We have had tabletop models in our room and in DD's room since December. It really seems to help. We turn it on high at night when we are sleeping. And when we clean the collectors periodically, you can really see all the dust and dirt that it captures.

Dottie, does the problem only happen at night when you open the windows? If so, having a filter won't help. You need to keep those window shut. THEN the filter will help.

If you are having problems at night even when you never open the windows, the problem is most likely your pillows or mattress. Especially if the pillows are old or made of feathers. Dust mites can be a problem in the bedrooms too. Damp mop the floor often if you don't have rugs.

We have an IB from Sharper Image in DH's office, which is above the garage & not served by our central HVAC. I do notice a big difference up there with that filter. The dog and cat keep him company during the day, too. When we replaced our furnace 2 years ago, we attached a Honeywell electronic air filter, which works great. The only drawback is that it runs only when the fan runs, which is intermittently when your heat or AC is on. Otherwise, I sometimes runs just the fan for awhile. I think the installer said it takes about 24 hours to completely recycle all the air in the house.

But PeaBee4 is right, filters don't help unless the windows are closed. It's probably easiest to control your bedroom environment by following her suggestions re mattress, pillows and floor.

Two other points - our family doctor initially recommended the air filter for my husband, so we had him write that out in case it would make a difference in our taxes. (It didn't and I don't know that it would have been allowed, anyway.) Also, Sharper Image gives you 50% off a second Ionic Breeze, so if you have a friend who wants one (as I did), you can buy 2 and each save 25%. I didn't buy both at the same time, but went back with my receipt about a week later and they gave me the 50% off.

I got the IB filter,and put it in my bedroom. I am now keeping the windows closed. Last night,was the first time I had the air filter in the bedroom,and noticed a big difference. My pillows aren't that old,but am going to look into the special covers for dust mites. Thank you for your responses.
Dotty

I used to really suffer from my allergies and took twice daily medication for years. Now I have air cleaners in each room that run 24 hours a day. Every couple of days, I air out my home for about 15 minutes then I close the windows again.

I just buy the quietest cleaner I can find at Sears. It has been years since I have had a sinus headache. I only take medication when my nose says the newspaper pollen count is correct.

Don't worry about the price of the air cleaner - worry about how noisy it is and how much filters cost. I love filters - don't like to touch dirty stuff to wash off the grids - ugg. Good luck.

I have 4 of the IBs and I love them. I have a small place, 2 bd, 2 bt. One in each of the bedrooms, and then living room and one in the dining room. The collection grids get filled up with enough muck about every 1 to 1.5 weeks that they need cleaning to run without "hissing" and also to run efficiently I'm presuming.

When I replaced my furnace last November I had a dual UV lamp do-hickey installed at the time of the furnace installation and so I think the IBs might be overkill but I love the "smell" of the indoor air.

And yes all windows and doors have to be shut or gunk gets in.

Also, if you burn candles while the IB is running close by, be prepared to do some extra cleaning on the collection grids. Candles seem to really muck up the IB with what I recall as a sticky kind of oily residue. After we discovered this (and strangely were even labeled with stickers that warned of this and I managed to ignore :( ) I took to shutting off during candle burning. For the most part know we simply skip the burning of candles since the "natural" air smells pretty good.

Cheers,
--jans

Just curious if you have a cat or dog that stay inside and maybe it's the pet hair that might be bothersome as well?

Our 19 yr. old Himalayan cat died about 3 weeks ago and I am still vacuuming up cat hair. She was a fuzzy fur ball. I don't know how to get it off the ceiling fan in the master bedroom. The fan is really high. I stood on a ladder and tried to get it off with a duster, but it's like stuck up there. Since we both have sinus problems/headaches, we aren't going to get another cat, although we miss her very much.