Having an air purifier to keep the air clean in your bird’s room is as important as providing clean water and fresh food. But not just any cleaner can do the job. Here are 5 things a unit must be able to do to make life healthier for you and your bird.
Can Remove Big Particles—All birds have dander, but if you have a powder down parrot like an African Grey, Cockatoo, or Cockatiel you are also subject to the white wing dust. Having a cleaner with filters that can remove big particles is important. Being able to remove them while they are airborne means there will be less particles in the air to be inhaled and less to fall on surfaces and be continually sent airborne. Keeping the air clean goes a long way toward keeping birds’ air passages clear. And clean air can keep bird-related pollutants from exacerbating chronic respiratory conditions such as allergies and asthma.
Is Able To Eliminate Micron-Sized Particles—What you can’t see in the air can hurt you. Dander as well as airborne bacteria and viruses may be invisible, but they can cause disease and infection in both birds and humans. A HEPA or high efficiency particle arresting filter is an excellent choice for removing microscopic particles. By definition it must be able to eliminate 99,997 out of every 10,000 airborne particulates that are .3 microns or greater in size, with a micron being defined as one millionth of a meter.
Can Provide Continuous Cleaning—Stable air quality means being able to constantly remove pollutants. The best way to do this is to choose a unit that can run safely and effectively all the time without the motor needing to take a break. A split capacitor motor is designed to run continuously with high revolutions per minute. This type of motor is a must if the air in your bird room is to be of a consistently high quality.
Should Contain A Long Life Filter—Other than the motor, the filter is probably the most important part of the unit. One filter cannot possibly do an adequate job. That is why your cleaner needs to contain a canister of filters that can last for a long time. It should have several filters that can trap big particles. That means the more expensive filter that can eliminate micron-size particles is used only for the invisible particles. This system of filters is a money saving feature that will help your filter last for years rather than months.
Must Produce Only Fresh Air—Many cleaners on the market today use ionization and ozone as part of the filtration process. Both of these technologies remain controversial not only in their effect on living things but in their effectiveness. The best by-product is fresh clean air. No one argues with that. So choosing a cleaner that only produces clean air gets the job done with the least amount of risk to you and your pet.