A clean environment is one of the hygienic factors that assure good and healthy living. Hence, this makes people use a vacuum cleaner or an air purifier to tidy their environment and atmosphere. However, do you think you can use a vacuum cleaner as an air purifier?
Air purifiers draw air from the atmosphere, filter micro dust particles using a HEPA (High-efficiency particulate air) filter, and blow clean air out. However, while an air purifier can’t clean the floor, a vacuum can’t purify the air. Therefore the answer is no, except other equipment are attached to your vacuum to make it function as an air purifier.
Viruses, allergens, molds, dust, and contaminants are captured with the filters or vacuum backpack. They are trapped with these devices to ensure clean air is released through the purifier or vacuum outlet. Kindly read through to learn the comparison and related functions between a vacuum and an air purifier.
What Is a HEPA Filter Vacuum?
Instead of discharging allergens back into the air, vacuums with HEPA filtration collect the debris you can’t see. Dust mite droppings, pollen, mold, pet dander, and cigarette particles are all trapped by HEPA filters.
Can You Use a Vacuum As Air Purifier?
Air purifiers are used to suck in air from the atmosphere, filter the micro dust particles through HEPA filters and blow out clean air. Air purifiers aren’t designed to clean the floor, and vacuum cleaners can’t purify the air. This means they can’t do each other’s work, except equipment is merged with a vacuum cleaner to perform the function of a purifier.
Is a HEPA Filter Vacuum Worth It?
Any decent vacuum cleaner should be able to remove cat hair and dander. A HEPA filter on your vacuum won’t make much of a difference whether or not you have a runny nose during the pollen season. It won’t catch pet hair and dander as well as a standard vacuum, and it won’t get rid of odors.
However, a HEPA filter isn’t a magic bullet itself. Thorough vacuuming with one will help catch some of the minor environmental hazards we live with. They’re well worth the extra cost for a cleaner home. HEPA filters also play a crucial part in a healthier house, especially if you have severe allergies, asthma, COPD, or other respiratory diseases.
Can I Use A Vacuum As a HEPA Filter?
Standard vacuums typically filter outgoing air through the vacuum bag. Using regular vacuums with HEPA filters or bags in commercial locations where they’re required may violate EPA laws.
Can Rainbow Vacuum Be Used As an Air Purifier?
Yes, they can purify up to 3,000 square feet of space. In addition, they have washable HEPA filters and ionization to help draw dust from the air and odor removal capabilities.
How Can Vacuum Help Improve Indoor Air Quality?
Vacuums with HEPA filtration can improve indoor air quality in any room, but notably in places where allergies are a problem. The vacuum filter or bag must hold 99.97% of allergens as small as 0.3 microns for the vacuum filter or bag to be classified as HEPA. Items classified as HEPA, such as the vacuum filter, are sealed systems that drive the entire air exiting the vacuum through a HEPA exhaust filter.
Therefore, when choosing a vacuum, look for sealed HEPA filtration systems customized to prevent collected contaminates from escaping. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI), 34.1 million Americans are diagnosed with asthma, and 70% of asthmatics have allergies. By 2025, the number of persons with asthma is expected to increase by more than 100 million worldwide, according to AAAAI.
This explains why today’s facility managers are concerned about indoor air quality. Indoor pollution is often worse than outdoor pollution in many cities. Nonetheless, office appliances like printers and fax machines, for example, steadily discharge contaminants into the air.
Allergens and irritants concentrate in the environment putting inhabitants in danger due to insufficient ventilation and filtration. Furthermore, we’ve increased vacuum filtration to four levels to combat microscopic pollutants and allergies. Each step sifts out smaller and smaller particles until the atmosphere is free of 99.9% of all particulates.
Two appliances can be replaced with a vacuum with sufficient filtration. A good air purifier is stationary and only purifies up to a set radius. However, it can cost as much as or more than a high-end vacuum.
