Mold growth is a common concern for both residential and commercial properties. If overlooked, mold can cause structural damage to the property in question and deteriorate the quality of life of its residents. Most people have been using air purifiers at home and office spaces to capture and eliminate mold allergens. However, do air purifiers work with mold? Or are all air purifiers good at capturing mold spores? These are the questions that most people don’t have answers to.

This post features in-depth information about how mold growth and air purifiers, how air purifiers work at controlling air pollutants at your home, and what you need to look for when purchasing an air purifier.

What is mold?

Mold is a ubiquitous fungi type and plays an inevitable part in nature’s process of recycling dead organic materials. Mold spores act as seeds for mold colonies to form. Mold colonies grow when mold spores find the right combination of a food source, temperature, and moisture. Overexposure to mold growth can cause allergic reactions and breathing difficulties in humans and pets.

Air purifiers and mold 

Air purifiers work by capturing micro air particles within the corresponding closed environment and releasing purified air. Such machines are equipped with multiple filters and a fan that sucks in the air through these filters to entrap the pollutants and allergens.

Most air purifiers can capture mold spores but can never eliminate the root cause, i.e., mold growth. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you identify and remove the mold growth as per the IICRC mold standards to eradicate the problem. Mold will offgas and release mycotoxins which can release spores; mold spores can attach to several surfaces, including your clothes, to cause additional headaches. Remediating the active mold before using air purifiers can give you higher chances to prevent mold growth and safeguard your health.

Air purifiers with HEPA filters are highly efficient in capturing mold spores. HEPA is an acronym for High Efficiency Particulate Air, and purifiers equipped with such filters can capture particles of various sizes via the multi-layered fiberglass thread featured filters.

What to look for when buying air purifiers?

Size

People always neglect the specifications of air purifiers before buying them. Most people think that air purifiers are one size fits all type of machines that work efficiently in any setting; this is a misconception. It would be best to consider whether the air purifier can handle the room’s size where it will be placed. Have the specifications of the designated room and communicate this with the corresponding support staff before making the purchase.

ACH and CADR Ratings

ACH Stands for “Air Changes Per Hour,” as the name indicates, ACH rating tells you how many times an air purifier can exchange the air within a room with clean, fresh air per hour. The higher the number, the more efficient is the air purifier.

CADR or Clean Air Delivery Rate relates to the air purifier’s efficiency in cleaning the air within the given setting. CADR rating gives you a standard to compare the efficiency of different air purifier types.

True HEPA: air purifiers with true HEPA are highly efficient in capturing ultra-fine particles. As per the industry standards, True HEPA-loaded purifiers should capture 99.97% of the particulates measuring 0.3 microns.

Air purifiers are good at capturing mold spores, and using one at your home or office setting is a smart move. Consider looking at the above-listed pointers while purchasing an air purifier, in addition to looking at energy efficiency and noise levels. A good combinational strategy to keep the concern of mold at bay forever would be to eradicate underlying mold growth and then start using air purifiers. Even though suitable air purifiers could help to keep the mold growth in check, you need professional assistance to review and remove the existing mold at your property.