Air Purifiers - Help Choosing?
Other - General Health Care November 18th, 2008
firemage86404 asked:
I am looking for an Air Purifier/Filter for my Room. Right now I am in a dorm room, about 15×15 feet not including the sink area and entrance. I wanted to get an air purifier that would give me some fresh air. Right now I have a tabletop Sharper Image Ionic Breeze and I notice a small difference in the air quality. I was looking at a Rabbit Air A2 model that was wall mountable, but it looked very expensive and had expensive filters. Anyone got any ideas?
I want it to have a larger coverage for when I move into a larger place (in another year to a year and a half). Noise is not too big of a deal, but it would be nice not to deal with.
About
According to recent Consumer Reports tests on smoke, dust, and pollen:
Whirlpool Whispure AP45030S $230
Kenmore Progressive 83202 $270
The best Sharper Image ionic breeze and similar models from other brands scored in the low 30’s, but 2 models are comparable to the filter-based models above.
The ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS (ionic breeze type) All produce some ozone; none of the following exceeded the 50-ppb voluntary FDA limit. Here’s a list of ones that are deemed safe, though almost all of them are very poor at purifying the air: sorted by overall score:
64 — Friedrich C-90B (as good as a filter-based one)
57 — Kenmore (Sears) K6 85264 equal to the Kenmore filter based one
39 — Bio-Net EGF Enhanced ftn1
34 — Sharper Image Hybrid Germicidal Purifier SI724GRY
31 — Ionic Pro Pure Pro 200
30 — Brookstone Pure-Ion Advanced
28 — Honeywell QuietClean HFD-135
24 — Oreck XL Tower Professional
17 — Oreck XL Tabletop Professional AIRPS
Notes on purifiers that create Ozone:
“…But our tests found that even at the ozone generators’ low everyday settings, their ozone production quickly exceeded the 50 parts per billion (ppb) FDA limit for medical devices. Purifiers aren’t considered medical devices by the FDA. Ozone concentrations in our test room measured about 650 to 990 ppb for the EdenPure, depending on the setting. The EcoQuest produced about 110 to 350 ppb at its normal and high settings and up to 4,300 ppb at its “away” settings, which the company says to use only when you and your pets aren’t home.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that relatively low levels of ozone can cause chest pain and shortness of breath. Ozone may also worsen asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections. The EPA regulates outdoor ozone levels, but there is no federal agency that regulates indoor levels or air purifiers. As we went to press, California banned the sale of ozone generators for most uses.”
If you want the best air purifier in market that are even used in hospitals are the IQAir. There are many kinds. They’re not cheap but its worth the price if fresh and clean air is really important to you, it will help those with asthma, cold, allergy, odor as well. The filters is quite expensive but you only change it at least once a year.
I have used the ionic breeze from sharper image before and it just doesnt catch much dust, due to the fact that it run quiet still leave dust around, compare to strong motor. Good thing is you just clean them, without buying any filter.
Right now I’m using the IQair pro, I bought that for my wife and new born baby. And I also used Kenmore 85500 Hepa plasma, its pretty good and it travels through 5 layers. It kills germ 99.9%. But the filter is $100 and replace it every 5 months, depends. Theres also a smaller version is kenmore 85510.
I personally use the Oreck air purifier. It works great for my room, which is probably similar in size to your dorm room. I purchased it from Good luck to you!