Air Purifiers Help Relieve Winter Allergies

Winter is often the season when our indoor air quality suffers the most. Seasonal activities such as burning logs in a fireplace, weatherizing doors to seal out cold air, and cranking up dust-ridden heating systems can all contribute to a higher concentration of indoor allergens and heightened symptoms. A good-quality air purifier can help address this problem. These appliances work to clear out allergens and create cleaner, purified air. At the same time, they can significantly reduce — or even eliminate — aggravated allergy symptoms.

A Year-Round Solution

Air purifiers have long been considered effective solutions for removing common seasonal allergens, such as spring pollen and fall ragweed, from indoor environments. Yet, for many allergy-sufferers, when these seasons draw to a close, so does their use of an air cleaner.

This is an all-too-common mistake. Many people believe because of winter’s low humidity, colder temperatures, and hibernating flowers that an air purifier is not necessary during the colder months. Surprisingly, winter is the season when air purifiers can provide the most benefit to your indoor environment.

Winter allergies are frequently the result of higher exposure to indoor allergens, such as dust mites, mold spores, and pet dander, which stems from spending more time inside and out of the cold. Symptoms can also be triggered by particles and fumes expelled from heating sources such as furnaces, gas heaters, wood-burning stoves, and log-filled fireplaces.

During the winter months, we also take steps to seal up our windows and doors to prevent cold drafts from coming inside. This can be good and bad. While weatherizing keeps our homes warm and energy efficient, it has a negative effect on our air quality because it blocks fresh air circulation and reduces ventilation. Both are key processes to remove indoor irritants.

Sylvane recommends using a good-quality air purifier for general air quality or an air purifier for allergies, to reduce high indoor allergen concentrations in the wintertime. These appliances help circulate the air and simulate ventilation while using special filters to collect irritating particles — often to near 100 percent effectiveness.

Best-Selling Air Purifiers for Winter

Sylvane carries a variety of air cleaners that can help you boost the purity of your indoor air during the colder months — and keep it healthy all year long.

The IQAir HealthPro Plus is the #1 rated air purifier in the industry. Known for its superior filtration, energy efficiency, and easy-to-use controls, this unit can purify a space of up to 1,000 square feet. It uses a HyperHEPA filter to remove particles like dust, pollen, mold, ragweed, pet dander, and fireplace soot, while a gas phase carbon filter removes smoke and chemical odors that stem from cigars and cigarettes.

The Austin Air HealthMate — best for areas measuring up to 1,500 square feet — also removes a variety of indoor allergens, such as particles, smoke, and chemical vapors, using a combination of medical-grade HEPA and activated carbon filters. A 360-degree filtration system, four different types of filter media, and a high CFM (cubic feet per minute) fan rating ensure quick and consistent air purification.

Another best-selling pick is the Alen A350. It performs heavy particle filtration and light smoke and odor removal using a three-stage filter system. Together, a pre-filter, a HEPA filter, and a light carbon filter neutralize moderate household odors and remove 99.97 percent of polluting particles larger than 0.3 microns. This air purifier covers up to 800 square feet and includes an ionizer to inhibit bacterial growth and promote allergen filtration.

Other air purifiers, such as those by Rabbit Air, Germ Guardian, and AirFree, have added features to help combat germs during the fall and winter flu season. These models use natural silver coatings, anti-flu coatings, sterilizing heat, or ultraviolet sanitizing light to eliminate airborne bacteria and viruses from your environment. This means that cold- and flu-causing pathogens will be less likely to spread throughout your indoor areas.

Winter is the time when you should be doubly concerned about your home’s indoor air quality and your indoor health. It's also the perfect time to learn how to manage these effectively. Air purifiers are your first step in this process.