If your student has chosen to live on campus in a dorm room, healthy air quality in their room depends on taking proactive steps to make it the best it can possibly be. Dorm rooms can often be old, dusty, and have antiquated heating and air systems, all of which can keep airborne particles ready to be inhaled or ingested. This is definitely not good for anyone, particularly those who suffer from allergies, asthma or other chronic respiratory conditions.
Dormitories that are new or newly renovated are often full of paint smells, fumes from adhesives used when installing new tile or linoleum. And even though every attempt is made to control dust from new construction or renovation, it sometimes takes months for the dust to literally settle.
Those can be perfectly miserable months if your student has any sensitivity to these pollutants. And a roommate that uses products that are fragrance-rich or insists on burning incense can add in an unpleasant way to the mix of irritants in the air.
Bottom line is that in a dorm room you have very little control over air quality unless you filter the air. A portable dorm room air purifier is your first and best defense, and it needs to have the following 6 features if it is to be effective.
1. Light Weight-It should be light enough to carry easily from one side of the room to the other or across campus in case of a room change. Wheels should be an option to further facilitate portability.
2. On Duty 24 Hours-A purifier with a split capacitor motor insures that it can operate safely 24 hours a day and keep up with both the expected and unexpected pollutants in the air. This continual coverage assures that your student will always walk into a room that is comfortable to be in because airborne pollutants have not been allowed to build up while they were away.
3. Low Maintenance-To expect your college student to perform regular maintenance on an air cleaner is probably not realistic. An effective unit should be able to take care of your student and itself without constant management. Avoid those cleaners that require washing, charging, spraying, or frequent filter replacement. They drive up the cost, and even if your student is willing to do the maintenance, it will add considerably to the amount of time when the filter is not filtering the air.
4. Long Lasting Filter-Opt for a unit that has a filter life of 5 years. This will take most students through their college career and beyond. This means if you buy right, you'll only need to buy once, and that in itself saves time and money.
5. Flexible Placement-Dorm rooms are not the most spacious places in the world, so choosing a cleaner that only needs 6 inches clearance from any surface is a good idea. It should also be able to operate high or low in the room to be the most accommodating.
6. HEPA Filtration-With the Swine Flu, and other viruses so easily able to spread through the air, it makes good sense to select a purifier with a high efficiency particle arresting (shortened to HEPA) filter that can eliminate airborne bacteria and viruses as small as.3 microns.
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