Does my Vacuum Cleaner need a HEPA Filter?

When the house have been cleaned,everyone will be satisfied when they have created a clean, healthy environment. And we want to know if we have successfully removed the air and carpets of all the dust, pollen, bacteria, and other particulates that plague most homes.

Enter the high-efficiency particulate air filter, better known as a HEPA filter.

Like other government standards, HEPA has become firmly entrenched in our lexicon, used to indicate a higher standard of decontamination. Attached to a vacuum cleaner, HEPA filters capture smaller particulates that might otherwise not be trapped by your vacuum, providing added relief for allergy sufferers and cleaner air for all.

But costing several times the amount of conventional filters, are HEPA filters worth the added expense?

Originally designed in the 1940s to prevent the spread of airborne radioactive contaminants, the HEPA filter soon made its way into commercial—and eventually residential—applications. A true HEPA filter, as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy, removes at least 99.97 percent of airborne particles that are 0.3 micrometers in diameter.

How small is that? The average human hair is about 100 micrometers in diameter. That’s roughly 300 times the size of what a HEPA filter will trap.

HEPA filters help contribute to a healthy home environment, even for those without allergies or asthma. A HEPA filter traps most bacteria, pathogens, microbial spores, tracked-in soil particles, combustion soot particles, some construction dust, and some virus particles (that are stuck on larger particles).

“Although the level of filtration is a lot more than most of us need, I think it makes people feel good. And more recently, epidemiological studies are showing that small particles of less than a micron may be causing hypertension.”

If a HEPA filter is what you want, the Healthy House Institute says the most important features in a vacuum cleaner are the HEPA filter itself and how it is held in place:

”The filter itself should be made of a pleated, semi-rigid material held in a frame. The frame must be held tightly in place by an airtight gasket. The gasket prevents allergy-laden air from bypassing the filter. Some vacuum cleaners have flimsy, pleated paper filters that look like the material in legitimate HEPA filters; other vacuums have efficient filters in a rigid frame but the filter frame is not held tightly in place, so allergens pass around the filter instead of through it, and escape from the vacuum cleaner. A foam filter is not a HEPA filter.”

When buying vacuum cleaner bags, avoid products advertised as “HEPA-style” or “HEPA-like,” where filtration standards are probably not as rigorous. An “anti-allergen” label is not the same as HEPA.

vacuum cleaner can be just as important as the product you use. Carelessly attacking carpets can result in more dust being sent into the air than is collected by the vacuum cleaner.

“Any good vacuum cleaner should stop cat hair and dander.”

So, if you keep a tidy house to begin with, a HEPA filter on your vacuum probably won't make much of a difference as to whether you have a runny nose during pollen season. It’s not going to collect pet hair and dander better than a regular vacuum, nor will it remove odors.

Although a HEPA filter is not a magic bullet by itself,it can help us to catch some of smaller environmental contaminants when we use the HEPA filter in our home.If you want to have a cleaner home,the HEPA filter is worth the added expense. And if you have acute allergies, asthma, COPD or other respiratory conditions, the HEPA filter will be a important part in a healthier home.