You want nothing but the best for your children. In many aspects of life, you want to protect them from any harm. Needless to say, this includes protecting them from any health risks, especially those that could easily be prevented. Air purifiers for the nursery keep your children (and yourself) protected from airborne bacteria, viruses, and allergens.
In this article, we will explain your options and help you find the best air purifier for your needs and wants.
As this will be an in-depth article, you may want to use the table of contents to skip to any topics of interest.
Are you dealing with smoke in your home?
Check or buying guide for air purifiers for smoke.
What Is An Air Purifier?
As the name suggests, an air purifier purifies the air by removing dust, bacteria, viruses, and allergens. Air gets sucked into the machine, which will then purify it using various techniques.
The average adult breathes around 21.000 per day. With every breath you take, oxygen gets sucked into your lungs. Unfortunately, all kinds of unwanted particles accompany the oxygen into your lungs. These particles can cause serious health risks, especially for young children. Obviously, this is why air purifiers for the nursery are so useful. An air purifier makes your house a safe and clean environment.
Why You Need Air Purifiers For The Nursery
An air purifier can be useful for anyone living in urban areas. It prevents unwanted particles from entering the lungs of everyone in the household, especially the vulnerable ones in the nursery.
Air purifiers in the nursery are advised for:
- Someone who smokes in or around the house
- Households that enjoy lighting candles or incense
- High humidity and mold
- Houses with a fireplace
- Families living near air pollution caused by farms, industry, airports, traffic, etc.
But even if none of the above applies to you, you might just want to be extra careful, especially regarding your baby or children.
Types Of Air Purifiers For The Nursery
The main types of air purifiers for the nursery are:
- Air filters
- Air ionizers
- UV Air purifiers
Filter Air Purifiers
These types of air purifiers block particles by using a filter. Since there are great differences between the types of filters, we will cover the main ones in depth.
Air Purifiers With A HEPA filter
These types of air purifiers feature a so-called HEPA filter,w hich stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air. These filters are made of glass fibers that form a mat that catches particles out of the air. Usually these mats are multi-layered, with each layer blocking finer particles.
| Filter Grade | Effectiveness | Common Uses |
|---|---|---|
| HEPA 12 | 99.5% of 0.3 µm | Household, dust, pollen, allergens |
| HEPA 13 | 99.95% of 0.3 µm | Asthma, allergies |
| HEPA 14 | 99.995% of 0.3 µm | Hospitals, severe respiratory issues |
| HEPA 15 | 99.9995% of 0.3 µm | Specialized laboratories |
Choosing the right filter depends on your needs and wants. Usually HEPA 12 or HEPA 13 is good enough for any household. Whereas a HEPA 14 filter would only be preferred for severe cases of asthma or allergies. As the price goes up with the effectiveness it isn’t always cost-effective to get a higher-graded filter.
Air Purifiers With Carbon Filters
A carbon filter has activated carbon in its core. Activated carbon is altered carbon with millions of tiny gaps between its molecules. These gaps trap gasses, smells, and certain chemicals. While these finer gasses are captured, the larger particles pass through these filters. So carbon filters are often used for specific cases, or combined with HEPA filters.
Air Purifiers With Other Filters
Finally, there are countless of other filters that are designed to target specific particles. For instance, a filter for pollen allergy. You could find one for any purpose. It may be tempting to go overboard and buy excessive amounts of filters. However, these specified filters don’t filter out more than the HEPA filter already does. The added filters can however extend the life of the main filter.
Why To Choose a Filter Air Purifier
- HEPA filters are extremely good at removing all types of pathogens and pollutants
- Carbon filters can target the finest gasses
Why To Avoid a Filter Air Purifier
- High maintenance due to filter replacements
- Relatively expensive
Air Ionizers
An air purifier with an ionizer (air ionizer) gives oxygen particles an electric charge. The air ionizer charges the air by transferring electrons to the oxygen particles. When the oxygen particles react with the electric charge they bind themselves to small polluted air particles. Eventually, they stick to the nearest surface they find.
Black plaque challenges
So the knocked-down particles are removed from the air. However, instead of being removed from your house entirely, they latch to the surfaces in the room. Consequently, air ionizers get a dirty-looking black ring around the machine after a while.
Some air ionizers have collection plates inside them, which collect the particles on these plates instead of your furniture or walls. Consequently, you need to clean those plates. Still, it may occur that particles end up sticking to nearby surfaces in the room.
Ozone challenges
During the creation of charged particles, ozone forms as a byproduct. Ozone can inactivate viruses by damaging their genetic material. However, breathing ozone can be irritating for your lungs. Inhaling it for a longer period of time might cause reduced lung function, increase risk of respiratory infections, and lung inflammation.
Air ionizers usually don’t increase ozone levels to dangerous levels, and the right air purifiers use techniques to stop the creation of ozone altogether. Carbon filters could counteract this. With this in place, the air ionizer is safe to use. But you should always be careful around one: never breathe the air close to the machine.
Why To Choose
- Expecially effective against viruses. The ozone damages the genetic material viruses.
- Removes all types of micro-organisms.
- Low maintenance. Except for the regular collection plate cleaning.
- Affordable
Why To Avoid
- Ineffective in removing larger particles from the air, like pollen or dust. Thus, not for people buying one for asthma or allergies.
- Particles stick to surfaces in the room.
- Air ionizers can emit ozone, which is bad for your health.
Air Purifiers With UV light
UV light eliminates microorganisms very effectively. The DNA of the virus, bacteria, or fungi absorbs this light. Consequently, damaging their DNA and making them unable to reproduce. This means it theoretically can remove all air pathogens from the room.
Challenges
However, the UV light in itself cannot trap or remove particles. Thus, making it ineffective on its own. Therefore, they are almost always sold combined with HEPA filters.
Studies also suggest that the power of the UV light in household models is too weak. So it only reduces the number of pathogens.
Finally, UV light can produce ozone. Most manufacturers apply a special coating to prevent this, yet it remains a risk to be aware of.
Why To Choose
- Highly effective in eliminating microorganisms.
- Low maintenance.
Why To Avoid
- Household units are often not strong enough.
- May create ozone
Recommended Air Purifiers For The Nursery
When selecting air purifiers for the nursery we would recommend one with a filter. The health benefits seriously outweigh the higher price.
Choosing which exact filter depends on your requirements. A HEPA12 filter is good enough for any standard household. However, with babies or young children you want to use a HEPA13 filter instead. Preferably, choose one with a carbon filter. This will remove all types of microorganisms, and eliminate harmful gasses, as well as bad smells. Especially for people who smoke, have a fireplace in their house, or light a lot of candles, the carbon filter is a wise add-on.
