Smoke is made up of both particulate and gaseous contaminates. Today I am going to discuss the particle removal aspect and save the gasses, odors and vapors for another time.

The particulate contaminates make up the visible smoke, the cloud or haze that tends to hang in the air. The two most common and effective types of particle filters are media and electrostatic.

Media filters are most common

ly either a pleated or bag style filter. HEPA is probably the best known type of media filter. HEPA is an option on most media based smoke eaters, but we tend to prefer a 95% DOP type filter, due to the fact that it allows more air to flow through the filter than a HEPA and still offers enough efficiency to effectively remove the smoke particles. While media filters do not require regular cleaning, they do need to be occasionally replaced.

Electrostatic filters offer a cost effective and efficient way to remove particulate contaminates as they do not require replacement however, electrostatic filters do require regular cleaning. The way an electrostatic filter works is, the dirty air first passes through an ionizing section which charges the particles, the air then moves through an electronic cell, which attracts the particles like a magnet. This is proven technology that is used in many types of commercial and industrial air cleaners and is sometimes referred to as electrostatic precipitators or ESP.

These two types of smoke eater technologies are very comparable as far as particle efficiency. There are other technologies such as ionizers and ozone generators that may claim to be smoke eaters, but the fact is, they do little or nothing to remove smoke particles. I talk to customers every week who have wasted money buying ionic air cleaners and ozone generating machines only to find that they do not work, do yourself a favor and stay away from "magical" technologies that make claims about removing smoke and stick to the proven technologies that will get the job done.

If there is a technology that you would like me to review/discuss or if you have questions, post your comments and myself or someone on staff will respond.