Top 5 Lessons About HEPA Filter You Must Know

HEPA filter is a term that you come across when you are shopping for any equipment to free your home from pollutants of any kind. These could be air purifiers or even vacuum cleaners. HEPA filters are the best for these appliances because of the way they are designed and the efficiency with which they capture very fine particles as well. To understand a HEPA filter and its efficiency, you must know the following:

1. What Is HEPA?

HEPA stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air. Hence, a HEPA air filter provides air that is free from particulate matter with a high level of efficacy. A true HEPA filter is declared so after being tested and approved by certification authorities.

2. What Efficiency Levels Should One Expect?

With a HEPA filter installed in your air purifier or vacuum cleaner, you can expect it to capture 99.97% of particulate matter, including gases and microbes, provided their size is greater than 0.3 microns. This is the threshold for qualification, but they are capable of capturing even smaller particles. A micron is one-millionth of a meter. For a better comparison, a spore could be anywhere in the range of 3-40 microns, while a pure oxygen molecule is 0.0005 microns in size. Bacteria fall in the range of 0.3 to 60 microns.

3. How Do They Work?

The particulate matter gets trapped in a web of fibres that make up the filter. The process of entrapment varies with the size of the particles and could be either inertial impact, sieving, diffusion or interception. Pure and clean air gets released back into the room after successfully passing through the filter.

4.  What Kind of Maintenance Do They Require?

Like all filters, they need to be cleaned regularly and replaced after fixed intervals. These, of course, vary with the usage and the quality of air that they filter.

5.  What Are the Types of HEPA Filters?

There are the claimed HEPA filters and the true HEPA filters. The two differ in quality and certifications received after testing. There are also some other differences in composition and functionality. Some are considered to be quieter, while others are fitted with an ionizer. 

Irrespective of whether the HEPA filter is fortified or not, it can be guaranteed to remove even microscopic pollutants and hence give you cleaner air to breathe. 

Also Read- Tips to Choose an Air Purifier in Your Budget