Pets and air purifiers go together for several reasons. Are you concerned about the effect of pets on the air in your home? Or, are you concerned about the effects of the air in your home on your pets? No matter what the case is, an air purifier makes sense. Pets are hard on air purifiers. Dirty Air is hard on pets. Let’s look at the problem from both sides
What do you need from a pet air cleaning product? Pets bring a few challenges to inside air. They shed hair, fur and feathers. Pets emit dander. Dander is tiny flecks of skin from cats, dogs, rodents birds and other animals. They track in dust, dirt and parasites from outside. Sometimes pets stink! Pets create a lot of indoor air pollution. You need an air purifier that will remove all these nuisances from the air. 68% of American homes have pets. They spend most of their day in the house so a good air purifier is very important for your cat, dog, bird or whatever fury creatures you may own.
The MAX-700 is the most powerful Pet Air Purifier Made in the USA. It removes pet hair, dander and odors from the air. It is effective for a 1400 square foot area. It has a cost about $100.00 a year in filters and electric
The Maxum HEPA removes more pet dander and hair from the air in a single cycle. The True HEPA filter provides fresh air to an 1000 square foot home. It costs about $ 250.00 A year for filters and electric.
The MAX-Guard Electrostatic is the largest volume home air purifier made in the USA. It offers 1500 CFM of clean air to keep pet hair and dander under control. It also has a 2000 gram carbon filter to remove pet odors from th
You need a minimum of MERV 11 filtration. MERV 11 will remove 85% – 95% of all the pet airborne particles. This is a sufficient amount of filtration for the average home. A MERV 11 media filter does not remove odor. So, on top of a media filter you need to add activated carbon filtration. Electrostatic Cells and HEPA filters exceed this minimum. They may be a good fit for your home. There are many variables. Let’s examine some of them.
Cats, dogs, and birds are particularly sensitive to 2nd hand smoke. Cats in a smokers home are 4 times as likely to develop lymphoma, heart arrhythmia, and lung paralysis. Every cat owner knows they are meticulous groomers. Your cat is cleaning more than dirt off her fur. Your cat can’t stop these toxins that fall from smoky air. She can’t help but “eat” them when she grooms. Dogs are more likely to have nose and eye issues if they live in a smoky house. Birds have smaller bodies and are even more likely to suffer from second-hand smoke. A home smoke eater can protect your pets from second hand smoke.
Not only do pets suffer from second hand smoke, but they can suffer from asthma of their own. Much like as in humans the more that pets are exposed to allergens the more likely they are to develop pet asthma. What the heck is “pet asthma”? It is constant inflammation of your pets breathing passageways. Your pet can start to produce more mucus. A pet asthma attack can have the effect of near suffocation and sometimes even leads to a pet death.
The more pets you have, the more air filtration you will need. The more your pets smell and the more they shed will also play into how much air filtration you will need. If you have 1 pet 4 ACH (air changes per hour) is probably enough. 2-3 pets will require about 6 ACH. Figure another ACH for each additional pet. Depending on the size of your pet area you may well need a 2nd air purifier to keep up with the extra load. This handy tool will help you calculate the amount of air purification you will need.
Media filter air cleaning has the lowest initial costs. It is also the least efficient. These filters are disposable. They need to be replaced when they become dirty. Media filters in a home with pets will need to be changed 4-8 times a year. The average cost of the replacement filter is is $16-$50 depending on manufacturer and model. Media filtration will change the air in a room on an average of 4 times an hour.
HEPA purifiers have a higher cost than Media. They are 99.97% efficient. That is by far the most efficient. HEPA filters are disposable and need to be replaced when dirty. HEPA filters are on average 4 times more expensive than media filters. Other brands of HEPA filtration will provide 2 to 3 air changes per hour. The LakeAir Maxum HEPA will provide 4-6 air changes per hour in a room of up to 700 square feet. The MAX-Guard HEPA can increase your air purification volume to an area of 1400 square feet.
LakeAir Home Air Purifiers use a truly commercial HEPA filter. Clients are amazed by how long the filters last and how much bigger they are than filters from products bought on amazon or in big box stores. We use the same filters in our pet air purifiers for the home that we use in products we ship to businesses around the country. Below is a comparison of our HEPA filter and one of our competitors. Notice that the LakeAir filter has 4 times as much filter media. One product (the competitors) is residential in nature the other (LakeAir) commercial.
| LakeAir HEPA Filter | Rabbit Air HEPA Filter |
|---|---|
| 16 Inches Tall | 16 Inches Tall |
| 12 Inches Wide | 14 Inches Wide |
| 4.5 Inches Deep | 1 Inch Deep |
| 864 Cubic Inches of Filtration | 210 Cubic Inches of Filtration |
| Filter Last Month Longer | |
A good electrostatic air purifier will cost as much as a HEPA unit or maybe more. The electronic filters are 97% efficient. Electrostatic cells are washable and never need to be replaced. You have to budget a value on the time you spend washing your filter. They end up being the best value when you compare efficiency and cost of upkeep. The electrostatic filtration will provide 6 or more air changes per hour.
It is very important that you remember to clean your electrostatic filter cell often. Our suggested clean frequency for a home with pets is every 8 weeks at a minimum. Pet hair and dander can quickly lower the efficiency of your filter cell by as much as 4% per week! To keep the air in your home clean, wash your filter cell often. The easiest way to clean the filter cell is in your dishwasher. Be sure to wash your filter cell separately from your normal dishes.
Pets add love, affection, companionship and a lot of odors to a home. No matter what type of pet you have they are going to smell. The only way to remove the odor efficiently will be with a activated carbon filter. The larger the carbon filter the better. With sufficient air flow a carbon filter will absorb the odors our beloved pets leave behind. No matter what air purifier you purchase be sure it has a substantial activated carbon filter. All LakeAir brand air purifiers are equipped with carbon filters. We strongly suggest the Maxum M-super carbon filter.
If your are looking for more information about home air purifiers in general we suggest you visit the “Home Air Purifier” web page. If you need help right away we invite you to call customer service (800) 558-9436. You can also reach customer service via email customerservice@lakeair.com