With rising concerns about indoor air quality central air filtration is becoming more popular than ever.
Instead of having several portable units you install one large filter in your central HVAC system.

Central air cleaning is really the most effective way to remove dust and particles fron the air.
Here are the reasons why:

1: Filter's ALL the air in your house, so there is no need to keep up with induvidual room units.

2: Higher capacity:
These units typically handle 1000CFM or more vs the 200CFM on HIGH (most people don't even run them on high due to the noise) for a room unit.

3: Runs whenever your HVAC system does so it's automatic, no need to remeber to turn it on or off.

4: No additional noise since it's part of the HVAC system
How many times have you shut an air filter off because of the noise ??

5: No additional electricity, you are already moving the air anyway cooling or heating your house.

6: Keeps your HVAC unit cleaner than the standard blue filters (the central filtration system takes place of these) therefore REDUCING energy costs.

7: Filters cost less: you buy one $20 filter every 6 months or so instead of several very expensive ($50 each and up) HEPA filters every year or two.

Match the unit to your environment

It must physically remove particles and vapors. Never buy one without fan and filters. If the molecules are not trapped by the unit, they are still in your environment.

I've been selling air purifiers for at least ten years and have hand-picked the best units. However, the important thing is that you select the machine that is best for what you are trying to accomplish. For example, are you suffering from allergies and asthma, lung disease, chemical sensitivities, other people's smoke, or just household odors?

Also stay away from ionizers which do not remove much of anything and generate ozone, making them worse than useless.

Look for units that have HEPA filters or better. HEPA is a government standard that specifies that a HEPA filter must remove at least 99.97% of particles that are greater than .3 microns. Stay away from HEPA-like if you want to know what you're getting. Some machines are actually much better than HEPA.

Also be sure that the unit you buy has carbon. The more the better since it is the carbon that removes odors and chemicals. Stay away from brands that measure their carbon in ounces. You want as many pounds as possible.

If you have a problem with specific chemicals or smoke, be sure that the unit has been designed for it. Tobacco smoke is especially difficult to deal with since the tars in the smoke can coat the carbon, rendering it inaccessible after a while.

Room-air purifier may help allergies

Why? Indoor air quality. You can buy a dream house, but if it doesn't breathe properly, you've wasted a lot of money and are probably making yourself sick to boot.

We have a whole-house air cleaner. I attribute to it a reduction in allergy suffering as well as our new ability to grow indoor plants during the late fall and winter.

But the whole-house cleaner works in concert with the heating and air-conditioning systems, and thanks to a drippy and cool spring that hasn't demanded either system, the cleaner has been off.

The only control for this experiment was the two or three days in which I left the windows open all day and we didn't use the filter. The allergies were murder those days.

Soon the central air - and the whole-house filter - will go on. But, if you don't have one, a room air purifier might fit your needs.