If you watch television late at night, you are probably familiar with a filterless air purifier called the Ionic Breeze. These systems have benefits and drawbacks. Lately, there has been some controversy over their safety. Some consider them to be unsafe, while others swear by the results.

How a Filterless Air Purifiers Work

A filterless purifier works by giving the incoming air an electrostatic charge. This charge also charges particles in the air. The air is then moved past an oppositely charged collection grid. The impurities in the air are attracted to the grid, like a magnet. The grid must be removed periodically and cleaned of the impurities. This is easily done with a damp cloth. Once the grid is completely dry, replace it and turn the machine back on. These systems can be installed on a forced air heating system to treat the whole house, or can be purchased in portable units.

Dry indoor air causes a wide variety of physical symptoms including a stuffy nose, dry cough, nosebleeds, dry skin and brittle hair. A warm mist humidifier will relieve these symptoms and help you sleep better. Dry air is common when the heat is turned on in the winter. If you live in a dry climate, you may need to humidify your home all year long. Excessive dryness causes wood furniture and flooring to crack and warp. Houseplants can dry out and the seams of your wallpaper could peel.

If your home is very dry and you need to add moisture to the air all year long, you may want to consider a whole house humidification system. These are installed on a forced air heating system and should be installed by a professional.

Just as with anything else, filterless air purifiers offer a variety of pros and cons to those who use them. Depending upon the size, brand and overall effectiveness of the unit, what might – on one hand – be seen as nothing more than a nuisance that doesn’t offer enough in the way of relief from allergens for the amount that you paid for it, might also be the answer to someone’s dreams, if the benefits are great enough.

For instance, if you’re hoping to recycle the air throughout a large house, but have purchased a purifier that’s only equipped to handle a single room, then you’re going to be disappointed with its apparent performance. It’s important to consider all of the facts before making the commitment to buy a particular type of air purification system. Otherwise, you might just as well chase the wind – the success rate for each will be about the same.

Humidifiers get a lot of use in baby nurseries. When baby is having a breathing problem due to illness, improving and moisturizing the air will help him/her breathe easier. But, humidifiers are not just for baby.

Very simply, a humidifier puts moisture into the air. This moist air makes it easier for anyone who suffers with allergies, asthma, sinus headaches or swollen nasal passages to breathe. Humidifiers also help prevent dry skin and hair and static electricity in the winter time when the heat is on in the home. Humidifiers can also be beneficial for the home by preventing over drying of wood, peeling of wallpaper, and preventing cracks in drywall and plaster.

(NC)-Natural gas prices have steadily increased over the past several months. With the coldest winter days still ahead, many homeowners are paying close attention to their monthly heating costs and weighing their options. Getting the best natural gas price and contract terms can be a challenging task.

"Not understanding your options can result in a shocking surprise when your home heating bill arrives," says Brian Wikant, Chief Operating Officer of Canadian RiteRate Energy Corporation. "Knowing more about natural gas contracts can save people money and a lot of heartache."

Here are some important things to consider before venturing into the world of natural gas contracts:

By JIM ROONEY, For The Capital
Q. I value your opinion very much and need it for the debate that is presently going on with my parents. It is about how necessary it is to have a humidifier on the gas furnace in our house. They say it is not but I say it is as necessary as the furnace itself. We used to have one back in the 1970s and '80s. The house felt so much better in winter. That humidifier is still attached but not working because it just stopped working and needed too much maintenance. We now have problems with our sinuses and dry eyes. It never seems to feel warm enough even though the thermostat is set at 75 degrees. Are there humidifiers that don't need as much maintenance and do we actually need one? Are they expensive to run and which one is best?

Marlon D. Ludovice
One of the main causes of sinus infection is cause and triggered by a polluted air that we breathe. Almost every corner of the space we move in is affected and was contaminated by air pollutants that in serious cases can contain harsh elements that can give a greater possibility of causing sinus infection. Even offices, motels, restaurants and shops including apartments, warehouses, laboratories, dark rooms and production areas is not anymore a pollutant free. But now devices are invented to help you control some of those elements that pollute the air. Especially made to prevent sinus infection problems, the following are beneficial devices.

Lesley Dietschy
Have you ever thought of your home as being healthy or unhealthy? While the concept of a healthy home may be new to some of us, it is steadily gaining popularity with homeowners. A healthy home can include a number of elements from building materials used to construct your home to using non-toxic cleaning products. Below is a list of five ways to assist you in creating a healthy home environment.

1. Clean Air and Circulation:

Here are some little known facts from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) about the air inside many of today's homes:

• Indoor air pollutant levels may be two to five times higher than the pollutant levels outdoors.
  

Ed Bishop
Air purifier filters are not always the answer to air quality problems.

Solving the problem is a much better approach than masking the symptom.

The following are the basic approaches to improve indoor air quality:

1. Eliminate or control the pollutant source.
2. Dilution of the contaminants through ventilation.
3. Removal or reduction of the contaminants through filtration or purification with the use of air purifier filters or air purifiers.

Proper ventilation in a building is a must!

Before the energy crunch in the 1970's, fresh air in buildings was not really an issue.

Considering the amount of irritants that are present in the air today, those who suffer from allergies and other breathing disorders are challenged to find effective ways to clean the air that they breathe within their home environment.

Not so many years ago, this simply meant making sure that the house was dusted regularly and that pets were bathed and brushed outdoors as often as possible, in order to cut down on the most common allergy inducing factors. Today, there's far more at stake, when we consider the types of contaminants that are present in our environment as a result of pollution. Bigger challenges, then, require better tools for providing a solution enter, the air purifier.