When left to persist in the air, mold can cause serious bodily harm. Therefore, it stands to reason that you’d want to set up a purifier or filter to get rid of those spores. With that in mind, you’re probably wondering ‘does an air scrubber kill mold?’
Yes, air scrubbers do remove mold. In fact, they are commonly used for that very reason in older homes suffering with excess humidity and mold spore problems. However, in order for the air scrubber to successfully remove mold, it will first of all need a clean HEPA filter.
In this guide, we’ll take you through everything you need to know about using an air scrubber to get your home fresh and breathable again.
Why is removing mold from the air so important?
Airborne mold can cause serious health issues that will be demonstrated in an array of symptoms. You can feel anything from sinus congestion, difficulty breathing, coughing, eye irritation to throat irritation, skin irritation (often in the form of lesions and rashes), headaches, and more. These symptoms can be proof of a more serious issue such as infections or even illness, too.
Although serious infections from airborne mold are relatively rare, they can affect children, the elderly, or those with weaker immune systems more significantly than most. However, mild illness from airborne mold is generally common if you work in a space without a filter of air scrubber in place.
This is where we come back to your HEPA filter! The HEPA filter is what will make the difference between the air scrubber trapping gasses and trapping mold. Therefore, it’s important to make sure your filter’s clean – at least below the 50% clogging threshold – to work as expected.
How do air scrubbers remove mold from the air?
Air scrubbers and air purifiers do not work in the same way – contrary to popular belief. Although both of them do, in fact, use purification filters to capture contaminants from the air, then filter through clean air, they do not necessarily capture the same things.
For example, an air purifier would not be able to capture mold or gases – whereas an air scrubber does.
The air scrubber sucks in the contaminated air multiple times an hour, filtering all of the mold, gas, lead, dust, asbestos, and other pollutants. That’s where the HEPA filter comes in to make sure that all of this nastiness is sucked in and eliminated.
Air scrubbers also use high RPM motors to pull in air and control the filtration, as well as blowers to distribute the clean air back out. Some scrubbers actively kill microbes and bacteria on sight with UV, too! It’s one of many reasons why an air scrubber is worth the money.
How do I make sure my air scrubber is killing mold?
In order for air scrubbers to work properly, their filters need to be changed regularly. Since they gather so many pollutants, the dirtier the air, the quicker they will need replacing. Of course, if a filter is not clean enough, then it will cease to purify the air and will be rendered useless.
First of all, when the air scrubber pulls in the air, it passes through its pre-filters. These capture the larger particles, help to maintain the airflow and efficiently process the air.
Certain air scrubbers can use carbon filters to capture the odors. Mold tends to smell pretty bad – so it’s worth using a carbon filter if you have the opportunity to.
Then, air is passed through the primary filter. The primary filter removes the smaller contaminants in the air and can even kill them on sight. The HEPA filter is guaranteed to capture nearly 100% of microscopic particles – it’s a great piece of kit.
Finally, the air is passed through the blower, which distributes the clean air back into the room. In order for the air scrubber to work efficiently, even the blowers need to be at full capacity, neither too weak nor too strong. Keep an eye on them!
Which is better at removing mold from the air: air scrubbers or air purifiers?
Does an air scrubber kill mold more efficiently than an air purifier? Yes – in fact, purifiers likely won’t kill it at all, let alone remove it from breathing distance!
Air purifiers are often used in households and small offices in order to retrieve all sorts of allergens, pet hair, dust and pollen in the air that can be damaging to our health and make our day to day lives very uncomfortable. They are cost-effective machines that, when used properly, can significantly help any household and office.
However, when it comes to retrieving contaminants that are a tad more serious such as gases, pollutants, hazardous dust, asbestos, lead and mold, an air purifier will simply not be up to the task.
The air scrubber is a more cost-effective tool for handling these sorts of issues; even though they do cost more, they work harder and can take care of much larger areas. What’s more, if you really want to kill mold, you need to scrub the air – not just purify it! The best HEPA air scrubbers will help you, here.
Is airborne mold really a big problem for homes and business?
Yes – more so than many people realize, in fact!
If a property was not correctly insulated when it was built, if the windows are single glazed, or if the building is simply in a very humid area, then mold can very quickly become a problem. Newer households tend to avoid the issue; however, older ones and those undergoing renovation commonly have to deal with mold spilling across the walls, floors and, of course, traveling in the air.
Mold can be such a problem in some homes, in fact, that many people do not realize that they are allergic to it. This can lead to misdiagnoses and can seriously affect breathing conditions such as asthma. As such, in public business, fitting an air scrubber makes serious sense if you have a duty of care!
Airborne mold is invisible to the human eye, which is one of the reasons why families and workers in poor conditions could inhale thousands upon thousands of spores (the airborne mold) in a single hour. Mold found in these buildings can spring from the walls, the floors, wallpaper, carpets, ceilings – the list goes on.
Mold matures when it turns into spores, which of course float on the air and easily disperse. Obviously, this can be very dangerous for everyone’s health – and can lead to some serious issues. That is why using an air scrubber to purify the air in your home or work can be essential, especially if you have people to care for.
Conclusion
Yes, air scrubbers do indeed remove and kill mold! However, it is essential to understand that air scrubbers will only remove the airborne spores, and are in no way capable of fixing a wider mold issue.
Certainly fit an air scrubber with a HEPA filter to suck out the airborne nastiness – but make sure to treat the wider problem to get rid of it for good.