A question about HEPA filters

Hello, welcome to The Spectrum! My name is Mike and I will be maintaining this blog for my company, L2B Environmental Systems Inc. We are a Canadian company based out of Barrie, Ontario that specializes in advanced ultraviolet air purification systems for residential, commercial and institutional applications. If you would like more information about our company, please visit our website or you can follow us on Twitter: L2Binc. Please feel free to ask questions, send feedback or share information with us, we'd love to hear from you!

This post is in response to a question asked on Twitter. The question came to us from our friend mwilson72 who asked: How effective are ionized HEPA filters at improving IAQ? It seems like they handle enough air...so much confusing info out there.

Well mwilson72, needless to say, that's a question I simply can't answer with 140 characters! The effectiveness of HEPA filters at improving IAQ is totally dependent on what kind of "improvement" you're looking for. What I mean by that is, HEPA filters are great at removing particulate as well as trapping mould and some bacteria, so if that's your aim, then a HEPA system is probably a good choice for you. But, if by improve IAQ you mean kill viruses, bacteria and moulds because you suffer from Asthma, allergies, etc. than a HEPA system probably isn't going to give you the improvement you're looking for. Additionally, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are chemicals given off by a variety of things such as building materials, carpets, paint and deodorizers are a major health concern for individuals and families and HEPA filters alone aren't going to remove them from the air. The other issue is that there is a difference between a HEPA filter and a "true" HEPA filter. A "true" HEPA filter has a minimum efficiency of 99.7% up to 0.3 microns, but there are a lot of "HEPA" filters on the market that don't meet those criteria, so buyer beware! The last thing I want to mention about HEPA filters is that because of the static pressure they create, they're only treating, on average, about 30% of the air when the system in installed into an HVAC system.

Anyways, what I'm trying to get at here is that it all comes down to what you want or what you expect from an air purification system. HEPA filters are great at what they do, no doubt, but as we like to say: trap the big stuff, kill the little stuff. We manufacture ultraviolet light systems because we feel that if you want a comprehensive and truly effective solution to poor IAQ, ultraviolet is the only way to go. Science proves it. Our ALL•AIR™ UVGI systems kill greater than 99% of airborne pathogens, break down VOCs and treat 100% of the air on each pass. That being said however, we do feel strongly that filtration is an important component to air purification systems. That's why several of our models incorporate 3-stage air filtration in addition to UV technology to provide our customers with a comprehensive system to improve their IAQ. In addition to that, we go a step further and actually irradiate the filters with UV-C light to kill what's trapped on the filters which eliminates the bio-hazard risk when handling filters during maintenance.

Anyways, I hope that answers your question mwilson72! Please feel free to submit any IAQ related questions you might have to us via Twitter and I'll be happy to answer them!

By Michael McLean
L2B Environmental Systems Inc.