Blog Tag: indoor air quality

People that are either building their first home or third home are always concerned with the interior room sizes, placement of rooms, wall treatments and appliances needed to make their home comfortable and livable. Unless they have had heating or cooling issues with an existing home, people rely on their contractor to put in the adequate cooling and heating systems and seldom think about the air filters or air filtration systems installed in a new home.

Most new homes are much tighter ( in regards to air leakage ) and a positive pressure door test is usually done to ensure that when the HVAC system is operational the home is slightly positive. Meaning air is being pushed out rather than being sucked in. Air filters are normally placed in the air returns that are normally located in most rooms, except the bathrooms. These general duty pleated filters are designed to keep most large airborne dust from entering the HVAC system and have very little resistance so they don’t put a strain on the main blower/motor assembly of the air handler. 

Since the air handlers are designed for the general duty air filters, placing a more restrictive, yet more effective air filter media, in the returns will reduce the fan power and pull less air through your HVAC system that could significantly affect the performance of your HVAC system. Therefore, you need to talk to your contractor prior to putting in your HVAC unit if you want to incorporate a more effective air filter system.

Usually the HVAC contractor will caution you about putting the more restrictive filters in your system and suggest a main air filter unit ( either electronic or media filter ) at the inlet to the air handler itself. This can be difficult and often creates installation issues and accessibility to the unit for servicing.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA based, fan powered air filtration systems since 1985 and has developed a method of attaching one of their HEPA Shield units in a partial by-pass installation that allows the filter to pull anywhere from 600 CFM to 2000 CFM of air through the air filter and then putting back into the HVAC unit. By pulling only a portion of the air the HEPA Shield unit can clean all the air in the house from 24 to 48 times a day depending upon the frequency of operation of the HVAC unit. And, you can still place the general duty filters in the air returns. 

For more information on the complete line of HEPA filters please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll-free number at:  800-869-8025.

HEPA filters are the best method of removing sub-micron airborne contaminants including, viruses, bacteria, dust particles and airborne allergens ( mold, pollen, etc.).

One of the challenges of using HEPA filters in a residential application is how the HEPA filter is installed to best gather the greatest amount of airborne particles from all rooms of the home. Most air filters in residential HVAC systems are either placed in the air returns for each room or one largepr filter is placed at the return air inlet of the main HVAC fan unit. 

Since HEPA filters have a much higher resistance to air flow than standard duty air filters, they need to be placed in a cabinet that includes its own blower/motor section to assist the air flow through the HVAC system so there is no disruption to the air flow from the HVAC unit. 

Pure Air Systems developed a HEPA filtration system that incorporated its own blower/motor unit along with a true commercial grade HEPA filter, prefilter and carbon media filter. This metal framed housing unit could be attached to the return air side of the HVAC system in what is called a “partial pass” concept. In essence, the HEPA system would pull anywhere from 600 CFM up to 2000 CFM of the return air ( the later used mostly in commercial systems) and then return it back into the HVAC system on the supply side. In this manner the HEPA system would clean all the air in the house after the 3rd or 4th pass. Or, approximately 30 to 50 times  day, depending on how often the HVAC fan system runs.

The PAS units all utililze the newer variable speed drive, digitially controlled motors that can be programmed to operate in sync with any HVAC system.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon systems please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll-free number at:  800-869-8025.

If you live in a part of the country where the summer months bring high humidity along with the heat, then your indoor living environment needs adequate air conditioning to maintain healthy living. 

High amounts of humidity (moisture) will condense out on cold surfaces and can become a breading ground for mold. If the moisture gets into a crawl space or attic area that is not conditioned, this area can also be a potential place for mold to grow. 

Aside from efficient air conditioning, the home envelope should be under positive pressure. This means that when the HVAC system fan is running, the air pressure inside the home should be slightly higher than the external air pressure. This ensures the home will always be expelling a small amount of air and keeping outside moisture, heat and humidity from entering the home. If the home air balance is not correct, the negative affect of outside air intrusion into the home will far outweigh a good heating/cooling system.

In addition, good filtration should be part of your HVAC system. Whether you use good filters on the return air grills or a good media filter at the fan unit, filters can significantly minimize the levels of airborne dust and the potential for mold build up on interior surfaces.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA based air filtration systems, please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll-free number at:  800-869-8025.

Removing odors and gaseous pollutants from any environment is much difficult than removing airborne particulate. There are a number of air filter types that can easily remove airborne dust, but the removal of airborne odors and gases requires some very specific materials that can effectively adsorb these organic or inorganic molecules.

