Dust, dander, allergens, mold, and other harmful airborne particles have no place in your home. Unfortunately, it’s likely that your standard, low-grade filter isn’t doing much to capture these unwanted visitors. This isn’t good for anyone, but especially not for people living with allergies or asthma.

Electronic air cleaners fight to contain these particles and reduce the amount in your home. This air purifying device gives an electronic charge to things like dust and dander as they pass through the device, while the air cleaner itself has an opposite charge, attracting and effectively trapping particles inside it. This means, with a simple science lesson on magnetism, an electronic air cleaner provides your home with better air quality.

Ultimately, electronic air cleaners can improve air quality in your home. They’re typically installed directly into the ductwork of your home by an HVAC professional.

Once an electronic air cleaner is installed in your home, it will trap large particles of dust, dander, allergens, and more, depending on the device selected, as they pass through the filter. For smaller particles, you can think of the electronic air cleaners as a giant magnet. With magnets, opposite charges (positive and negative) attract. In electronic air cleaners, an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) removes particles from an air stream by using electrical energy to charge particles either positively or negatively. The charged particles are then attracted to collector plates carrying the opposite charge. This way, particles remain in the electronic air cleaner and can’t continue contaminating the air in your home.

Because contaminants stick inside the electronic air cleaner, maintaining and cleaning this device is crucial so incoming contaminants will have a clean surface inside to stick to.

Like air purifiers, electronic air cleaners help alleviate triggers for allergies and asthma. These devices work by taking things like dust, dander, and pet hair out of the air in your home, all of which are common triggers for allergies and asthma. With an electronic indoor air cleaner, you can feel confident that the air you’re breathing is cleaner and filled with less harmful particles than before.

All of the particulate matter gets stuck to a filter when it’s blocked from contaminating the air inside your home. If the filter is dirty and covered in harmful particles it’s less effective and particles may be able to slip through into your home. Luckily, electronic air cleaner filters are reusable and easy to maintain. Just like you would for other HVAC devices, try to inspect the filter in your electronic air cleaner about once every three months. If your filter seems to be dirty, simply rinse it off with warm water and allow it to dry completely before placing it back into your air cleaner. With consistent cleaning, it should stay good as new!