Healthy Air at Home

It's very important to have healthy air at home because most of the time we spend indoors. There are many pollutants trying to make your home unhealthy. Some of them you can see for example dust or sweep, it is harder to figure out when the air indoors needs cleaning. Most of the air pollutants are so small that the human eye can't see them. So, the indoor air you breathe may be dangerous to your health even without any significant signs. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) information, our indoor air maybe 2-5 times more polluted than the air outside. Some of the factors why:

Bad ventilation. Are all fuel-burning devices (gas stoves, water heaters, fireplaces) fully vented to the outdoors? Proper ventilation keeps the air fresh and healthy indoors.

Indoor pollutant sources like:

Dust mite feces.
Mold Spores. Is the humidity usually above 50 percent? Check if there are leaks or standing water anywhere at the home- kitchen, basement, attic. High humidity allows mold to grow. The best way to control them is to keep moisture between 30-50%.
Pollen.
Pet Dander.
Germs, odors.
VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
Tobacco smoke. Is anybody smoking indoors? No one should smoke indoors.
Building materials such as asbestos, formaldehyde, and lead.
Household products and pesticides such as perfumes, cleaning products, air fresheners.
Gasses such as radon and carbon monoxide. You should test your home for radon. It is a very dangerous substance and doesn't cause noticeably visible signs.

Not sure if your indoor air is healthy or not?

Use a laser particle counter. It will help you monitor air quality in your home. The counter's readings give you an overall idea of the entire amount of particles. If you want to know exactly what types of allergens are crawling in your air, you can use an allergen test kit.

Indoor air pollutants can induce various health problems for example asthma attacks, itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing, and more. Some gases like secondhand smoke and radon can cause even more hazardous health consequences, including lung cancer, in accordance with the American Lung Association.

How Our Website Can Help?

All of the knowledge on this site is given as a free service to help you recognize the real causes of poor indoor air, the consequences it has on people, and how it can be fixed.

We share with you everything we know about air purifiers, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers. We have covered topics such as how they work, what you should look for to find one that fits your needs etc.

Also, we tried to make everything simple. No complicated talks. All topics around indoor air here are answered in an easy and understandable format. If we use any definition we also try to rewrite it in easy to understand format.

Also, our website structure is made as easy as possible to navigate. Keep reading below or navigate through the top menu to find topics you are interested in. Feel free to use our search tool too.

We have Several Sections for Your Preference:

1. Comparison Charts

In this section, you will find out best air purifiers, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers comparisons including very helpful information such as prices, coverage area, features, noise levels, pros, cons, etc.

Air purifiers have comparisons by concern, by type, by price, and coverage area.

Humidifier comparisons by mist type, by prices, and coverage areas.

Dehumidifier comparison charts with their prices and pints.

Top Comparisons are:

2. Reviews

If in comparison charts you can find only general information, in reviews you will find more in-depth reviews about air purifiers, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers. We choose the best and in easy wah show you how the units work, how noisy they are, what's their pros and cons, the maintenance required, etc. If you are seeking to get information on a high-quality unit, this section can really help.

Most Popular Reviews:

3. Buying Guides

This is the most educational section of our website. Actually, these are topics you should start with before buying anything. These topics cover the most valuable information.

Our Buying Guides are:

4. Knowledge Base

In the knowledge base, you will find all kinds of topics, for example, about indoor plants, allergens, and pollutants, air quality testing, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air purifiers, allergy bedding, air quality facts, and more.

Types of posts include:

If You are Totally New to Air Purifiers, Humidifiers, And Dehumidifiers Start Here:

Air purifiers

The good news is that you can make your indoor air healthier by filtering out allergens, odors, and other pollutants from your space using an air purifier.

An air purifier is an appliance that removes contaminants from the air in a space, for example, room, office, etc. These appliances are very helpful to people with allergies, and at decreasing or liquidating second-hand tobacco smoke. Air purifiers may be either small stand-alone units or larger units that can be affixed to an air handler unit (AHU) or to an HVAC unit found in the medical, industrial, and commercial industries. Also, The EPA recommends using an air purifier.

What should you know before you buy the best air purifier that fits you?

What size air purifier Do I need
What kind of features Do I need
Noise level
Best Location for an Air Purifier
CADR (clean air delivery rate)
Air Change Rate
How Much Maintenance and Upkeep is Needed

All these questions are covered in our huge Air Purifiers Buying guide!

My Best Picks

Without any introduction below are the top picks from each category I selected on when I finished the reviews I have put together.

Humidifiers And Dehumidifiers

Recommended indoor humidity level is between 30 and 50 percent. It is important to keep balanced indoor humidity through the whole year so you could feel comfortable and healthy. Humidity that is higher than 50 percent encourages the growth of bacteria, dust mites, mold, and other symptom-aggravating allergens. This kind of wet and muggy conditions may develop an unpleasant, musty odor and cause wood to rot, walls to stain, and paint to peel. On the other side, environments with humidity measuring under 30 percent will leave you susceptible to dry air's adverse health effects (bloody nose, cracked lips, dry, scaly skin, dry sinus passages etc.) and your interior furnishings vulnerable to damage.

How to measure humidity level?

It is a simple and quick process. You just need an inexpensive digital hygrometer (for example Stadler Form Selina. Click here to see). These devices display accurate readouts of the humidity level and temperature. They can usually be wall-mounted for regular use and may include extra features such as Celsius/Fahrenheit conversion, large internal memories, optimal humidity level warnings, and backlights for simple reading.

Humidity level below 30%

If the humidity level is below 30 to 50 percent you should use a humidifier to increase humidity till this level. Humidifiers are also used to help control respiratory illnesses caused by asthma flare-ups, allergies, colds, sinus infections, congestion problems, and other illnesses. The mist coming from a humidifier eases your breathing passages.

Choosing the best humidifier may be very hard to do so I am here to help. First, read my full in-depth humidifier buying guide. After that, you will be much more educated. Second, check my comparison tables. I have made best cool mist, warm mist, travel, room, whole house humidifiers comparisons, and comparisons by price and coverage are. Comparison tables include lots of information - features, prices, noise level, pros, cons and much more. Click here to read them.

Choosing a humidifier

Follow these tips when choosing a humidifier:

Choose the right size and capacity. Figure out where you need a humidifier - in the bedroom, living room, or for the whole house. Also, tank size and moisture output capacity are very important. You don't want powerful humidifier which needs to remove water every 3 hours.
Determine the right type. Cool mist, warm mist or maybe dual mist humidifier.
Cost.
Comfort features. (Variable speeds, humidistat, automatic shutoff, indicator lights etc).
Maintenance and care

Humidity level above 50%

The best way to reduce a humidity level is using a dehumidifier. These appliances remove moisture and help keep desired humidity level.

Dehumidifiers are quite expensive so it is particularly important to choose the right one. Before we continue, read my dehumidifier buying guide here. This guide will answer most of your questions. As you may know, dehumidifiers are usually compared by pints so I made comparison tables starting from 0-10 to 75+ pints. My dehumidifier comparison charts include prices, features, noise level, sizes, pros, cons and more. Click here to read them.

Choosing a dehumidifier

Follow these tips when choosing a dehumidifier:

Choose the place where you are going to use it. Basement, bathroom, whole house etc.
Choose the right size. Depends on how wet and big is space. To help simplify your selection in size, take a look at the sizing chart.
Draining. There are 3 main methods of draining a dehumidifier and most models can be configured for at minimum 2 of these methods.
Think about features you may need. Timer, humidistat, various speeds etc.
Noise level.
Fan operation - continuously or when dehumidifying.
Maintenance.