If I have an HVAC system, why would I need a separate air filtration system?

This is a question that continues to be sent to us in one form or another quite frequently.

All one needs is to make a Google search and every week you will find an establishment that closes due to mold. Within 60 seconds, I found a restaurant at a senior housing complex closed several days ago because of the staff in the kitchen were getting sick from mold.

The article describes that the mold was, in fact, coming from their existing ventilation system. This is quite common, especially in businesses and facilities, because scheduling the maintenance for ventilation is usually forgotten about, or is seen as an expense that is not worth investing in unless trouble arises. Unfortunately, many facility/business managers don't realize that it may be too late and may include very expensive modifications, closures and possibly even legal action.

What an air filtration system does differently

Simply put, air filtration is a compliment to an existing HVAC system. Ventilations systems are generally designed to bring in fresh air into a building and capture only a specific size particle, when all other particle sizes and contaminants are released into the indoor environment. One important distinction is HVAC systems do not take care of contaminants being produced indoors. A dedicated air cleaner like the AirQlean Low, AirQlean High and the FS70 (with HEPA filters) main purpose is to clean airborne particles within the indoor environment. They utilize multi–stage filtration, including the option to capture all size and types of air particles (ie. mold spores), as well certain types of gases, like tobacco smoke, and VOCs.

What type of service or guarantee does an air cleaner come with?

QleanAir Scandinavia offers solutions and products with a routinely scheduled maintenance schedule and monitoring systems to make sure your environment's air quality is always clean.

If you are a technical type of person, we encourage you to read these two articles for a more, in-depth look at the differences of ventilation and air filtration:

• Difference Between Ventilation and Air Filtration
• Indoor Air Quality Myths