Air purifiers - Page 1

Has anyone had any success with any of the air purifiers they have tried?  I don't mind spending some money on a good one but I want to make sure it's going to work with doggie odors and dust.

My wife purchased two (2) units from Sharper Image and they do effectively clean the air of certain pollutants. There is ongoing daily maintenance of the internal emitter, i.e. a wipe with a cloth dampened with isopropanol but that is about it. They do not last very long it seems and they are repeatedly returned for repair. The ones I speak about here are the ozone emitting types, not mere air filtres.

I venture that if one wanted the best result that one should use a filtration unit that can clean to HEPA specifications, and then perhaps an ozone emitter to remove other pollutants. Any way one chooses, I do not see a method that does not require at least weekly, and more likely daily maintenance.

Regards,

Bob-O

I've tried those as well and they do collect a lot of dust and make no noise but like Bob-o says alot of maintenance. I had three.  Within a year all were not working. With the amount I paid I would have expected longer use.

We tried the microparticle air filters for the ac/furnace. Bad choice. Our a/c unit froze over. Literally froze over and it was like 99-100 degrees out. Crazy. I guess you have to have certain amounts of airflow for each unit.

Live and learn.

Oh! I tried the one from Oreck. Useless doesn't half describe it from what we saw.

I actually just read some reports on the Ionic Breeze from Sharper Image that weren't exactly good.  They said that they don't clean the air at all, just make it smell nicer.

I'll probably go with a good quality HEPA.  I just want to stop the husband's whining about his allergies.  "Shut up and take your shot" isn't working anymore. 

I own a couple of Oreck XL air purifiers,
and I can see the difference, they seem 
to take odors out of the air, especially when
trying to mask the beautiful smell of pups!

You just have to rinse the collector cell in the sink,
and there is a charcoal filter, that periodically needs
to be replaced.

The thing I like the most about it is you keep reusing the
collector cell forever!

Although. like Dawgs said, the Oreck is taking a beating at my house,
and seems to have dust in it that I'm unable to clean out, 
when it was brand new, it was amazing, now it seems to get dirty faster.

If the thing Zaps out, I'm sending it back to that old man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a subscription to the online Consumer Reports. They say to take no note of the Allergy and Asthma Foundation seal because it isn't really an endorsement? If I read it correctly a company only has to submit a $5000 application fee and submit "independent" reasearch. The term independent doesn't seem to be very stringent.

So, there is an industry rating CADR (clean air delivery rate) that is supposed to be an accurate reflection of effeciency. It divided into dust, smoke and pollen. A rating of above 350 in each of these catagories is considered excellent. But these things are not cheap. That being said I beleive one of these covers the same area as my three Sharper Image that cost a lot too.

You can find a lot of information at airpurifiers.com

This one got a high rating by Consumer Reports but it's really pricey.

Airgle.com

We recently purchased a Swiss made unit, the IQ Air Health Pro Plus. It's pricey -$795 - but it seems to be doing the job. I have allergy triggered asthma, and this unit was specifcally purchased to remove dog dander, chemicals, and other pollutants from the air to which I am sensitive. There is nothing to clean, just periodic replacement of the various filters (the machine tells you when it's time). As a side benefit we don't notice doggy smells!  Over the years we have tried other units, including ones from the Sharper Image, but they don't hold a candle to this one.( Consumer Reports didn't like the fact that the SI units produced ozone, at least in the earlier models - I just got fed up with the constant cleaning.) It isn't silent (has 6 different settings from very low to high), but it's a "white noise" and isn't at all unpleasant. Has a remote control also, and, most importantly, there is no ozone by-product. If you can get past the price it's a terrific buy.

Susan.