What Is an Air Scrubber: How It Works

Indoor air quality is key to any healthy home. Even though there are air fresheners to fight off bad smells, airborne compounds still floating around can impact a person’s health. That’s where air scrubbers come in and improve a home’s indoor air quality, but what is an air scrubber and how does it work?

At Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric, our technicians receive specialized training from Aerus, one of the leading manufacturers of air scrubbers. By combining the training material with on-field experience, we can address any questions or concerns homeowners may have about air scrubbers. Our expertise and skillsets have helped us install thousands of air scrubbers across Los Angeles and the surrounding areas.

Air scrubbers improve the air quality of a home and other indoor spaces by reducing harmful airborne particles using proprietary technology. In this article, we’ll dive deep to review what an air scrubber is and highlight how air scrubbers work.

Let’s get started!

What Does An Air Scrubber Do?

Air scrubbers are designed to eliminate a wide range of pollutants that linger indoors. These air purification systems have different ways of achieving their primary function of removing these contaminants from the air.

Indoor air quality can carry various pollutants that can linger inside even with proper ventilation and HVAC systems. Homeowners will notice a difference in air quality thanks to an air scrubber that disinfects, deodorizes, and purifies the air inside a house.

Air scrubbers are similar to air purifiers in that they target airborne contaminants, except air scrubbers are designed to tackle a broad range of these harmful particles along with removing any unpleasant odors. People spend a large portion of their days indoors without realizing what’s in the air quality. In the next section, we’ll share what some of these pollutants are and which ones are targeted by air scrubbers.

What Does an Air Scrubber Remove?

Air scrubbers rely on their design to remove pollutants and eliminate stinky smells. Here’s a list of airborne contaminants air scrubbers target.

• Particles such as dust, dirt, pollen, and allergens
• Bacterial growth that may lead to mold
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from paint, household cleaners, and other chemicals
• Various odors
• Smoke particles from fire or cigarettes
• Pet dander
• E. Coli
• SARS-CoV-2
• Influenza virus
• Other various viruses and bacteria

Air scrubbers are run through vigorous third-party testing in controlled environments to help test their ability to remove airborne pollutants. The ability to remove these contaminants makes air scrubbers ideal in homes with immunocompromised occupants.

The best air scrubbers are not only able to purify the air but also provide surface decontamination. Their ability to remove these pollutants can help improve the efficiency of an air filter within an HVAC system. By preventing dust and other physical contaminants from building on coils and blowers, air scrubbers can help protect HVAC systems, too.

The list of airborne contaminants that air scrubbers reduce is long, but what is the technological design behind it?

How Does An Air Scrubber Work?

Air scrubbers use ActivePure Technology, a patented design that uses light waves and a catalytic process to create special molecules that seek out airborne contaminants. Some air scrubbers use ozone, a chemical agent, to help facilitate decontamination, but the use of ozone is prohibited in some areas, like California.

ActivePure Technology was inspired by photolysis. Photolysis is a naturally occurring phenomenon where the sun produces oxygen and hydrogen-based molecules that inactivate bacteria, unwanted gases, viruses, and mold spores.

Manufacturers were influenced by photolysis and created an air scrubber that produced these molecules and released them indoors to target any airborne molecules. The design behind air scrubbers differs from air filters, which rely on passive air-cleaning technology to trap pollutants as they travel through HVAC systems.

Instead, air scrubbers are active air-cleaning devices that fill an enclosed space with air-scrubbing molecules that break down airborne contaminants and odors. These systems are available in various sizes, from portable air scrubbers to whole-house air scrubbing systems. Here’s a look at how a typical air scrubber works within a home’s HVAC system.

• A certified HVAC technician installs an air scrubber within an existing or new HVAC setup. The entire process can take around 30 to 60 minutes to complete.
• As the HVAC intakes air, microscopic water and oxygen molecules enter the honeycomb design of the inside of the air scrubber. These molecules then transform into ActivePure molecules.
• The ActivePure molecules are released back inside the rooms of a home through the different vents of the HVAC system. The molecules immediately seek out and reduce any airborne contaminants.
• The molecules are then absorbed into the air scrubber, where the UV light kills bacteria and viruses. The remaining molecules are heavy enough to be captured by air filters within the HVAC system.

Homes using air scrubbers for the first time will notice how quickly air filters will become dirty with all the different contaminants captured thanks to the air scrubbing molecules. Air scrubbers will continue to operate and require little maintenance. Homeowners should replace the UV light bulb inside the scrubber every one to two years with the aid of a certified technician.

Is An Air Scrubber Right for Me?

Whenever someone is outside, they may breathe in clean, crisp air. That same air quality can be closely replicated indoors with air scrubbers. By understanding what an air scrubber is and how it works, homeowners have a better picture of how an air scrubber can benefit their homes. Homeowners will also be able to determine if an air scrubber suits their air purification needs, whether it’s a recurring foul odor or running the risk of airborne pathogens.

At Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric, we understand the importance of clean air, so we partnered with some of the best air scrubber brands, like Aerus, to help educate homeowners on the potential benefits of air scrubbers. We understand that although not all homes have identical HVAC setups, they all may benefit from having an air scrubber as a layer of protection against pollutants roaming the air that may affect the health of their families.

If you’re interested in an air scrubber installation, contact us using one of the buttons below. You can also book an appointment with any of our certified HVAC technicians through our HVAC online scheduler.

Now that you read and have a clearer picture of how air scrubbers operate, check out this article that compares their benefits with their downsides to determine further if an air scrubber is right for you.