Portable Vs Whole Home Air Cleaners Looking for a relief from allergies and asthma? Many people have turned to searching for air cleaners (also known as air purifiers), one of the three air improvement strategies discussed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, as soon as you start your search, it’s painfully obvious how many choices there are when it comes to air cleaners. Here’s our buyer’s guide that compares the important factors of the two major types of air cleaners: Portable, which you can place in any room of your home. Whole-home, which are installed into your HVAC system’s return ductwork. Cleaning coverage While some portable air cleaners can be sized for larger rooms, they can still only clean one room at a time (typically the bedroom or living room) The cleaning coverage of whole-home is unmatched because it cleans all of the air that goes through your supply duct and recirculates it back into your home. Winner: Whole-home Price Portable air cleaners usually cost less than whole-home air cleaners.

However, if your allergies are really bad or you have multiple allergy sufferers in your home, you might want multiple air cleaners in various rooms of your home. But buying multiple high quality portable cleaners, wouldn’t be as cost efficient as a whole-home air cleaner. Winner: Depends on your needs. While more people can afford portable air cleaners, severe allergy or asthma sufferers save money by installing one whole-home instead of multiple portable air cleaners. Installation difficulty There’s not much “installation” involved with portable air cleaners. You plug it in, and you’re good to go. However, a whole-home air cleaner needs a professional to install it into your duct system in order for it to work correctly,  adding to the upfront cost. Winner: Portable Maintenance Most whole-home and portable air cleaners have filters to replace. Generally, whole-home air filters require more work to replace the filters, but you have to replace them less often. The inverse is true for portable air cleaners which are easier to replace, but you need to change them more often.

Of course, this varies from brand to brand, so it’s hard to say which one is absolutely better. Winner: Draw Noise level According to the EPA, tests by Consumer Union found that “the largest portable air cleaners were the noisiest on their most effective high speed settings.” Whole-home air cleaners are quieter because they’re in your air ducts and don’t have a noisy fan unit. electronic air cleaner clicking/snappingWinner: Whole-home Space taken up in your home Space is more of an issue than you think, especially with some of the larger stand-up air cleaners.  yamaha air cleaner coversIf you have multiple portable units, you’ll have more to vacuum around and they could hurt the aesthetics of your home. reliable air duct cleaning

Whole-home units are conveniently located in your air ducts, so they’re out of sight and out of mind. Winner: Whole-home Need more information? After you determine if you want a portable or whole home air cleaner, you need to find the filtration type that fights the allergens that trigger your allergies. Learn more about air cleaner filtration types by reading this guide from the EPA: Residential Air Cleaners (Second Edition): A Summary of Available Information. Or you can contact the owner and ask any questions you have about air cleaners. Return to the Blog Home Page This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2015 at 12:00 am and is filed under Air Quality.The elements can cause havoc on any item over an extended period of time – especially salt water and sunlight. Your boards are, of course, made to be enjoyed in the outdoors. But when not in use, some rules should be followed for proper storage. Your epoxy board is constructed of a beaded foam core enclosed in an epoxy fiberglass skin.

These foam cores hold gas and air, and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight outside of the water can raise the core temperatures to super high levels. This can cause rapid expansion of the gas and air, putting excess pressure on the fiberglass epoxy skin and forcing it to peel away from the foam core. This is known as delamination. With extreme changes in temperature and elevation, pressure can build within the foam core. Vent plugs allow air to escape freely from the core via a water tight GORE-TEX seal in the vent plug.  Air may pass out, but no water gets inside. This keeps your board safe from delamination and water damage. Your boards are constructed from a foam core enclosed in a fiberglass epoxy shell. Extreme force on the outside shell may cause pressure dents, cracks, and dings to occur. Pressure dents are small, concave indentations to the outer skin. They can occur from knees, elbows, or any items exerting lots of pressure over a small area. Other than a small dimple, they cause no harm to your board.

Cracks and Dings are typically caused by extreme blunt force, and can open up the foam core of your board to the elements. We recommend that these be immediately repaired and sealed watertight. Failure to do so weakens the overall structure of the board, and opens the core to the elements. Water Damage will slowly add weight to your board as water seeps into unrepaired cracks and dings. This can cause discoloration, especially when sun exposure is combined. Over time, your board will slowly gain weight as the sand and water penetrates deeper into the core. All dings should be repaired and sealed before re-entering the water with your board. There are many epoxy ding repair kids sold online and in hardware stores, but we recommend that you take your board to be repaired by a fiberglass and epoxy specialist. In the event you do it yourself, you must use a Fiberglass – Epoxy Ding Repair Kit. Your inflatable board is constructed from military grade PVC and can withstand most abuse.

However, contact with very sharp object such as rocks, glass, or edges can puncture the outer skin. A repair kit with patches and glue is included with your inflatable board, and can be used to patch the hole. If the hole is larger than the patch, you may need to seek professional repair from a boating facility. Your inflatable also has a valve, and it must be kept clear of debris. If your valve begins to malfunction, a tool is included with your board to remove and unscrew the valve. We can offer a replacement valve to you to correct the problem. There are many types of racking systems for transporting your board by vehicle. We recommend using the Isle Surf and SUP soft racks and straps for all transport. However, if you choose to use another brand or rack system please read all instructions to make sure it is appropriate for paddle board transport. In order to avoid board damage during transportation, please follow these tips. All boards come with a set of standard removable fins and/or center fin box.