Today there are models of air purifiers or home air cleaners that have an integrated ionizer that is designed to trap any airborne particles that pass by it.
Using this an air ionizer will help to effectively clean all the air that is in your home.
So now we know what the air ionizer in your air purifier or air cleaner actually does but should you buy air purifiers that have one.
This is a very good question.
Whenever the air ionizer in the purifier is switched on an electric voltage is applied on to a small series of needles built into the device that creates many charged electrons which are then automatically discharged in to the air around it.
And then when these charged electrons subsequently attach themselves to the surrounding molecules of air, this results in ions being formed.
Hence the name air ionizer! Unfortunately there is a downside and this occurs when the usefulness of the device is hampered when the filter in the air purifier needs to be changed.
But once changed then all will be well again.
The negative ions created in by the air ionizer will be blown around the room and here they will attach themselves to particles of pollen or dust, as well as smoke to form some much larger particles.
These can then be much more easily trapped by the filters in the air purifier.
Some of these new particles will also eventually drop to the floor and can be sucked up later by a vacuum cleaner or they could attach themselves to any positively charged surfaces that might exist in the room as well.
In addition they could stick to the grill on the outside of the air purifier which might then need frequent cleaning.
Also if you find that your filter is nearing the end of its natural useful life then those particles might not be filtered at all and instead they may return back in to the room's environment.
Therefore your ionizer should be switched off while the filter is changed for a new one.
It has been reported that in a home with more than an average typical amount of bad allergens like pet dander or some smoke then you will see that the useful life of a normal filter will be often greatly reduced in time.
So always check your own air cleaner manual for help on when to change all of your purifier's filters.
In addition note that these negatively charged ions are present naturally in the environment.
They tend to occur where the air is somehow stirred up significantly such as by water like in the shower at home or near waterfalls, rough rivers and along mountain streams.
It is believed generally that the negative ions in our environment will promote wellness and therefore provide healthy benefits when more negative ions than the positive ions exist in the air that we are breathing.
However this has not been proved yet by science.
You will also find that positive ions are present all around us and they exist in all the drapes and carpets in your home.
So we have learned here that an air ionizer enables an air purifier to do its job much more efficiently.
This means that it helps you breathe cleaner air and so long as the filters are changed out regularly they will work well.
But you do have to ensure that any particles, which may have drifted down on to other surfaces around your home, will have to be removed with a vacuum or frequently to stop any build up.