The most common material used to remove odors is activated carbon ( charcoal) which comes in a number of sizes. The most common is cocoanut shell carbon that is usually around 1/4″ in size and is often enclosed in a mesh type material or sometimes in a fine opening screen container. Carbon can be used in both air and water for the extraction of gaseous pollutants, making it one of the more popular materials on the market.

When cocoanut shells are placed in a high temperature oven under pressure it expands the surface area of the material and then makes it into a carbon material. The expansion to the shell gives the material a very high surface area and the ability to adsorb up to 100 times its own weight in gaseous pollutants. This means that a small amount of carbon material can remove a large amount of the odors and last a long period of time. 

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing HEPA and Carbon based, fan powered, commercial grade air filter systems since 1985. The various systems available from PAS include carbon media as a standard part of the filtration unit along with a prefilter an HEPA filter. In cases where a customer only has an odor or gaseous pollutant issue, Pure Air Systems can remove the HEPA filter and replace it with an all carbon bed of material. Depending upon the odor challenge, the systems can hold from as little as 8 lbs of carbon up to 60 lbs of carbon material. And the air flow capacity of the systems range from 50 CFM to 2000 CFM.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon air filter systems please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com or call us on our toll-free number at:  8-869-8025.

3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing as it is called in the commercial market, has moved into almost every facet of manufacturing from small replacement parts and dental fittings up to Aerospace and Military applications. There are very large 3D printers making boats as well as printing houses and large structures and small bridges.

3D printing has a number of advantages including the ability to try the “what if” and prototyping of new design concepts. In addition, the materials available for the metal printers has moved this process in the main stream of manufacturing. 3D Printers take up much less space than traditional CNC machines and other fabrication systems and require fewer people to complete the manufacturing process.

One of the main advantages of using 3D manufacturing is the ability to get younger people to become more involved with manufacturing. The younger generation is very familiar with and is good at using CAD type software for design and 3D printing of parts. In truth, the ability to make things using 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing is not considered manufacturing to the younger generation. This is important as they are not interested in moving into the old type of making things. 

Pure Air Systems, an air filtration company started in 1985, has bee using some 3D printing processes for prototyping new parts for their metal housed HEPA based air filtration systems. This helps them more quickly determine the correct part design and more quickly complete the final design and get into production with minimal cost.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon filters please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll free number at: 800-869-8025.

Starting a business today is easier than it has ever been. Running it and keeping it a float is another. Longevity in businesses today is no longer the norm. Companies are born, merge, change direction and die faster than ever before, so having a company stay in business and keeping it on a positive revenue stream for 30 plus years is no easy feat. 

Pure Air Systems was started in 1985 by Don Musilli, and was sold in 2006. The concept of manufacturing a high end, fan powered, commercial grade, HEPA air filtration system that could be used in almost any configuration was very foreign in 1985 but the concept, the quality and performance of the systems allowed us to continually increase our market share.

Over time, Pure Air Systems added more products to its catalog and eventually ended up with 7 different systems allowing for complete penetration into the commercial and residential markets requiring high end HEPA based air filtration systems. The addition of the ECM, variable speed motors in 1999 provided an entry into the over seas market allowing us to offer 120/240 volt 50/60 Hz motors for all of our systems.

Pure Air Systems learned that feedback from its customers was important and responding to the feedback in the way of modifications to the systems was essential in growing its business. Keeping the same quality even though prices increased was necessary as people are quick to switch companies when something doesn’t work like it should. Losing customers is easy….keeping customers is hard.

Pure Air Systems is now 37 years old. That puts it in rare company these days especially for a manufacturing operation. The adage of “adapt or die” is very true today and “modifying, changing and altering” your operation to meet the changing needs of the market is critical in keeping your company moving forward and growing.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based filtration systems please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll-free number at:  800-869-8025.

Pure Air Systems was founded in 1985 and at that time the electric motors used in their HEPA based air filtration systems were typical wound motors. These motors were only capable of running either at one speed, or 3 speeds if adjusted to the speed controller. They were also either 120 volt, 60 Hz or 240 volt, 50Hz. 

In 1998, PAS along with General Electric, started to play with the new ECM, variable speed drive motors that were magnet driven and not the typical induction motors used in the past. These new motors could run forwards, backwards and could controlled to run at 1% of power up to 100% of power in 1 percent increments. And, they were rated from 1/3rd HP up to 1 HP using the same base unit but by changing the drive add-on could be changed from 1/3rd HP or 1/2 HP to 3/4 or 1 HP simply by changing the controller section. 

