“The indoor life” has become an all-too-familiar state for many of us over the past 18 months, with much of our time now confined to the insides of our houses and apartments. With the pandemic continuing to surge, along with the increasingly widespread wildfires wreaking havoc around the globe, “inside” has remained very much the place to be for many. As the pandemic moves into new and less acute phases, it seems safe to say that we’ll still be spending more time at home, and be more attentive to the health and safety of our domestic environments. It should perhaps come as no surprise, then, that this period has seen a significant spike of interest in keeping the air inside our homes as clean as possible. Air purifiers, once a seemingly rare indulgence for the hyper-allergenic (and/or slightly germophobic) among us, have now become home appliance mainstays. In light of the wildfire smoke hitting Northern California, for instance, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, a state agency based in San Francisco, plans to provide free air purifiers to 3,000 low-income residents who suffer from asthma and other breathing problems.
Indeed, air purifiers have seen a rise in popularity for a number of reasons. First, there’s the simple fact of pandemic life: With all the time spent inside our homes breathing the same air, there’s an urge to ensure that we’re keeping that air as clean as possible. There’s also the transmissibility of COVID-19: While science remains very much unclear as to whether or not air purifiers can significantly prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, there’s a belief among many that proper air filtration of fine particles can help. Additionally, the increasing frequency of wildfires has given us a more heightened awareness of the air we breathe, and its relative toxicity: According to a recent study, smoke from wildfires may be significantly more harmful than other sources of particulate matter — and air purifiers can certainly help with this. Finally, due in part to these wildfires (as well as climate change, more generally), the length and intensity of pollen seasons a getting worse every year.
“The air purifier market is up significantly,” says Joe Derochowski, home industry advisor at NPD. “The past 12 months have seen growth of 78 percent. Compared to two years ago, it has grown 158 percent.” He says that when the pandemic first hit, those first few weeks saw an immediate spike. “Part of the growth initially was because of our concerns about the virus,” says Derochowski. “As we spent more time at home, there was this sense of getting more germophobic during the pandemic.” Late last summer, with the spread of wildfires particularly acute in the western U.S., saw another sales spike. In addition to home purchases, Derochowski also points to B2B sales: “If you pay attention, you’ll notice that most dentist offices and many stores have air purifiers in them now,” he says.
Once relegated to a handful of dedicated manufacturers, air purifiers are now available from …….
Source: https://dealerscope.com/2021/11/the-best-air-purifiers-help-you-breathe-more-easily/