Tips for Allergy Prevention With An Air Purifier

Take Preventative Action

Get started right away, even if there is snow on the ground. Make an appointment with your doctor or allergist. Evaluate the efficacy of the medicines you took last allergy season and with your doctor, plan a strategy for this season. Get your written Allergy Plan together. Many insurance companies (such as Anthem) provide calendars with month-to-month tips on addressing these problems. Get your insurance provider and your doctor to send you everything they have. A phone call is easy to make. It’s especially important that you understand your doctor’s strategy for long-term control and for quick relief.

Be Aware of Pollen Seasons In Your Area

If you are planning spring or summer vacations, get on the internet and check out the weather and pollen conditions for the places you intend to visit at www.weather.com. Integrate these into your Action Plan. Don’t let an attack ruin your vacation, simply because you forgot to plan for it and to take the appropriate medications with you.

Remove the Sources of Allergens in Your Home

Be ready by the first day of spring. Get into gear and get your home into shape as an oasis for breathing. There is a reason why people “spring clean.” Homes are closed up during the winter months and homes fill with dirt and dust mites in all those warm, wooly clothes and bedding. Pet dander, allergens, smoke, soot, ash from fireplaces and woodstoves, mold, chemicals from cleaning products used, and microorganism particulates build up. Get your home, furnishings, bedding, carpets, upholstery, and clothes cleaned up. Do the same with your office if at all possible.

Keep Your Indoor Air Clean with an Air Purifier

Once you’ve cleaned up your act, keep it clean with room air purifiers in key areas of your house. The bedroom is undoubtedly a key area. Many allergy sufferers experience attacks in the middle of the night, because the human respiratory system relaxes during sleep. Things you can handle during the day, will be more traumatic at night. You’ll want to keep a good room air purifier running in your bedroom 24 hours a day with the door closed if at all possible. You want to sleep in the cleanest room possible. It will help you survive the daytime.

Evaluate Which Spaces You Spend the Most Time In

Decide where else in the house you or your family spend the majority of your time and select a room air purifier large enough to adequately cover that space. If you do lots of cooking or grilling on an indoor grill, you may want an air purifier for your kitchen that can absorb chemicals.

How To Choose an Air Purifier for Allergies

Go With A HEPA Air Purifier

With the plethora of allergy air purifiers on the market, which one do you choose? It helps to know specifically what you’re allergic to. However, if you’re not sure, but just know that you can’t breathe easily during certain parts of the year, the vast majority of allergy doctors recommend HEPA allergy air purifiers. HEPA filters were developed by NASA years ago for use in the space shuttle. HEPA means High Energy Particulate Arresting. That means it sucks up the pollen and stuff flying around in the air. Many companies sell HEPA air purifiers, some much better in quality than others. The best have 5-10 year warranties on the machines themselves. HEPA filters have to be changed. When you throw one out you’ll be amazed at how despicable they are and you’ll be very glad you didn’t breathe all that stuff.

What to Look for in a HEPA Air Purifier:

• True HEPA Certification – Ensure the purifier meets the industry standard for removing at least 99.97% of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns.
• High Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) – A higher CADR means the purifier can process more air per minute.
• Multiple Fan Speeds – Adjustable settings help balance filtration efficiency and noise levels.
• Activated Carbon Filter – Helps remove odors, smoke, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
• Room Size Compatibility – Choose a model rated for the square footage of your space.
• Low Noise Operation – Essential for bedrooms and workspaces.
• Energy Efficiency – Look for ENERGY STAR® certified models to save on electricity costs.
• Easy Filter Replacement – Ensure the filters are accessible and not too expensive to replace regularly.
• Smart Features – Some models include air quality sensors, automatic mode, and app connectivity for better control.

Electrostatic Air Purifiers & Ozone Generators Can Be Unhelpful or Dangerous

Other types of allergy air purifiers use ionization or electrostatic technology to absorb the particulate. These can be very helpful, but HEPA is still the best way to go to get the vast majority of pollutants and toxins out of your air. Stay away from air purifiers based on ozone generation technology. Consumer Reports says “ozone generators should not be where people are.” Grammatically incorrect, but still a good warning. It means they are fine for industry, but not for people.

Activated Carbon Helps With Chemicals, But Not Pollen/Dust

It is also enormously helpful if air purifiers you choose have enough activated carbon or other media to absorb gases and odors. Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), paint fumes, formaldehyde outgassing, ozone, and other such unpleasantries can be absorbed in addition to the particulates such as pollen.

Getting the Most Out of Your Air Purifier

Change Your Filters at the Start of Each Season

Purchase enough good quality air purifiers to clean your home and mark your calendar so that you change the filters when they need to be changed. Some air purifiers indicate when a filter needs to be changed and some don’t. If you suffer from serious seasonal allergies, you will get improved benefits from changing your filter at the start of each allergy season in the Spring and Fall. Some air purifier brands like Alen, include a built-in air quality monitor on some of their units, and these tell you specifically when to change your filter based on how dirty your air is.

Don’t Linger Outdoors in Early Hours

Just because you have allergies doesn’t mean you can never enjoy the beautiful outdoors. However, remaining indoors between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. will help minimize your exposure to pollen. The early morning hours are times when pollen is most frequently emitted. Stay inside on very windy days, as pollen from other areas can be blown into your vicinity and enter your home when you come in and out. Wash your hair and clothing when you’ve spent a lot of time outdoors, and wear a mask to mow the lawn. Or better yet, pay some teenager who is desperate for spending money to do it.

In summary, if you start today and don’t procrastinate you can face allergy season without cowering, pick solid allergy air purifiers, be careful as we suggested above and you will minimize your symptoms.

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