I'm bumping this up as another person interested in purchasing an electronic air cleaner. Also is it better to get a 2-stage variable-speed furnace with an electronic air cleaner or a single stage furnace, or does that even matter?

Here is a link that might be useful: TRANE CleanEffects air cleaner

I would certainly look into a heat recovery ventilator system (HRV) and balance the cost of this option against the Trane device, which may be effective but looks expensive. Personally, if the Trane thing approaches the cost of a HVR system, Id prefer to have the fresh air changes.

SR

I saw this at a home show recently and was curious about it too. We have an EAC, but I am so tired of washing it and it doesn't do as good of a job as I had hoped. We had problems with it recently too and just found out we've had a defective cell the whole time, so it's still under warranty and is being replaced.
This new one would be much easier to clean. You can just vaccuum it or wash it if you prefer, according to the person at the booth and it doesn't produce any ozone.
Is there a market for used EACs? I'd only switch if I could sell it, since the new unit isn't cheap. I'd probably wait to hear how people like it too, compared to an EAC.

Bumping this up to see if anyone has purchased one. If so, how do you like it?

I would choose the 5" media filter. You keep good air flow and you just throw em away. they can trap a large amount of dust and dirt and can also be used in conjunction with a UV lamp if so desired.

I have installed about 2 dozen so far on new construction.I am waiting for completion on those to see how much better they are than the original air cleaners.You must be carefull installing them on existing systems, they can be an air restriction.Must check existing static pressures.I really like the new design and we are starting to sell more and more of them.I have several more going in.I dont know of any other electronic air cleaner that is designed like this one.

I am looking at getting one of these as well.

My kids are beginning to develop allergies (pollen, dust) and their doctor recomended getting Hepa filters for their rooms.
Since We are in the process of replacing our 10 year old central system it seemed like the Trane EAC was a good option.

If it works as advertised that is.

I'd appreciate any reports on it.

I'm hopeing I won't have to give it the first review ;)

Any new info on the TRANE CleanEffects filter? Is it considered to be the best airfilter/purifier you can buy?

Carrier makes an equivalent filter to the clean effects. it does not operate on 24v(low voltage) though. It operates on 110v. THe clean effects filter is an excellent buy though. The only bad thing when looking at ANY filter that attatches to your HVAC system, is that it only operates when the fan in the furnace/air handler is on. Now for those of you in high humidity areas, this can be a very poor decision. As you will re-introduce humidity off of a wet coil back into your home, and ductwork. which can lead to mold and mildew. There is a system the is a whole house air cleaner, known as the Lifebreath. It is made by Nutech technologies. This is actually considered a medical device, in which you can get a prescription for. It is a whole house HEPA filter tht runs independently from your a/c and it runs 24 hrs a day. cycling the air inside your home 10x's per day. And Bama Dude couldn't be more right. the return side of the ductwork must be far overcompensated to allow for proper airflow. If not you may have a "sweaty" bottom of an airhandler.

We had the Trane CleanEffects installed with our new heat and air system in July so it's been operational for 3 months now. I cleaned (vacuumed) the filters at two months and found them to be about as dirty as the throw-away filter would have been on the old system.

As for filtering out pollen and various allergens, I am not overwhelmingly impressed by the system. Though I do not have allergies, my wife and son do and their allergy symptoms seemed to be as bad as usual, maybe even a little worse these past months. This is with the house totally closed-up and the a/c running full time here in central Arkansas.

At this point, my opinion is that the CleanEffects system is not worth the $900+ cost - at least in terms of effectiveness. I think the "99.98% airborne allergens" claim is marketing hype pure and simple. Perhaps over the life of the system, I will recoop the cost by not having to replace the 5" pleated filter every year.

Your results may vary.....but this is my opinion. I will continue to monitor the system and it's effects. Maybe it will seem to do better during the spring allergy season.

bump.

Does anyone have any new opinions or info?

We currently use use (Flander's 'Elite') 1" MERV 12+ filters that we check every week and replace monthly or sooner if needed. We are looking at Trane, Carrier and Lennox as replacements for our 28 yr old GE A/C and (broken) gas furnace. We would like the best filtration system that is economically feasible and efficient for our new system.

What are the +/- of the following:

1) Continue with 1" MERV 12+ filters changed regularly
2) 5" Media filters (MERV 16 quoted by Lennox dealer).
3) Lennox HEPA system (if we went with Lennox HP)
4) Apilaire
5) Trane Clean Effects
6) Carrier Infinity Air Purifier (MERV 15)
7) Carrier Performance Electronic Filter (MERV 12)

Obviously, the choice of which HVAC equipment we choose will determine the filtration options available to us, but since I have significant allergies (take antihistamines year-round) and asthma, air quality is an issue. I also have 4 cats, 2 dogs and 1 husband (all indoor/outdoor!). We have wood floors, vacuum regularly with a HEPA vac, but suffer with the horrors of Atlanta pollen come spring-time.

