67 replies to this topic

[ajnast4r]

I use a honeywell 50250:

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B00007E7RY

It has a lifetime HEPA filter that you simply vacuum every now and then, which is so important because replacing HEPA filters every 6 months will kill you financially. The disposable carbon pre-filters are about $20 for a year's worth.

Works really well and keeps our noses from getting stuffy at night from all the animals around (four cats and a dog in our house). Does an excellent job of eliminating odors too.

good point on the non replaceable filters... the reviews are pretty good other than everyone saying its noisy. what do you think about the noise levels?

[FunkOdyssey]

I use a honeywell 50250:

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B00007E7RY

It has a lifetime HEPA filter that you simply vacuum every now and then, which is so important because replacing HEPA filters every 6 months will kill you financially. The disposable carbon pre-filters are about $20 for a year's worth.

Works really well and keeps our noses from getting stuffy at night from all the animals around (four cats and a dog in our house). Does an excellent job of eliminating odors too.

good point on the non replaceable filters... the reviews are pretty good other than everyone saying its noisy. what do you think about the noise levels?

Its only loud at medium and high fan settings, which are unnecessary IMO unless you have it out in a very large area. If you have it in your bedroom like I do then you just leave it on low all the time and forget about it.

It moves so much air on low, the other settings feel like turbocharged overkill anyway. Use them if you have a kitchen fire or something.

[FunkOdyssey]

I use a honeywell 50250:

Wow, the lifetime filter thing is interesting. Have they done any studies/comparisons with other filters and this model? Just seems weird that you can vacuum the filter and keep it forever.

Well supposedly (second hand information) consumer reports says it is the only air filter available under $200 that actually produces clean air. Pretty bold statement. If anyone is a member of consumer reports and can access their online archives to check this out, that would be great.

[ajnast4r]

what about hepa type vs true hepa filters? is there really that big of a difference?

[Gerald W. Gaston]

I use a honeywell 50250

I have this exact unit in the den... where I often end up sleeping on the futon when the wife's snoring gets the better of me. I turn it on high so I can't hear anything else. :-)

[Ghostrider]

Someone asked about my experience with RabbitAir, I thought I would give an update:

I bought the BioGS, but had it for less than a month before I returned it. I might have had unrealistic expectations. My air was actually pretty clean and I later discovered that the smell was coming from the washing machine. The condo that I bought was rented and the previous owner rented it to some college students who were horrible people. The neighbors tell me they threw a lot of wild parties and did drugs. Anyways, I think some cigarettes were thrown into the washing machine. I eventually noticed that was the source of the cigarette smell. Eventually, I will buy a new washer and dryer. The ones that came with the house are cheap, but do the job for now. Now I simply keep the washing machine lid closed. Anyway, the BioGS did little to clean the air of the cigarette smell. However, if I had issues with pollen and dirt, I am sure it would have helped. Also, I was using one unit for a 1200 sq ft condo with a lot of air volume. I probably needed another unit for a fair test. The air coming out of it smelled fresh and clean. Return was no hassle and I got most of my money back.

[drmz]

Big price difference between EU & US. No ebay/amazon sellers ships to NL :(

[TheFountain]

These things shouldn't be so expensive.

[ajnast4r]

i got one of these... works great

i also got one of these for the bathroom w/ the catbox and it completely eliminated the odor... pretty amazing

[katzenjammer]

Why not avoid HEPA altogether, and go for one of these? http://breathebetterair.com/index.html Or these: http://www.waterwise...ise/default.asp

Marketing stuff from the second product (both are similar):

The revolutionary Airwise® Purifier

Airwise is based on advanced technology that goes beyond mechanical filtration methods like high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and other methods like electrostatic filtration, ozone, ultraviolet light and ionizers. Airwise technology (photocatalysis plus WisePointe™) oxidizes odors, fungi, mold and parasites, and toxic chemical gases. At the same time, it settles dust and other large particles out of the air and destroys microorganisms like bacteria and viruses.

Airwise creates inductive warmth, drawing humidity into the purifier. When humidified air enters the target area, a photocatalytic reaction occurs and superoxide ions and hydroxyl radicals are created. As an added benefit, positively charged indoor pollutants are treated by the WisePointe technology which generates active negative ions at an accelerated rate, thereby enhancing the speed at which dust and other airborne particles are dropped out of your breathing space. Airwise technology works “outside of the box” so it is not necessary for polluted air to actually enter the purifier. This process significantly reduces allergens such as pollen, pet dander, dust and smoke; and it destroys viruses, bacteria, mold and mildew.

