Will an air cleaner or air purifier help protect me and my family from covid 19 in my home.
Hepa portable air filter covid.
Merv filters have a rating system merv 7 8 10 and so on up to merv 20.
Learn more about indoor air in homes and coronavirus covid 19.
By themselves portable air cleaners and hvac filters are not enough to protect people from the virus that causes covid 19.
Portable air cleaners can limit the spread of the virus via long range airborne particles by capturing most of those particles in a hepa filter and cleaning the air at a rate of up to six times.
Hepa which stands for high efficiency particulate air filters are rated at the top of their class for their ability to trap tiny particles in the air around at least 99 97 theoretically.
The coronavirus covid 19 falls in between 0 06 micron 60 nanometers and 0 14 micron 140 nanometers in diameter.
Hepa filters are very effective certified to capture 99 97 percent of particles that are precisely 0 3 micron in diameter particles that size are perfectly suited to maneuver through the filter.
Hepa stands for high efficiency particulate air hepa filters are physical filters designed to clear out at least 99 7 percent of particulates that are 0 3 microns or larger in size.
When used properly air purifiers can help reduce airborne contaminants including viruses in a home or confined space.
Hepa and merv filters are usually not the same.
Portable uv air purifiers can provide a handy solution.
In a 2016 study by nasa it was tested and proven that hepa filters were most efficient almost 100 at filtering particles at 0 01 micron below the normal 0 3 test standard for hepa filters.
However by itself a portable air cleaner is not enough to protect people from covid 19.
The filter s density can be problematic however.
Air purifiers with hepa filtration efficiently capture particles the size of and far smaller than the virus that causes covid 19 and many readers have asked whether air purifiers can help.
When used along with other best practices.
Merv rated filters are typically used in air conditioning systems including systems found in most homes.