Author Topic: air purifiers  (Read 7775 times)

Case

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air purifiers
« on: January 16, 2016, 01:45:01 PM »
I have an old house (built circa 1957) and I have some concerns about hazardous particles in the air.  The insulation appears to be cellulose, but I occasionally find trace amounts of fiber-like stuff when dusting the house.  Also, I have had a chronic cough for years now, and though I have been unable to determine the root case I think cleaning up the air quality might be a good idea.

So, I was thinking about getting an air filter with a HEPA filter.  I would be looking for a unit to go in a room, rather than a central air unit (we have radiant heating, not forced air).

Any suggestions on the best value stuff to get, or recommendations otherwise?

Bucksandreds

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2016, 02:56:10 PM »
Austin air healthmate plus.  Rather pricey ($500-$650) upfront but has 15 pounds of carbon (reduces VOCs) plus zeolite and filters can be changed at 2-3 years (they claim 5 but the carbon will be saturated if you use it 24/7 before 5 years.) Put it in your living room or bedroom or better yet one in each.  Battelle labs is a gigantic research facility and they tested actual gas removal for the U.S. Government and recommended Austin Air. U.S. Government then purchased a ton for it's facilities.  Consumer reports rates Austin Air poor but their tests were flawed.  Basically rate of particulate (think pollen, dust etc)  clearance was tested and filters with carbon ( needed for VOC gas removal) slow down the overall speed of the fans thus slowing down particulate removal. 

I have three Austin Airs and have horrible allergies and they work. Blue Air and IQ air may be slightly better but their much lighter carbon filters requirevery frequent and very expensive replacement. You won't get as much carbon for your money with anything other than Austin Air.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2016, 04:51:56 PM by Bucksandreds »

Bracken_Joy

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2016, 04:47:52 PM »
A good one to remember as well: outside air is always cleaner. All that electrically active ozone and plants and such. Also, UV is a potent sanitizer. Opening your windows and shades as often as possible is an option as well.

Which is not to say don't also do the air purifier. I have 2 that I run overnight as "white noise machines" and to clean up the air. (both got free- woop woop. One a relative didn't like, the other was a freebie in an apartment trash room that had gotten scuff marks on it. Means I have no opinion on brand though) Best of luck!

FrugalWad

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2016, 05:31:22 PM »
This beast called the IQAir Health Pro Plus for the issues I was having living in a suspect apartment and having pet allergies for a while. It seemed to help considerably. Didn't help my wallet any with the initial cost, but it was well worth it being able to breathe easier. I had to replace the filter after a year.

Case

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2016, 08:06:49 PM »
Austin air healthmate plus.  Rather pricey ($500-$650) upfront but has 15 pounds of carbon (reduces VOCs) plus zeolite and filters can be changed at 2-3 years (they claim 5 but the carbon will be saturated if you use it 24/7 before 5 years.) Put it in your living room or bedroom or better yet one in each.  Battelle labs is a gigantic research facility and they tested actual gas removal for the U.S. Government and recommended Austin Air. U.S. Government then purchased a ton for it's facilities.  Consumer reports rates Austin Air poor but their tests were flawed.  Basically rate of particulate (think pollen, dust etc)  clearance was tested and filters with carbon ( needed for VOC gas removal) slow down the overall speed of the fans thus slowing down particulate removal. 

I have three Austin Airs and have horrible allergies and they work. Blue Air and IQ air may be slightly better but their much lighter carbon filters requirevery frequent and very expensive replacement. You won't get as much carbon for your money with anything other than Austin Air.

Thanks for this in depth info.

FYI, i'm not so much looking for carbon filters which I think mostly remove volatile chemicals.  I am mostly interested in removing particulates, and possible cat dander.

Case

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2016, 08:09:42 PM »
This beast called the IQAir Health Pro Plus for the issues I was having living in a suspect apartment and having pet allergies for a while. It seemed to help considerably. Didn't help my wallet any with the initial cost, but it was well worth it being able to breathe easier. I had to replace the filter after a year.

Holy crap that's expensive.  Did you shop around and consider units in a smaller price class?

Bucksandreds

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2016, 06:27:27 AM »
Austin air healthmate plus.  Rather pricey ($500-$650) upfront but has 15 pounds of carbon (reduces VOCs) plus zeolite and filters can be changed at 2-3 years (they claim 5 but the carbon will be saturated if you use it 24/7 before 5 years.) Put it in your living room or bedroom or better yet one in each.  Battelle labs is a gigantic research facility and they tested actual gas removal for the U.S. Government and recommended Austin Air. U.S. Government then purchased a ton for it's facilities.  Consumer reports rates Austin Air poor but their tests were flawed.  Basically rate of particulate (think pollen, dust etc)  clearance was tested and filters with carbon ( needed for VOC gas removal) slow down the overall speed of the fans thus slowing down particulate removal. 

