run on a ‘diffused’ mode which means it filters the air without cooling or heating, and can be run at night in a low noise, low light setting making you comfortable, without disturbing you.
Another bonus with the Dyson Pure is that it doesn’t look like a fan or heater. It uses inductive projection to suck air in, filter, heat (in winter) and then project the air into the room without an exposed fan. If you’ve got kids you’ll know what a temptation it is for kids to put things in the fins of an oscillating fan, so the Dyson is brilliant as all it has is a void in the middle, and nothing for little ones to injure themselves on at all.
Pure Air Means Breathing Easily
If you’re not looking for a heater or fan then a dedicated air purifier might be a little more your speed. Philips don’t waste time thinking of catchy names, so look out for the Series A3000i air purifier. They don’t heat or cool, but as dedicated filters they claim to scrub 99.97% of particulates, including smells and bacteria out of the air in an hour. It is quiet enough to have on while you sleep. One machine can effectively clear the air in a 92 square metre room and it is of course controlled via app and voice. It gives real time air quality feedback and automatically adjusts itself to work harder during high pollen/pollution days and less hard when there isn’t so much dust in the air.
So if you’re one of the estimated 13,000,000 people who have hay fever in the UK, or one of those who are reactive to other airborne allergens why not try one of these devices to make the home a friendlier place this summer instead of sitting indoors with the windows shut and dosed up on antihistamines?