HEPA Filters vs Activated Carbon Filters: Pros and Cons
Both HEPA pleated filters and activated carbon filters are safe and effective to use in air purifiers. They have different advantages so it’s important to understand the pros and cons of both so you can make a purchase that will best suit your needs.
What is a HEPA Pleated Filter?
HEPA stands for high efficiency particulate air. It’s a type of pleated filter that’s been trusted to clean indoor air for decades. In fact, it’s the standard for fine particulate filtration.
HEPA filters target airborne particles and remove them from your indoor air by capturing them in fine woven fibers before you can breathe in the harmful particles. Running an air purifier with a HEPA filter will help you capture particles like mold spores, dust, pollen, and virus particles.
The Pros and Cons of HEPA Pleated Filters
HEPA filters are great for those who need to filter out particles like dust, pollen, and mold spores. And if your main concerns are allergies, mitigating the spread of viruses, mold, dust, pet dander, and overall health then it’s best to have a HEPA filter in your purifier.
HEPA filters capture different pollutants than carbon filters can capture. So the drawback of only having HEPA filtration is that you miss out on the advantages of carbon filtration for odors, smoke, and gasses like VOCs.
What is a Granular Activated Carbon Filter?
Granular activated carbon filters are another trusted type of filter used in indoor air filtration. These filters are packed with treated carbon that targets airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde, gasses, and smoke.
Oransi’s TrueCarbon™ filters stand out against the competition. Most carbon filters are just a thin sheet of carbon that doesn’t provide sufficient indoor air cleaning for difficult-to-filter pollutants like smoke.
Oransi’s TrueCarbon™ filter weighs over 3 pounds, measures a dense 10” x 10” x 2.2”, and is completely packed with carbon. There are no holes in the filter for air to pass through, meaning no air can pass through unfiltered.
The Pros and Cons of Granular Activated Carbon Filters
Carbon filtration provides a solution for those needing to rid their homes of heavy odors, smoke, and other dangerous gasses. If your main concerns are smoke, VOCs, and heavy odors then it’s best to have heavy duty carbon filtration in your air purifier.
Just like having only HEPA, the drawback of having only carbon filtration is that you miss out on the HEPA advantages. Carbon filtration is not engineered to filter pollen, dust, or other particulate matter.
Why Separate Carbon from HEPA?
For many households, it’s necessary or desirable to have an air purifier that can filter both fine particulate matter and smells. For either to be as effective as possible, it’s best to separate these types of filters into different air purifiers. That’s because dense carbon requires a more powerful motor tuning. At this power level, a HEPA based air purifier will be noticeably louder in the room.
In order for both to work at their optimal filtration, we’ve engineered a dedicated solution for carbon and a dedicated solution for HEPA.
Which Air Purifier is Right for You?
An AirMend™ HEPA air purifier is the perfect option for optimal HEPA filtration. This purifier targets small particles like dust, pollen, mold spores, and virus particles and filters them out of your air. These are common concerns for most and HEPA filters help fight off the worst offenders.
The TrueCarbon™ air purifiers, on the other hand, target smoke, heavy odors, VOCs, and gasses. The TrueCarbon™ purifier is the only affordable air purifier with heavy duty carbon filtration. Most purifiers claiming to have carbon only have a thin sheet (or maximum a half of a pound of carbon), which unfortunately won’t make a noticeable difference.
Our TrueCarbon™ filter measures 2 inches in depth and has over 3 pounds of packed treated carbon to filter out the toughest VOCs, secondhand smoke (tobacco, marijuana, or vape), wildfire smoke, and dangerous gasses.
There’s also an option to purchase a combination of HEPA and carbon like in our Mod series. While this is a great solution for light odors, a dedicated heavy duty carbon solution like the TrueCarbon™ is engineered to filter the heaviest of smoke and odors.
For the best, most innovative air cleaning solution on the market an AirMend™ HEPA paired with a TrueCarbon™ will filter out both particulate matter and gasses from your indoor air. Engineered and assembled right here in the USA, the AirMend™ and TrueCarbon™ air purifiers are compact powerhouses that pack incredible performance into a sleek, space-saving design.