Any input or experience with the above is appreciated...

Thanks

I believe there is a recall for the Clean Effects. My personal choice is honeywell.

Thanks for the info. I was aware of the Trane recall, but hopefully they have rectified the problem for new units.

What is the Honeywell that you refer to? I know they sell 1" filters (at WM) 5" media filters, but do they also make an air cleaner aw well?

Honeywell has made electronic air cleaners for the past 20 plus years. Very reliable equipment!

I would have to agree with one of the previous posts recommending an independent Whole House option - like Lifebreath. Honeywell and others make similar systems, they run 24/7 independent of the HVAC system. A separate Return can be added and Supply depending on your home's layout; there are other options as well.

Power consumption is minimal, like leaving the bathroom lights on. Maintenance is minimal as well, prefilter changed every 3 to 6 months, HEPA changed every 1-3 years.

The Trane Clkean Effects has one major flaw that retailers dont tell you about.---- You have an extremely expensive maintenace cost with this system. The cost to keep it up is ridiculous. Its a terrific idea.. so is the one by Lennox, but-- I prefer Honeywell or Aprilaire 5" pleated media filters with the added UVC light kits by White Rogers or Honeywell. Far superior.... less cost= happier customers.

"You have an extremely expensive maintenance cost with this system"

What cost? I am just about to contract to have a Clean Effects system installed and all I've been told is that it needs to have the filter vaccuumed out when the service light comes on

The expensive maint cost would be to pay for someone to disassemble and clean the unit versus doing it themselves.

Some people just dont have the discipline, aptitude or patience to perform this task as needed.

Many people are lax in changing their standard filter so I imagine a 4" box filter is as much as they can attempt to handle.

When electronic air cleaners hit the furnace market in the 70's, they worked well but the bad rap came from lack of maintenance or service which resulted in the failure of cells and power supplies.

Some will remember the Aprilaire 5000 series media/electronic air cleaner when first introduced which had a concern for catching fire. Well it wasnt the operation or design which worked quite well. It was the lack of maint that caused the media to load up and thus becoming the fire hazard.

"If our cars didnt have gas written on the cap, someone would mistakenly fill it with water"

good post by zl.

most owners of EACs will not follow cleaning/maintenance instructions due to ignorance, lazy, or perhaps physical infirmity. a longtime expert on this forum touted that he removed more EACs than he installed.
the fact remains that a good 4-5" pleated media filter MERV 10 is more than adequate for over 99% of residential homes and provides good indoor air quality along with protection of evap coil and blower motor. Depending on home, pets, and number of people living in home, this filter can last up to twelve mths before changing out.

IMO

I have had a Cleaneffects since Oct 2007. I am very disappointed in its effectiveness. It was recommended highly by Consumers Reports at the time. They don�t recommend it that highly any more.
We have severe respiratory problems here, so I was anxious to get it. I am embarrassed to admit that I was such a sucker, but hopefully it will help someone else.
I was told by two different installers that the filter wouldn�t work with my old furnace, and modifying the furnace to make it work would cost more than a new furnace. I got the new furnace (Trane) even though my old one worked well, and it wound up costing me about $7000 to get both the furnace and the Cleaneffects filter.
It would have been worth every penny if the filter had performed as Consumers Reports claimed, but it hasn�t even come close. I still had a couple of old room filters around and one night my wife got so stuffed up that she decided to pull one out and put it in the bedroom. It cleared her up right away. I bought a couple more room filters and we are using them extensively now. The air is much cleaner and the room filters cost a lot less than the whole-house system.
I have maintained the system with diligence and in accordance with the manual, so those who say that system failures are due to laziness of the maintainer are wrong in this case. Here is why I think many users, such as me, are disappointed:
When the contractors talk about how these things work, they say that enough air moves through the filter to account for changing all the air in the room several times a day. That is true, but it is misleading. If all the air in each room went through the filter even once a day, I believe the system would work pretty well. But in reality most of the air in any room takes the shortest path from the furnace output to the furnace intake. Some of the air gets exchanged (and therefore cleaned) over and over again, but most of the air remains undisturbed and un-cleaned. In my home, furnace outlets are near the ceiling as are the furnace intakes. So air near the floor doesn�t get churned up and seldom gets into the filter. A small room filter cleans the air near it, so the best solution is lots of small room air filters.
In other words, a furnace-mounted whole house system is a flawed concept. In order for the system to work properly the furnace fan would have to run constantly at high speed and the house ducting would have to be designed so that the air will always be well-mixed. Air can�t be cleaned by the main filter if it never gets into it. You can make it work better with a lot of small fans, but if you are going to do that you might as well use small room filters.
I wish Consumer is Reports had done a better job of reviewing this a few years ago, and I wish I had applied a little more common sense to my purchasing decision. It is true that I have a much better furnace now and possibly the best air cleaner I can get using a furnace-mounted system. That is looking at the bright side, but I often think about how I could have used that $7000 for other things. It was an expensive lesson.