So, why settle for stick (grid) units or noisy fan machines? Air that is not circulated through those units is never purified! Airwise needs no fan, so it's totally silent. And it has no grid or filter, so it requires no cleaning or filters replacement. All you do is replace the photocatalytic lamp module once a year (no tools required).

[katzenjammer]

Anyone have any experience with the below sorts of air purifiers? I'm particularly interested in hearing from technical folks/engineers, etc., about how much of the technology is smoke and mirrors and how genuine it is.

http://breathebetterair.com/index.html Or this: http://www.waterwise...ise/default.asp

Marketing stuff from the second product (both are similar):

The revolutionary Airwise® Purifier

Airwise is based on advanced technology that goes beyond mechanical filtration methods like high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and other methods like electrostatic filtration, ozone, ultraviolet light and ionizers. Airwise technology (photocatalysis plus WisePointe™) oxidizes odors, fungi, mold and parasites, and toxic chemical gases. At the same time, it settles dust and other large particles out of the air and destroys microorganisms like bacteria and viruses.

Airwise creates inductive warmth, drawing humidity into the purifier. When humidified air enters the target area, a photocatalytic reaction occurs and superoxide ions and hydroxyl radicals are created. As an added benefit, positively charged indoor pollutants are treated by the WisePointe technology which generates active negative ions at an accelerated rate, thereby enhancing the speed at which dust and other airborne particles are dropped out of your breathing space. Airwise technology works “outside of the box” so it is not necessary for polluted air to actually enter the purifier. This process significantly reduces allergens such as pollen, pet dander, dust and smoke; and it destroys viruses, bacteria, mold and mildew.

So, why settle for stick (grid) units or noisy fan machines? Air that is not circulated through those units is never purified! Airwise needs no fan, so it's totally silent. And it has no grid or filter, so it requires no cleaning or filters replacement. All you do is replace the photocatalytic lamp module once a year (no tools required).

Edited by katzenjammer, 20 November 2009 - 02:07 PM.

[niner]

Anyone have any experience with the below sorts of air purifiers? I'm particularly interested in hearing from technical folks/engineers, etc., about how much of the technology is smoke and mirrors and how genuine it is.

http://breathebetterair.com/index.html Or this: http://www.waterwise...ise/default.asp

Marketing stuff from the second product (both are similar):

The revolutionary Airwise® Purifier

Airwise is based on advanced technology that goes beyond mechanical filtration methods like high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and other methods like electrostatic filtration, ozone, ultraviolet light and ionizers. Airwise technology (photocatalysis plus WisePointe™) oxidizes odors, fungi, mold and parasites, and toxic chemical gases. At the same time, it settles dust and other large particles out of the air and destroys microorganisms like bacteria and viruses.

Airwise creates inductive warmth, drawing humidity into the purifier. When humidified air enters the target area, a photocatalytic reaction occurs and superoxide ions and hydroxyl radicals are created. As an added benefit, positively charged indoor pollutants are treated by the WisePointe technology which generates active negative ions at an accelerated rate, thereby enhancing the speed at which dust and other airborne particles are dropped out of your breathing space. Airwise technology works “outside of the box” so it is not necessary for polluted air to actually enter the purifier. This process significantly reduces allergens such as pollen, pet dander, dust and smoke; and it destroys viruses, bacteria, mold and mildew.

So, why settle for stick (grid) units or noisy fan machines? Air that is not circulated through those units is never purified! Airwise needs no fan, so it's totally silent. And it has no grid or filter, so it requires no cleaning or filters replacement. All you do is replace the photocatalytic lamp module once a year (no tools required).

It sounds like this thing is emitting really nasty reactive oxygen species, and they are supposed to rip up whatever odor molecules or microbes they hit. Of course, it seems like they would rip you up as well if you breath them. I'm dubious that this thing will actually do a good job of removing submicron particulates from the air, which is what you really want one of these things to do. It won't necessarily destroy an odor molecule, it might turn it into something that's a lot worse for you. What I would want to see is an independent test of its ability to clear a fixed volume of standard particulates. It doesn't sound like that exists, or if it does exist, they don't want to bring it up on their web site. Either way, I don't have a great feeling about it. I would look at one of the more mainstream models.