In addition, by using digital controllers, the customers had the ability to change the speed of the motors and the level of filtration from any location in the room or proximate to the filter systems. These units could also be programmed to operate on a pressure differential basis so as to speed up the fan motor when the HEPA filters started to load up and create more static load. This allowed for continuous speeds throughout the life cycle of the HEPA filter.

The newer versions of these motors now allow for complete programing functions either from the factory or by the end user with some minor education by the factory. These newer motors, like the original variable speed drive motors, are now 120/240 50/60Hz so they can easily be adapted to working anywhere in the world. These new motors are used on the complete line of HEPA based air filtration systems offered by PAS. Models, 600HS, 1200HS, 2000HS, and the HPS Portable HEPA filter systems. 

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems please go to our website at  http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll-free number at 800-869-8025.

In a time when social media dominates the world of news, content and data, it is more important than ever to use other sources of information as well. Often, individuals will look to a certain media type, group or organization to obtain information on a product, process, person or location. For the most part, this information source is typically skewed toward feeding incorrect information or biased information for self-serving issues.

It is amazing how few people actually go directly to the companies website or information pages to gather data. While companies do tend to hype their own products or processes, for the most part the information is usually very accurate. 

Pure Air Systems manufactures a complete line of fan-powered, commercial grade, HEPA based air filtration systems for both the commercial and residential markets. PAS is now 37 years old and is one of only three companies in the world that makes this type of high end filtration system. And, almost all of the components are made right here in the US. 

In order to provide factual information about their systems, PAS inserted a large number of pages dedicated to providing information on the operational capabilities and effectiveness of all types of air filtration and purification systems currently available on the market. This is called. Pure Air University, and it is a really good primer on explaining in plain English, how mechanical and non-mechanical air filtration and gaseous pollutants are effectively removed or reduced.

It is interesting how many people will rely on alternate sources of information that are completely counter to the factual data provided by the information on Pure Air University. This is one of many reasons why companies struggle against the social media tide that washes over their factual data.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems, please go to our website at:   http://www.pureairsystems.com or call us on our toll-free number at:  800-869-8025. 

While this subject has been addressed once before, it is important that people understand the stark differences between the two types of air purification/filtration systems. 

First, UV ( A,B or C ) is purely a type of wave length of light that has certain affects on a variety of materials, both organic and inorganic. The UV rays from the sun, for example, have a significant affect on carbon, plastics, and the human body. While the UV rays can destroy some airborne contaminants, the amount of time ( in minutes ) the contaminants are exposed to the UV rays determines the efficacy of the process. In essence, UV only works if the UV rays are in contact with the air stream for an extended period of time. 

HEPA filters are a mechanical device that captures airborne particulate ( down to under 0.3 microns and smaller) at an efficiency of 99.99% and greater. This is important as even organic particulates that are destroyed can create issues once inhaled into the lungs. 

One reason UV is often used in-lieu of HEPA filters is the overall cost of UV versus HEPA filters. Also, the use of HEPA filters requires an auxiliary fan source as HEPA filters have a very high resistance to air flow and in order to pull enough air through the filter media requires a motor/blower assembly in addition to the blower assembly that comes with all HVAC systems.

Pure Air Systems offers a complete line of fan powered air filtration systems to meet the needs and demands of any residential or commercial application requiring the reduction and/or removal of airborne contaminants and also odors and gaseous pollutants.

For more information please go to our website at:  http://www.pureairsystems.com  or call us on our toll-free number at 800-869-8025.

For many years carbon media or expanded carbon, has been used for the reduction and removal of organic and inorganic gaseous pollutants. Expanded carbon or charcoal is produced using heat under high pressure that creates a surface area that has thousands of tiny openings that are capable of adsorbing gaseous molecules much higher in weight than the carbon itself. 

While carbon granules are often used in liquid filtration, the most common use is in air filtration whether in a stand alone filter or fan powered air filtration system. Carbon media filters have a fair amount of resistance and are therefore more often used in conjunction with a fan powered unit. 

Even though the expanded carbon has a high adsorption rate to weight of the carbon media, it will, over time, load up and stop adsorbing the odors or gases. Replacement cycles can be as long as once every 6 months to once every 6 weeks depending upon the severity of the gaseous pollutant.

For more information on carbon media filters and the complete line of air filtration systems, please go to our website at http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll free number at  800 869 8025.