Air purifier suggestions

[ReckoningForce]

I have not seen any studies that indoor air filtration will significantly impact home radon levels. Radon is a gas, HEPA filters are not designed to remove gases. Radon comes from three places, from the ground being pulled up from soil by the house sucking it in from the basement, from the source of household water (usually deep drilled wells) and to lesser amount from granite aggregate used in large concrete structures. The usual approach to ground based is subsurface slab ventilation where holes the basement edges, cracks and sumps are sealed, then new holes are drilled and vented to the outdoors with fans. Water based radon is usually air stripped with blower arrangement or in some cases multiple activated carbon filters.

Water based radon is arguably the most hazardous as it comes out of solution from the water best when its hot. When someone takes a shower, they are getting a higher dose right into their lungs versus household radon from the ground. Radon is heavy and tends to collect at the lowest elevation like a basement. It can bind to particulates so a filter can indirectly help by capturing the particulates.

Industrial operations on occasion use deep bed activated carbon filters to remove contaminants and radon would probably be removed but not very practical. I had a couple of them at my mill. One of them used to protect a 20 by 30 room had a 18" deep charcoal bed while the other one protected a house sized area with a 4' deep charcoal bed.

Many air purifiers come with both a HEPA filter and an activated carbon filter. Activated carbon filters remove gases

 

[ReckoningForce]

From what I’ve read it takes years and years of exposure to give you cancer from radon. So at least we have that going for us. Been in our current house for less than a year. Before that was an RV for a couple years. We’ve actually moved around a bit in the recent past.

There is no safe amount of exposure to radon from what I understand

 

[ReckoningForce]

Anyone heard of Eoleaf? I've been looking for an air purifier that will remove all types of indoor air pollution (particles and gases) and theirs seems to kind of be an all-inclusive solution as far as air purifiers go

 

[ReckoningForce]

Happy to have stumbled upon this thread. Similar situation here. I live in a two story house that's about 1400 sq ft. Lots of pets too! I've been researching indoor air quality for a few months now, especially because we have an asthmatic child in the home whose symptoms are worsening. I've read that an air purifier can work wonders for asthma symptoms in removing dust and other asthma triggers.

A friend of mine bought a Dyson air purifier a few years ago that needed filter changes every few months ($$$), so kind of turned me off from buying one of theirs. Once I started doing my own research, I've found that you have to approach an air purifier purchase with a critical eye. I thought I'd share my takeaways here just in case it may be helpful for anyone else looking for an air purifier.

Basically, when it comes to air purifier efficiency, I came across the importance of CADR value and choosing a device that allows the air to be replaced several times per hour (from what I understand, this value, also called ACH, should be 3 to 5 times per hour). Some brands will include this information in their technical specs, others won't, so sometimes you have to ask. Basically, you don't want an air purifier to take 30 minutes to remove a sneeze from the room.

Another one of my takeaways is that it is relaly important to verify that the device is certified by a third party (particularly by HEPA). Lots of air purifiers will include the HEPA acronym without even being certified (I found several brands that created their own technology, like I found with Blueair's HEPASilent, but they aren't even certified so we can't know for sure how much they filter). Again, contact the manufacturer and ask for their certificates before purchasing. Whether in terms of effectiveness or safety (some air purifiers generate ozone generation, for example). There is lots of garbage for sale out there and few regulations.

I've found the website https://eoleaf.com/pages/learning-centre to be really helpful. It's the website of an air purifier brand that of course has their own sales pitch in each article but they are very comprehensive and with scientific studies referenced in each article, which I liked. I don't know the brand personally, but their articles and products seem worth looking into. I haven't bought a device yet but am looking into their largest model. For now, I wanted to share my experience on this thread (even though it's already a few years old). I hope it helps.