Any recommendations for an air purifier?

7 years ago

I've had relatively mild bronchitis for two months now. I dutifully took the prescribed azithromycin and then the augmentin, both of which did nothing--at least nothing good. It always gets worse in the evening and overnight. It didn't seem to start like an allergy, but it acts like one now, showing a marked improvement when I'm out of the house.

This old house, with its rough hemlock walls, collects dust and who knows what else. It's time to try brushing and vacuuming the walls again (with a mask!), but I'm also thinking it would be a good idea to get an air purifier. Do any of you have a model you particularly like? Thanks!

Featured Answer

OklaMoni

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Mine has no chance to try... but have you thought of putting a small fan on the floor, pointing up? It will suck animal hair to it... and clog it up, and need cleaning daily or more often?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (16)

User
7 years ago
I have a whole house "air purifier". It's by Aprilaire. I Googled it and they sell smaller versions. Aprilaire Allergy
OklaMoni
7 years ago
Susan I bought a coway from allergybuyers.com

I was tired of hauling mine from the bedroom to the living room during cedar and ragweed pollen seasons.

I LOVE my new one. Yes, it was expensive, but I am soooo worth it.

https://www.allergybuyersclub.com/airmega-400-air-purifiers.html

Moni

PS, mine is not wifi enabled
Related Discussions
Air purifiers
Q
Comments (8)
Consumer Reports tested several different brands a number of years ago--about the time I wanted to get one (allergies here, too). I was looking at the Sharper Image one--super expensive, supposedly the crud collected on the metal plate, just had to be swiped off. Supposedly really effective, and easy to clean. CR rated that kind at the bottom of the list. According to their test results, for the air filter to be effective, you need to have a fan and air filters involved. So we bought one for about 1/4 the price of the SI, and have been VERY satisfied with it. Turn it on, and in a half hour or so, the air in the room feels and smells like the air does after a summer shower--clean and cool. Makes such a difference. with ours, you have to wash the foam filter, and replace the paper one (looks like the air filter from a Mack Truck--LOL) regularly.
...See More
Let's clean the air........in your house!
Q
Comments (5)
Aeramax 300 It is only designed to treat an area of 300 to 600 square feet. As with any air cleaner you have to change the filters regularly at additional cost... otherwise it will do the work of a paper weight. If you have a home of 2000 square feet you would need 3 to 6 or possibly 7 of these models to clean the air in your home. Airmega 300s They claim better coverage up to 1256 sq ft with the base model. But you really have to think hard on this if you place this in a small room. If you have a wide open floor plan it would probably be marginally better than the Aeramax 300. The problem with an air cleaner that sits in the corner of the room is that it cleans the air in the corner of the room in which it sits. It can't clean bad air in another opposing room until this air some how reaches the unit to tell it to turn on. As with the first model, it requires maintenance in the way of changing filters. --------- Any Room Air Cleaner --- Final Conclusions------------ Given how people tend to forget to change even regular air filters within the HVAC system these kinds of appliances are unlikely to do much. If you're satisfied with just air cleaning one room then they might fit that need. But as time passes and maintenance costs stack up it's unlikely that the clean air nirvana will last long.
...See More
Whole Home Air Purifier -Air Knight, Carrier or other options?
Q
Comments (2)
Air filtration and air purification systems in general when it comes to whole home HVAC filtration solutions is long in the tooth about what they do and don't do in addition to that what they truly do in terms of cleaning the air without producing negative things you don't want like Ozone (any amount of Ozone production is not good for you). It's very subjective. Alergy sufferers: There are no two people alike when it comes to alergies. Some are more afflicted than others. I did some looking at the Air Knight Brand you mentioned in your post, just due to the Ozone producing alone I would never offer a product like that. In addition to that they recommend that the system blower run continuously, also the cost to me sounds self defeative to this product for what is required to make it work as designed. There are better options than this in my opinion. electrostatic filtration: In my opinion they don't work and tend to be very restrictive when it comes to air flow. They must be cleaned really well in most cases by means of taking them apart and cleaning each individual layer. (too much fuss to be a long term solution) They work by creating 'static' to charge the layers of the filter. If you live in a humid climate like I do it would be very challenging to generate the static needed to work properly. (drier climates are far easier at producing static electricity.) Because air conditioning is performed by the moving of air (350 -400 CFM per ton) restricting air via a restrictive filter like an electrostatic filter is not worth the trouble that will ensue, not to mention the higher light bills. So what is one to do? This situation is best left to your service provider. There are good intermediate choices that work well for most people, that perform well under most circumstances. The home in question, your alergy concerns and the cost of maintaining the system have to all be considered. Air purification systems (aside from cost and actually doing what they claim) biggest weakness is maintenance. This is yet another reason it is best left to your service provider. It's good that you've started your research and are questioning things. Often times manufacturer's only state the positives of the products they've made.
...See More
Whole home air purifier for new HVAC -what do you recommend?
Q
Comments (1)
Depends on if you plan to pay to have maintenance performed regularly on it. (You never stop paying for it... filters, bulbs, etc.) The cheaper models may do more harm than good or virtually nothing at all. (produce ozone) The better models that do the best cost $$$. Typically these are only worth it if you have someone who suffers from allergies... and you maintain it which can easily cost $250 or so a year for the better models. If you don't do the maintenance it will lose effectiveness over a years time. So you may as well keep the money in your pocket if your plan doesn't include maintaining it. Strap on a few more masks... if you can't breathe imagine how your poor HVAC system feels. Listen to the science. LOL. I don't recommend trying to DIY this either. I service the Katy, Texas area. (prepaid maintenance contracts so easy an autistic child of two could do it.)
...See More
Michael
7 years ago
Whole house types work best and can be more economical if you have a forced air furnace. Polarized air filtration and germicidal lamps work best for us and are easy to maintain.

