Do you have any air purifiers in your home or office? If so, is it an air-circulation type or one of those silent, ionization types? After going round and round in this arena recently, some great information was discovered on my journey towards cleaner air in my living space.

The two kinds of air purifiers, HEPA (or HEPA-type) and ionizing, come from two different approaches. HEPA air purifiers use mechanical fans to circulate in air, filter it, then send it back into the environment clean of all irritants. Ionizing purifiers generally have no fans and cleanse the air of irritants using negative ions that drop contaminants to the ground (or on the wall) where you can vacuum them up later.

Both have their places, although an "active" purifier with a fan sounds more effective from a first look. Those air purifiers that reduce scents using ozone gas can be a little dangerous if you ask me (just read about this using a Google search). So, if you're considering an air purifier for that dirty home (inside air is much dirtier than outside air), do your research. A decent compromise? 3M "Filtrete" air furnace filters for your central A/C system. It's a cheaper and very effective solution according to many.