Really clean, fresh outdoor air sure smells good doesn’t it? Especially after a storm passes through. That storm naturally produces particles which scrub the air clean. There are now products, in particular the Guardian Air PHI which can produce this safe, natural, cleansing inside of your house. We don’t normally write about products, but we get lots of calls about indoor air quality and thought you would be interested. (Hey, it keeps my moldy- 2 cat box-old Seattle home smelling completely clean and healthy.)

This product would be used in conjunction with a regular furnace filter. Furnace filters are great for trapping large particles, such as dust, allergens, and hair, but can’t stop tiny viruses, mold spores, smoke, bacteria and the molecules that create smells. There are a lot of sprays people use to freshen up the home or like Lysol, to clean air, but those involve toxic chemicals and don’t provide lasting effects or clean every part of your house at the same time.

So what is it? The Guardian Air PHI is a little device with a UV light inside. It is inserted into your ducts right about the furnace or air handler. Other ultraviolet lights only clean the air that passes directly over them, but this one produces cleaning molecules that fly throughout your house. These are hydro-peroxides, super oxide ions and hydroxide ions. All are friendly oxidizers, common in nature. By friendly oxidizers we mean oxidizers that revert back to oxygen and hydrogen after they attack the pollutant. The molecules travel with the air that is blown though the registers into your whole house. Whenever your furnace or air handler fan is running, your air is getting cleaned. If you don’t have a furnace, say you have a dorm room or a small cabin, there’s a handy plug in version for a single room that can do the same thing.

How clean? This technology is now used on cruise ships, hospitals and schools. In fact, the Chicago school district did a test and found a 25% reduction of absenteeism due to illness after they installed the Guardian Air. That could happen in your home too. The product touts that in lab tests (many done by the US Govt) it kills 99% of bacteria, viruses (even H1N1) and mold, removes 85% of gases and odors and is approved by the EPA.

If you are concerned about school-borne illnesses or want to limit exposure to germs in your house, this product is worth a look.

We provide this product to Western Washington homes. Contact us at 800-398-4663 for more information.