Asthma and allergies affect 50 million Americans (one in every five).[i] This phenomenon may be exacerbated by poor indoor air quality. Inside air pollution is one of the top five environmental dangers to human health, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, and indoor air can be up to 100 times more contaminated than outside air.
Air cleaners are purchased by homeowners to remove particle (dust, smoke, allergies, spores, and so on) from their indoor air. The proportion of specified sized particles removed from the air, or the removal efficiency, is the most essential metric of an air cleaner's effectiveness.
Whole house air cleaners, either mechanical or electronic, connect to forced-air heating and cooling systems and filter the air ducts distribute throughout the house. The common air cleaners remove particles in the range of 0.3 microns and 10 microns. With regard to particle removal efficiency, electronic air cleaners are generally considered to be the best-performing, particularly on smaller particles within this range.
The Aprilaire 5000 and Honeywell F300 are the leading whole house air cleaner in the market. Both delivers its air purifying promise to work independently from your HVAC system silently and invisible to living area.
How dos the Honeywell F300 series work?
Honeywell F300 series is a versatile design with two or three stages of filtration. The air cleaner consist of aluminum prefilter, a collector cell and an optional post filter. The aluminum prefilter captures large particles, reducing the workload for the collector cells. The cells ionizing wires, charged with 8.2K vdc, charges any particle passing through. The cell contains plates where, every other plate are charged with 4.2k vdc and remaining plates are grounded attracting and capturing all the charged particles. The frame have a third filter channel, where you can add an Enviracaire antimicrobial post filter boosting the effectiveness of the air cleaner. Additionally, the post filter channel can use a carbon filter to control odors and noxious gases.
How dos the Aprilaire 5000 work?
The Aprilaire 5000 employs a two-stage filtration, an electrical ionization technique paired with a mechanical micro-fiber filter. The power supply charges a control grid and ionizing wire frame around 5.2k vdc creating an electrical field charging airborne particles. As particles are charged by the electrical stage, is subsequently taken up and trapped by the grounded media filter.
Comparison , pros and cons
Honeywell F300 independent test have shown to remove up to 94.4% of dust (1-3 microns), 84.4% of bacteria and virus (.35 – 1 Microns) and 97.8% of pollen & Mold Spores (3 –10 Microns).[ii]
It is a versatile design available in five standard sizes 16x20 16x25 20x20 20x25 with a cabinet depth of 6.75". Can be installed in tight and limited spaces such as a closet due to its split component system.
The air cleaner turns on by the air flow sensor when HVAC blower is operating. Maintenance, requires cleaning the prefilter, collector cell and replace the optional post filter twice a year or as needed. The F300 can be converted back and forth to use a 4-5" media filter instead of the collector cells.
This model have the advantage of least air resistance but loses effectiveness between cleaning. It have the disadvantage where the cells get clogged, losing collecting surface and in the end contaminants passing through or collect on the post filter.
The Aprilaire 5000 independent test have shown to remove up to 95.7% of dust (1-3 microns), 92% of bacteria and virus (.35 – 1 Microns) and 97.8% of pollen & Mold Spores (3 –10 Microns).[ii]
Its only available in one size (17 x 28) and with a cabinet depth of 12".
It features a remote thermostat for whole house HVAC control. The thermostat can be programmed for continuous 24/7 cleaning, auto cleaning with 30 min intervals to reduce energy or event based 3 hour intervals.
Maintenance requires replacing the media filter only once a year and wiping ionizing wires as needed. The biggest advantage is the media does not loses efficiency between maintenance but gains air resistance.
Buy a New Aprilaire 5000Summary
In our opinion the model 5000 offers the best value and air cleaning performance. Overtime air cleaner performance is effected with particulate load. LMS Technologies' independent testing[iii] has demonstrated that model 5000 provides the best cleaning performance over time with less maintenance.
Resources
[i] "CDC Fast Facts A-Z," Vital Health Statistics, 2003
[ii] Research Products Corp. Independent Lab Comparison, 2007
[iii] LMS Technologies Independent Lab Comparison Test, 2007
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