The Aprilaire unit is also an excellent choice.

Portable units like an Oransi Max works well for rooms.
Lindsey_CA
7 years ago
My husband has asthma and allergies. His pulmonologist and allergist are in the same group. We have the same air purifier that the medical group has in their waiting room -- A Rabbit Air MinusA2. Ours is "plain white," but you can get them with different artistic covers. You can mount it on a wall, or set it on a table or on the floor. There are multiple filters that you only need to change about once a year. And it is so totally quiet that you don't even know it's on.
Elmer J Fudd
7 years ago
alisande, be attentive to your vacuum cleaner. If it doesn't have a Hepa filter on the air exhaust, much of the small particulate matter that gets sucked up will pass through and then be blown out the back.
OklaMoni
7 years ago
good point Elmer! Ihave a rainbow vacuum. No particles go back in the air. I have rather severe allergies... which I got the model I wrote above.
Michael
7 years ago
Yes on the vac discharge. That's just one reason we own a Miele.
Elmer J Fudd
7 years ago
"That's just one reason we own a Miele"

Ditto, we do too.
morz8 - Washington Coast
7 years ago
Alisande, I don't know how the room or free standing sized rate. My whole house air cleaner (which my present house does not have) was Honeywell and attached to the indoor unit to the heat pump with back up electric furnace. It worked great. Really great. I rarely had to dust - unlike here ;0)

I picked up two room sized Therapure at Costco a couple of years ago, I'm a little ho-hum about those but the price appealed to me that day.
Bluebell66
7 years ago
Does an air purifier pull pet hair out of the air, by chance? If not, is there a machine that does? Pet hair is a constant battle and I was just wishing for something that would assist in reducing pet hair in our home.
Bluebell66
7 years ago
Good idea OklaMoni. It's worth a try!
katrina_ellen
7 years ago
I have allergies and am constantly congested, it never goes away. Do the air purifiers really help?
OklaMoni
7 years ago
The air cleaners/purifiers give me a break from the outdoor allergens. I have slept with one running in my bedroom for about 9 years now, and I can really tell the difference when I sleep someplace else.

I also have that other one now in the living room, and am so good feeling after I get back indoors, showered, washed my hair and tossed my clothes in the washer.

Moni
Alisande
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks, everyone! A whole-house unit isn't in my budget--and possibly not useful anyway. I do have forced-air heating, but it doesn't extend to the bedrooms. I didn't realize the good portable units cost that much. This is going to be an "interesting" year, as I need a new roof and also anticipate buying a new oil burner or propane burner if I switch to propane heat (a topic for another thread soon).

I checked my three vacuum cleaners (one for each floor, including the attic, where a couple of cats like to hang out. Two of them, including the one I use most often, have HEPA filters.

One of my family members is very allergic to my house. We thought it was residual allergens from our dogs, but I haven't had a dog in several years. So now I'm thinking it might very well be something else in this house, possibly the same thing that's now bothering me.

Does anyone know if those DIY home mold tests are any good?
anupt
5 years ago
House plants will definitely help with your problem. There are some NASA recommended house plants that you can find in the link below with the information about the toxins that they can remove from your house. I hope this helps.
https://www.sendflowerssydney.com.au/indoor-plants/

Any recommendations for an air purifier?

OklaMoni

Comments (16)

User

OklaMoni

Related Discussions

Michael

Lindsey_CA

Elmer J Fudd

OklaMoni

Michael

Elmer J Fudd

morz8 - Washington Coast

Bluebell66

Bluebell66

katrina_ellen

OklaMoni

Alisande
Original Author

anupt

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Any recommendations for an air purifier?

Comments (16)

Related Discussions

AlisandeOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Alisande
Original Author