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After the onset of winter season every year, the northern parts of India come under the cloud of haze. Though many people believe that it is nothing but water droplets resting over small particles due to colder season, it is not that. This is actually air pollution. The situation tends to become worse during the morning.
There is no doubt about the fact that the air we breathe is very bad, however, it looks only big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and others are waking up to air pollution. Despite being aware of the dangers of inhaling polluted air, we are still unwilling to even put on a low-cost mask while traveling through dusty roads. Also, with brands lurking at this opportunity to frighten people into buying costly gadgets, campaigns to teach people on air pollution and purifiers have started to appear gimmicky.
Are air purifiers really effective?
In a country like India, it is quite hard to convince people about the helpfulness of something which costs more than typical items like refrigerators, washing machines, microwaves etc., particularly when there are no 'visible' points to show as such.
There are PM 2.5 meters to demonstrate the efficiency of purifiers, but consumers are not much ready to buy those numbers.
However, it is when you stop using an air purifier after successive usage of a month at least that its worth can be analysed. The difference can be feasibly felt when you sleep in a room with closed doors and windows as it is generally the case during winters.
Yes, air purifiers work fabulously. To check, just open the filter and see the thin lining of particles on it. If that filter is not there, the dust would have been inside your lungs.
Here are five popular myths about air purifiers in India.
A portable room purifier is of no value as there is no measure to control outdoor air quality
The reality is that the air pollution inside a room can be up to three times more than what it is externally. This is primarily because of dust, smoke from cooking, incense sticks, etc., dead skin from humans or pets among others.
The real-time spent on roads might be not high. People typically spend nearly half the day in their homes and another major portion is spent at their office. Therefore, more than what you breathe externally, you should be more worried about the air inside your home or office.
Air Purifiers doesn't work if windows of the room are kept open
The truth is air purifiers are found to be more effective when doors and windows are kept open as fresh air circulation assists in the treatment of pollution particles quickly. Apart from this, the fan of the air purifier can be operated at lower levels when doors and windows are kept open.
The best test of air purifiers is that it must treat bad odour
Not all air purifiers are designed to treat all kinds of odour. The filters are supposed to trap particles mostly. To remove odour, consumers need to choose from different activated carbon filters. HEPA filters only cannot treat odour.
While buying the best room air purifiers, consumers need to keep in mind that specific activated carbon filter groupings are supposed to treat specific types of odour. There are various filters that can treat tobacco smoke and other such odours.
Air Purifiers are operative only when they are close
Every air purifier features a specific Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) rating in cubic feet per minute (CFM). This rating means that the purifier is designed to purify the air of the entire room basis the capacity. So, where you sit near it or away from it, it doesn't make any difference as long as the air purifier is capable of dealing with a room of the given size.
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