do those air purifiers work?

[Looney]

Originally posted by: eelw
to the original poster, the best option for you to do is buy the Ionic Breeze directly from Sharper Image and take advantage of their 30 day trial period. See if it fits your needs and whether or not the ozone scent bothers you. If you don't like it, just return it, the only cost which you will incur is the return shipping.

I've owned my Ionic Breeze for about 6 months now. The dust level in my house is definitely lower. The ionic breeze works great in the kitchen to remove odours when cooking. In the long run, the ionic breeze will be cheaper to own that a regular filtered based air purifier. The only downside I find is the ozone odour. It doesn't really bother me, but I find the scent dissappears entirely when you point it backwards. I usually have the Ionic Breeze about 2-3 feet away from the wall so air is pulled through the Ionic Breeze and then the filtered air (plus ozone) is blown towards the wall. By the time this air circulates back into the rest of the room, the ozone is gone (ozone has a halflife of about 15 minutes)

I would just buy it from Ebay... Sharper Image has an online presence there, and it's much cheaper than the actual store. Besides, if you don't like it, it's easy to sell it locally anyways... without much of a lost, if any!

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
tcsenter - Thanks for the wealth of information! Do you think the Friedrich C-90A is worth $499 after discounts?

It's hard to say with some of the Austin Air and IQAir units going for around $500 complete.

If you're willing to wash the pre-filters, wipe/vacuum the exterior of the unit, and clean the electrostatic plates, every two weeks, the C-90A is a good product. The CR tests don't 'lie', but they don't take into account that the Friedrich and similar products using the same electrostatic mechanism have to be cleaned regularly to maintain their effectiveness.

Everything is about trade-offs. If you want low maintenance, it'll cost you more to operate. If you want low cost to operate, it will require more maintenance. If you want quiet operation without sacrificing CADR, you'll need to buy a much larger unit with greater filtration area. If you want a compact and unimposing unit, you'll sacrifice CADR. If money is no object, HEPA is the definitive particulate arresting mechanism. If money is an object, electrostatic mechanisms with mechanical pre-filters can serve most people's needs.

I will say that if you go with a HEPA, avoid compact units and get a big one. The only way to combat frequent filter changes and get decent CADR without a lot of fan noise is to go with a larger filtration area, which means larger filters, which means larger units. HEPA works, some might argue they work too damned good.

Decisions decisions.

 

[dawks]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic

Originally posted by: mrCide
how well would the ionic breeze work in an 11x13 room thats pretty dusty?

My room is about 10x25, and it worked great. I just couldn't stand the smell.

Would you say it smells like chlorine? Like a pool? I personally love that smell

How do ozinators (sp?) used in hottubs compare to this? Or is there absolutly no connection..? Just curious, cause Im sure the one we have makes our water smell like chlorine, even though we still use a smaller amount of bromine, which is supposed to have very little oder..

 

[Kelemvor]

Only time we ever notice the smell is if we have the door closed in that room and we leave it like that for a number of hours. Or when we come back from vacation we will smell it. But it's not a BAD smell, it smells like a fresh outdoor scent. Can't really describe it. Just go to your local SharperImage store (if you have one) ad buy it. THen if you like it, return it and go buy 2 on their auction site for the same price as 1 in the store.

 

[Looney]

Would you say it smells like chlorine? Like a pool? I personally love that smell

Hell no, it doesn't smell like a pool... i like that smell too. It smells like a mild bleach.

 

[adlep]

In regards to the Consumer Reports test, I have heard that this entire article was sponsored by the producers of HEPA filters, therefore the result of testing is not suprising at all
I am going to get it thats for sure...

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: adlep
In regards to the Consumer Reports test, I have heard that this entire article was sponsored by the producers of HEPA filters, therefore the result of testing is not suprising at all
I am going to get it thats for sure...

Really? Wow.

These 'sponsors' apparently aren't getting their money's worth, given that CR has given top honors to a non-HEPA product several years running. CR's testing methodology inherently favors electrostatic cleaners, not HEPA.

CR funds its own tests, it doesn't allow 'sponsorship' of its tests by manufacturers.