[ken_akiba]

It just came to my mind that 3M's 20x20 Filtrete pleated home air filters might be of use? You know, one of those you see at Home Depot. Just tape it behind a rugged 20" box fan. I'm positive that I saw charcoal-ed Filtrete filter, but i may be wrong. In my opinion, small cheapo air purifiers are... waste of money.
Good Luck!

Edited by ken_akiba, 11 May 2010 - 10:34 PM.

[niner]

I finally pulled the trigger on this one, the Rabbit Air BioGS 421A. I got it for my son who has a lot of allergies. It is really quiet on the low setting. I'm definitely happy about that. There was only one issue with it; it has sensors for particulates and odors, and the odor sensor is kind of hyperactive. In the course of debugging that, I moved it from my son's room into mine, and now I don't want to give it back. I solved the hyperactive sensor problem by switching it from auto to a permanent low speed,though that isn't entirely satisfying from a technogeek point of view. I'll probably buy another one after I have some more experience with it. My allergist has a Rabbit Air (one of the bigger models) in his own house, and likes it. This model is $330 at the Rabbit Air web site, but I got it at Vitacost for $300.

[ajnast4r]

I finally pulled the trigger on this one, the Rabbit Air BioGS 421A. I got it for my son who has a lot of allergies. It is really quiet on the low setting. I'm definitely happy about that. There was only one issue with it; it has sensors for particulates and odors, and the odor sensor is kind of hyperactive. In the course of debugging that, I moved it from my son's room into mine, and now I don't want to give it back. I solved the hyperactive sensor problem by switching it from auto to a permanent low speed,though that isn't entirely satisfying from a technogeek point of view. I'll probably buy another one after I have some more experience with it. My allergist has a Rabbit Air (one of the bigger models) in his own house, and likes it. This model is $330 at the Rabbit Air web site, but I got it at Vitacost for $300.

nice! one day ill be able to afford one of those... i still have my QUOTE UNQUOTE ultraquiet honeywell which is not even close to being quiet. works GREAT but even on low the noise is very perceptible.

[nameless]

How quiet (or loud) are the Rabbit Airs on medium or high settings?

I previously tried a HoneyWell (the big round kind) and the noise drove me crazy. That, and the glowing blue neon light -- very distracting when used to a dark room when sleeping. And high settings on the thing sounded like a jet was in my room.

Problem I find is, at low settings air purifiers don't bother me when I want to sleep. But they also don't seem to do a whole lot allergy-wise for me.

Higher settings clean the air decently, but then I need earplugs.

Whirlpool used to make a really silent purifier, which for some reason they stopped making, but I'm not aware of any other super quiet brands out there. One alternative I've considered is getting a super duper purifier, larger than required for a bedroom, and run that at low, which should clean the room and not deafen me at the same time. But I really don't feel like spending $800+ for a purifier.

Edited by nameless, 27 May 2010 - 06:16 AM.

[laurence]

One alternative I've considered is getting a super duper purifier, larger than required for a bedroom, and run that at low, which should clean the room and not deafen me at the same time. But I really don't feel like spending $800+ for a purifier.

This is what I did. Bought an IQAir HealthPro 250 (called a 'Plus' in the US) 2 weeks ago due to this thread sparking an interest and the fact that I would occasionally wake up at 2-3am feeling crap with a blocked nose. At the lowest setting it is still quite audible. It also made a slight rattling noise which thankfully dissipated after the first days use. Now I actually like the low whooshing noise it makes, a bit like distant ocean noise.

It was expensive, especially here in Australia, but I'm glad I bought it as I have noticed improved sleep. Waking up able to breathe through both nostrils is a good sign too. The only minor down sides are that it is quite large and looks like it was designed more for a hospital setting rather than a bedroom. I also had to covered up the bright led's with a sticker.

[nameless]

IQAir is the 'super duper' purifier I had in mind. I've been eying their models for a while, but their prices scare me off. The cheapest models I've seen still go for about $800.

They are considered top of the line (from what I've read) and have been used in hospital settings, so I suppose that's why it looks that way.

Would you consider the low setting equivalent to a fan's noise? I'm okay with some noise -- just not weird, uneven (or high pitched) sounds or jet engines.