Vacuum cleaners, in general, have two ways of filtration to limit the pollutants produced when vacuuming. They’re the disposable bag and the vacuum cleaner’s built-in filter system. The material used in bags and filter media can help reduce emissions while improving air quality.
Standard, Allergen, and HEPA are the greatest levels of filtration, they’re the three primary levels of media material offered. The right vacuum is crucial to getting the best emissions and air quality results.
Is a HEPA Filtration a Must In Today’s Facilities?
Bad indoor air quality is critical for every institution since it can make custodians and building inhabitants ill. Sick building syndrome includes irritated eyes, ears, nose, and throat caused by dirty indoor air.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, sick buildings cost $61 billion a year in employee absenteeism. This also includes medical costs, reduced productivity, and lower earnings.
Using a vacuum with HEPA filtration can help to enhance indoor air quality. According to HEPA standards, its filter collects 99.97% pollutants 75 times smaller than a human hair. In addition, sealing HEPA systems capture and trap dangerous impurities.
This is something to consider for facilities that are worried about indoor air quality or have tenants who suffer from allergies or asthma. A vacuum cleaner for the floor isn’t always a vacuum cleaner for the air. People are more conscious than ever that impurities are blown back into the air if a vacuum cleaner doesn’t have adequate filtration.
Although the carpet may appear cleaner, the indoor air quality worsens over time. Most people think of HEPA when they think of proper filtering. Particulates as small as 0.3 microns are removed at 99.97% using High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filters.
On the other hand, HEPA filters are more expensive and require more frequent replacement than more durable micro-mesh filters. A backpack vacuum with four levels of filtration removes 99.9% of particulates without the additional upfront for facilities on a budget. Also, replacement expenditures of a HEPA-filtered vacuum are recommended.
HEPA is becoming a regulatory standard or need rather than a must. As previously stated, there are three stages of filtration available, which allows the facility to choose the emission level they want to attain.
Difference Between Vacuum and an Air Purifier?
Is it better to invest in a vacuum cleaner or an air purifier? First, let me dispel some myths about vacuum cleaners and air purifiers:
Vacuums
- Vacuum cleaners suck up the dust from the floor or carpet.
- A tiny tube can be used to create a powerful suction that pulls up all of the dust.
- To remove dust, the high-speed air passes through a separation device.
- Pre-and post-motor filters further purify the air.
- It is noisier in contrast due to its high airflow and intricate structure.
Air Purifiers
- Air purifiers take in the air in the room and filter out any pollutants or dust particles.
- Pollutants pass through a series of filters, including the Pre-Filter, which captures big particles, mold, and pollen. Additionally, the carbon filter captures odors, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), toxic gases, and smoke. While the HEPA filter captures PM2.5 particles, allergens, viruses, and germs.
- It cleans the air and circulates it around the space.
- Air purifiers clean the air based on the size of the room.
- It gives you a real-time air quality indicator to see how polluted the room is.
- It runs in the background and is completely silent.
Is It Safe To Use a Vacuum As An Air Purifier?
They aren’t big enough. As a result, a HEPA vacuum cleaner can’t eliminate the tiniest, most harmful particles. The HEPA vacuum would need a considerably larger filter to serve as an air purifier. However, this would make the vacuum cleaner exceedingly bulky and difficult to use.
Is a Vacuum Air Purifier Right For Me?
Many homeowners will purchase a vacuum cleaner and an air purifier separately. But what about a vacuum cleaner with an air purifier? Many people are unfamiliar with this choice, yet it is practical for keeping your home clean.
The concept can be difficult to grasp because air purifiers are often on, while vacuums are only used sometimes and then put away.
When you combine the two, your home will be more allergy-friendly and cleaner than if you use one. This is because they can both filter the air, whether they’re on all the time or only while in use.
Vacuuming used to be a straightforward activity, but as technology has progressed, vacuums now have more options than ever. If you suffer from allergies or have trouble with scents in your house, therefore an air purifier vacuum cleaner is an ideal choice for you.