I have three Austin Airs and have horrible allergies and they work. Blue Air and IQ air may be slightly better but their much lighter carbon filters requirevery frequent and very expensive replacement. You won't get as much carbon for your money with anything other than Austin Air.

Thanks for this in depth info.

FYI, i'm not so much looking for carbon filters which I think mostly remove volatile chemicals.  I am mostly interested in removing particulates, and possible cat dander.

In that case, any true Hepa is sufficient. Whirlpool Whispure, Honeywell, Coway and others are rated very well for particulates. I would caution all against not considering VOC removal. Homes tend to having 2-10 times the VOC level of outside air.  Air is the one thing that your body is taking from your surroundings, nonstop.  Formaldehyde, Benzene, Toluene, etc cause many different types of cancers. It's 100% proven. It's also proven that a proper carbon based filter can greatly reduce these concentrations. If I were anyone thinking about buying an air filter. VOC removal would be an important aspect to consider.

FrugalWad

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2016, 10:39:29 AM »
Holy crap that's expensive.  Did you shop around and consider units in a smaller price class?

I needed two purifiers due to the size of the apartment. I kept the major IQAir in the living room, and used this Sharp purifier for the bedroom. It was less than a third of the cost, and that did great too. It's nowhere near up to the quality of the IQAir, but it did fine for just being in the bedroom.

Bucksandreds

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2016, 11:14:01 AM »
Holy crap that's expensive.  Did you shop around and consider units in a smaller price class?

I needed two purifiers due to the size of the apartment. I kept the major IQAir in the living room, and used this Sharp purifier for the bedroom. It was less than a third of the cost, and that did great too. It's nowhere near up to the quality of the IQAir, but it did fine for just being in the bedroom.

That's a super legit air purifier.  I find Austin air to be 90% as good at about 50% of operational cost due to less frequent filter changes.  99% of people have no idea how many carcinogenic chemicals they are breathing in and how valuable it can be to spend a few thousand dollars over the years to breathe significantly less chemicals.

letired

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2016, 03:09:52 PM »
The Sweethome recently did a writeup on air purifiers here. They do a great job of breaking down which are the most important factors to consider when buying an air purifier. I've been considering one myself, and their writeup has been super helpful!

expatartist

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2016, 05:57:27 PM »
Build your own, using a HEPA filter strapped to a fan. The fancy air purifiers (including IQ Air) use essentially the same system to remove particulates.

We have a couple of these http://smartairfilters.com/en and a fancy one provided by my work. Our city is notoriously polluted, with hazardous air quality that occasionally makes international headlines.


Case

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2016, 07:38:22 PM »
Build your own, using a HEPA filter strapped to a fan. The fancy air purifiers (including IQ Air) use essentially the same system to remove particulates.

We have a couple of these http://smartairfilters.com/en and a fancy one provided by my work. Our city is notoriously polluted, with hazardous air quality that occasionally makes international headlines.

Now this is what I'm talking about!

I actually ordered a GermGuardian a couple hours ago... debating cancelling hte order ot try out one of these things.  Went with the GermGuardian just cuz it was an el cheapo and I didn't know exactly what I was getting into.  I wonder if you can stack the carbon fitler with the HEPA filters on the link you sent.

expatartist

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2016, 06:59:59 PM »
You should be able to get the HEPA filters in the US. When I met the guys last year they said the HEPA filter should ideally be strapped directly to the fan with no other barriers for maximum filtering effect. Send them a message and they should get back to you, they're Open Source, not proprietary about their technique.

Another challenge with these models is the noise: if you have a good-sized room, a small fan won't cut it. You'll want a good-sized, powerful fan.

shanghaiMMM

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2016, 10:57:24 PM »
Was just about to recommend the SmartAir one! I'm in China too and they're great for the air and the wallet.

caramia

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #14 on: August 10, 2018, 03:57:22 AM »
I suggest you to use the air purifiers from Rabbit Air, or Levoit.
Korean brands like Coway is also good to go air purifier.


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« Last Edit: November 03, 2023, 02:35:15 AM by caramia »

magnet18

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #15 on: August 10, 2018, 04:20:41 AM »
Try getting away for a week or 2 and see how the cough does

An older guy I used to work for suffered from daily, pretty much constant migranes, coughs, etc for decades, and doctors couldn't figure it out

Then he built a new house and moved, migranes gone

I shudder to think what was in the air at that old farmhouse he was in before

If you've got something really nasty in the house an air purifier is just a band aid over what could be a serious problem

AlotToLearn

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Re: air purifiers
« Reply #16 on: April 14, 2019, 06:56:03 AM »
I own a Levoit air purifier and it has made a world of difference over the past 15 months.