[zm3thod]

My Allergist has a BlueAir 403 http://us.blueair.co...de/10?q=node/57 but said that my Honeywell True HEPA would be sufficient for less money

[GhostBuster]

I gave this model a shot and ordered it (it hasn't arrived yet):

http://weinproducts....ve_Ionizer.html

It should be an outstanding ionizer: it produces 450 trillions per second. Most commercial products have an ion out put of around couple of millions. I'm experimenting with negative ions, since they should have health benefits. I'm a little worried though due to such a monstrous ion out put.

[InquilineKea]

Does anyone know of air purifiers that work for nanoparticles (or particles less than 0.3 microns in diameter)? Particularly cheap ones?

Anyways, I don't really care about any of the other features (like bacteria/viruses) - I just want to reduce nanoparticle count.

http://www.quora.com...f-air-pollution explains my reasoning. Nanoparticles can actually kill neurons.

Indoor air pollution is higher than outdoor air pollution: see http://skeptics.stac...r-air-pollution

By the way, don't use ionizers.

Edited by InquilineKea, 14 March 2012 - 12:57 AM.

[niner]

Does anyone know of air purifiers that work for nanoparticles (or particles less than 0.3 microns in diameter)? Particularly cheap ones?

Anyways, I don't really care about any of the other features (like bacteria/viruses) - I just want to reduce nanoparticle count.

http://www.quora.com...f-air-pollution explains my reasoning. Nanoparticles can actually kill neurons.

Indoor air pollution is higher than outdoor air pollution: see http://skeptics.stac...r-air-pollution

By the way, don't use ionizers.

The papers you posted on quora talk about some of the damage that particulate pollution can cause, but they didn't say anything about the relationship of size to danger. I think that information is out there somewhere, but I don't have it at hand. If you knew the size vs danger curve, then you could compare to filter efficiencies measured at different particle sizes.

Modern HEPA filters are pretty good, even with the really small particles.

[InquilineKea]

Oh, good points. Yeah - I know that the info is out there somewhere too - I just need to find it and collect it again.

Article 1 says this:

The freeway particles measured between a few dozen to 200 nanometers -- roughly one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and too small for car filtration systems to trap.

You're probably right about HEPA filters and small particles though - http://www.quora.com...e-nanoparticles explains it.

Edited by InquilineKea, 14 March 2012 - 01:21 AM.

[InquilineKea]

Hmm - I just bought the Hamilton Beach 04383 True Air Allergen-Reducing Air Cleaner (http://www.amazon.co...31703750&sr=8-3). I hope I won't regret this purchase...

I did so much comparing today though. But ugh, there are no objective metrics online. Consumer Reports does testing of these things, but even that place hides the raw data.

Edited by InquilineKea, 14 March 2012 - 05:44 AM.

[GhostBuster]

By the way, don't use ionizers.

Why not?

[abolitionist]

I use the following;

1. 4" carbon filter which has a hepa prefilter on it - http://www.wormsway....spx?sku=BCF6416
2. 4" inline fan, about 150cfm - http://www.amazon.co...n/dp/B000OM87Q8
3. 4" inline fan silencer - http://www.plantligh...-12-p-3492.html

about $250-300 all together

works great and you can put it on a timer to run just a few hours a day, this will actually take all smells out of your place and you'll be surprised at what accumulates on the pre-filter - which is washable
the carbon filters in my experience will last a few years and the fans are bulletproof

indoor air quality is an even bigger concern in the winter time when your windows are closed and you are running the heaters which release pollution
and/or CFL light bulbs which release toxins every time they are turned on

----------------

the first time you use a carbon filter attach it to the fan and run it outside for a few minutes to get rid of loose carbon particles.

Edited by abolitionist, 14 March 2012 - 08:13 PM.

[abolitionist]

don't waste your time with ion filters or hepa filters they are bullshit, only activated carbon filters with hepa prefilters are effective, and to really clean the air in your home you need at least a 4" inline fan

[InquilineKea]

Heaters release pollution? How?

===

Ionizers are bad because the ions they release react with O2 in the air to form ozone, which is bad for your lungs.

[abolitionist]

some heaters are perfect and do not release chemicals, but all that I've come accross do, you can tell just by the smell.

[niner]

and/or CFL light bulbs which release toxins every time they are turned on

CFL bulbs release toxins? Really? I've never heard this before. What exactly are they claimed to emit?