Frequently Asked Questions Central Air Purifiers

1. I keep my home very clean. Why would I purchase a CAP system?
2. Won't the filter in my furnace capture these pollutants?
3. What about those allergy filters advertised on the radio or in the home improvement stores?
4. What are the primary benefits of CAP systems?
5. Won't portable in-room air cleaners provide the same air purification benefits as Abatement's Central Air Purifiers?
6. Why do you recommend setting thermostats to the "On" position rather than the "Auto" when CAP systems are installed?
7. What are the benefits of your CAP 100 series models over competitive in-line systems?
8. What are aerosols and bioaerosols?
9. Why do experts give so much attention to removing bioaerosols from indoor air?
10. What is the difference between a mold and a fungus? What is a spore?
11. What is the big deal about secondhand tobacco smoke?
12. What are volatile organic compounds?
13. What is the difference between a "HEPA type" filter and a HEPA filter?
14. Is a HEPA filter less efficient at smaller particle sizes than 0.3 microns?
15. How does the performance of electronic air cleaners compare to HEPA filtration?
16. Are the potential benefits of HEPA filtration and cleaner air recognized by the scientific and health care communities?
17. I know that UV rays from the sun can be harmful. What safety measures have been taken to protect service technicians and homeowners from exposure to UV light?
18. Why does Abatement offer both UV and UV Plus models, and which do you recommend?
19. How long do UV and UV Plus lamps in your CAP products last?
20. Why do you recommend installation of the CAP300 products in the HVAC return?
21. How does partial-bypass filtration work and why are CAP600 models installed in this configuration?
22. Some products advertise that they use lamps that generate "pure oxygen", "anatomic oxygen", or "enriched oxygen" instead of ozone. What are these substances?
23. But isn't ozone potentially dangerous?

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    1.    I keep my home very clean. Why would I purchase a CAP system?  When it comes to airborne pollutants and allergens, what you can't see can hurt you. We typically  can not see particles smaller than about 10 microns in size. (A micron is 1/25,400 of an inch). Studies have shown that more than 99% of airborne particles are smaller than1 micron in size. Particles this small will pass right through a vacuum filter bag. In fact, vacuuming can make the problem worse by stirring up particles that have settled. Once airborne, particles smaller than 5 to 10 microns are generally classified as respirable, because they can pass right through the body's defense mechanisms and into the lungs.

    2.    Won't the filter in my furnace capture these pollutants? Typical furnace filters are only about 5% to 10% efficient, and even less efficient against respirable size particles. According to Dr. Charlene Bayer, director of the Georgia Institute of Technology's Indoor Environmental Research Program, these filters are merely "boulder catchers" and "they only catch the big stuff - they don't catch the fine dust particles and they don't catch the microbes. So they really don't do anything to help human health.

    3.    What about those allergy filters advertised on the radio or in the home improvement stores?  Don't be misled by the impressive-sounding 90%-95% ratings claimed for these filters. Like other lower efficiency filters, the performance of passive electrostatic filters is based on particulate "arrestance", not efficiency. A 95% arrestance filter is only about 20% efficient under the ASHRAE dust spot efficiency test, and less than 1% efficient under the method used for testing HEPA filter efficiency. In addition, the efficiency of electrostatic filters drops off significantly as they become dirty, whereas the particulate filters used in CAP products actually become more efficient the dirtier they become.

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