Air purifiers - Allergies Message Board

eye_4_got · 08-04-2005, 03:00 PM

Can anyone recommend a good air purifier/cleaner? The ones that Sharper Image sells are very expensive. I've seen similar looking ones on **** for a fraction of the cost.

I recently went for allergy testing/medication and am trying to reduce the amound of allergens in my house. I have a HEPA filter vacuum, am going to buy HEPA filters for my furnace and have the ducts cleaned but I would also like to purchase something to clean the air that I can keep in my bedroom.

I've also read conflicting information on them. Some offer to reintroduce Ozone into the air (which is supposed to be good?) while others say that you should not use an ozone producing air purifier.

Also what is better, a unit with a filter or a unit without? I would think the unit without a filter would be cheaper because you don't have to buy the filters, however, I don't want to have to clean the surface inside and reintroduce allergens into my home. I used to have a bagless vacuum because it was supposed to be better, but I wound up putting so much dust in the air everytime I emptied the canister that I went back to the bag type.

Any advice/recommendations will be greatly appreciated!

sneezydiva · 08-04-2005, 05:24 PM

the sharper image one is junk. It doesn't have a fan, so it cleans very little of the air. Comsumer Reports rated it as unacceptable. My choice of air purifier is the Blue Air. It has the highest Clean Air Delivery Rate of any other brand at the time I bought mine about 2 years ago. It does require pre-filters, but they only needs replacing every 6 months. They are pricy, but worth it IMHO.

Honeywell, Whirpool, Friedrich and Austin all are good solid brands worth considering also.

I do have a Weiner electrostatic one, that I bring with me when I travel (it's very small). Too much Ozone is bad for asthma, because it can irritate the lungs. It also gives me a headache sometimes. This is why I don't use one 24/7. But I like to "zap" a hotel room, or relative's guestroom when I first arrive to at least cut down on the allergans some.

Hope this helps!