Air scrubber installationin Northern Virginia
An air scrubber is a box we fit into the main duct above your furnace. It runs whenever your system runs. This page is what it is, where the technology came from, what it costs here, and the things we are not going to tell you about it.
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What an air scrubber actually is
Three things worth knowing before anybody quotes you one.
It lives in the ductwork, not in a room
A portable purifier treats the room it is standing in. This one is cut into the supply plenum, the big duct on top of the furnace, so whatever it does happens to the air on its way to every register in the house.
It only works when the fan works
No fan, no air moving, nothing happening. If your system only runs when it is heating or cooling, the scrubber only runs then too. A thermostat set to circulate changes that, and it is worth asking us about.
It is a unit, not a service
We install it once. There is a lamp inside it that is replaced on a schedule, and that is the whole of the upkeep.
Where it came from
The NASA part, told accurately
The technology started as a way to keep fruit from ripening in space. NASA’s own Spinoff publication tells it: the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics, a NASA Research Partnership Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, built a photocatalytic oxidation scrubber in the 1990s to pull ethylene out of the air around growing plants. It flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1995, on mission STS-73, over a tray of potato seedlings. Electrolux, now Aerus of Dallas, took that work and turned it into the unit we install. The words on the nameplate, Certified Space Technology, are the Space Foundation’s mark, not NASA’s.
What nobody should tell you is that it is NASA approved. NASA does not approve or endorse products. The research is real and the citation above is NASA’s own; the endorsement is not a thing that exists.
The honest part
What we are not going to tell you
This is the part most air purifier pages leave out, which is exactly why it is here.
We are not going to tell you it makes anyone healthier
We cannot show you that, so we are not going to say it. There is a whole industry built on saying it anyway, and the Federal Trade Commission has taken an interest in that industry.
We are not going to quote you a percentage
The manufacturer publishes laboratory numbers. Laboratory numbers come off a sealed chamber, not off a four-bedroom colonial with a dog and a back door, and we are not going to hand you one as if it described your house.
It is not a substitute for the filter
The filter is the cheapest thing in this whole conversation and it is doing most of the work. If the filter has not been changed, change the filter. That is a better first move than anything on this page, and it is free. We wrote that out at length.
It does not clean the ducts
It treats air moving past it. Whatever is already stuck to the wall of a duct is still stuck to the wall of that duct. That is a different job, and if the ducts are furred over, that is the job to do first.
If that reads like we are talking you out of it, we are not. We are telling you what it does so the decision is yours. Ask us about your house, or call (703) 997-9757.
The price book
What an air scrubber costs here
It is the third tier of the duct cleaning price book, on a home up to 2,000 square feet with one system.
$598
Whole Home Air Duct Cleaning
Every supply and every return line, register faces included. No unit.
$1,798
Whole Home Air Duct Cleaning with ActivePure Air Scrubber
The same whole-home clean, and the unit fitted into the plenum while we are already there.
We do not publish a price for the unit on its own. The calculator does not quote one, and we are not going to invent a number by subtracting one tier from the other. If you want it without the duct cleaning, call and we will price your house. The full duct price book is here.
How it goes in
We look at the plenum first
It has to have room, and the access has to be somewhere a person can reach for the lamp change later. Most systems are fine. Some are not, and we would rather find that out before you have bought anything.
It is cut in and wired
A rectangular opening in the supply plenum, the unit screwed to it, and a feed off the air handler so it starts and stops with the fan.
Half a day, usually
Less if we are already there doing the ducts, which is the normal way it happens and the reason it is priced as a tier rather than a visit of its own.
Straight answers
Air scrubber questions we get asked
If yours is not here, call and ask. You will get a person.
What does an air scrubber cost in Northern Virginia?
It is the third tier of our duct cleaning price book: Whole Home Air Duct Cleaning with ActivePure Air Scrubber is $1,798 on a home up to 2,000 square feet with one system, against $598 for Whole Home Air Duct Cleaning on its own. We do not publish a figure for the unit by itself, because the calculator does not quote one and we are not going to invent it. Ask and we will price your house.
Is an air scrubber worth it?
It depends what you are trying to fix, and the honest order is filter, then ducts if the camera shows they need it, then this. If someone has sold you one before doing the first two, they sold you the expensive thing first.
Is this NASA technology?
It came out of NASA-funded research, and the citation above is NASA’s own Spinoff publication rather than a manufacturer’s brochure. What it is not is NASA approved. NASA does not approve or endorse products, and anyone telling you otherwise is telling you something NASA does not do.
What is ActivePure, and what is Aerus?
Aerus is the Dallas company that makes the unit, and it was Electrolux before that. ActivePure is the name of their version of the technology. The Air Scrubber we install is their product; we are the people who fit it and stand behind the installation.
Does it replace my furnace filter?
No. Keep changing the filter. The filter is the thing catching what moves through it, and nothing on this page changes that.
How often does the lamp need replacing?
On the manufacturer’s schedule, and we will tell you the date at the install and remind you when it comes round. It is the only recurring cost.
Can you put one on any system?
Almost any, but the plenum has to have the room and the access. We check that before you commit to anything, at no charge.
Do you install other indoor air equipment?
Yes, and the indoor air page covers the rest of it. If you are weighing options, call and say what is actually bothering you and we will tell you which one of them is the answer, including when the answer is none of them.
Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington
Where we install air scrubbers
- Fairfax
- Centreville
- Chantilly
- Burke
- Springfield
- Annandale
- Vienna
- McLean
- Falls Church
- Herndon
- Reston
- Ashburn
- Sterling
- Leesburg
- Arlington
- Alexandria
- Woodbridge
- Manassas
Ask what it would cost on your house
Call and you will get a person on the phone. We will ask what is actually bothering you, and if the answer is a filter change or a duct cleaning rather than this, we will say so.
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