OT: Room air purifier

[slidey]

So in the new place I've moved into a couple of months back, my landlord has a couple of pets. Given that I'm having constant asthma attacks this past week, I've concluded that I'm allergic to the pets or their fur. I've just begun testing with Allegra, but I'm also trying to look into the option of room purifiers. Which one would you recommend?

Alternatively, do any of you have subscription to this site: www.consumerreports.org/cro/air-purifiers.htm
? If yes, would you mind sharing the ratings and features of the "Room purifiers" listed therein.

Thanks!

P.S. I've run through most other alternatives with a doctor just now, so yeah animal fur is the culprit almost surely.

[SteveV0983]

We purchased an IQAir Health Pro Plus several years back mainly because we cannot sleep without white noise and this was the best sounding one. My wife also has asthma and has always used an air cleaner, but never one this good. It's pretty much the top rated one everywhere you look and it was supposed to be the best thing since sliced cheese at cleaning the room air. It works good, but I honestly could never recommend it unless you have a lot of money to blow. The initial investment in the machine is high enough as is (I believe they are around $800.00 now), but that's not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is the replacement filters. We keep ours running 24/7 for the most part and we'll go through 2-3 pre-filters per year ($59.00 each), 1-2 charcoal odor filters per year ($89.00 each) and one hepa filter per year ($189.00 each). So although it works well, it costs a small fortune to keep up the filters. Of course if you run it less, you can cut down on that considerably.
A bigger way we found to combat airborne allergens was to invest in a good vacuum. Having a crap vacuum like a Hoover that blows half of what it sucks up back into the air was always what used to trigger attacks for my wife. Then we bought a Meile 10 years ago and have never looked back. As far as cleaning the room, there is nothing better. I was the first one to think who he hell would pay $600.00 for a vacuum, but these things are worth every penny and then some.

[slidey]

Thanks for the reply Steve, and yeah "that blows", see what I did there :banana:

I'll give the vacuuming another go and see if I need to go in for air purifiers.

[Ti_on_Steel]

Look into the purifying properties of some house plants. This is based on a NASA study.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-filtering_plants

[slidey]

Looks like Peace Lily might work! Thanks :)

Look into the purifying properties of some house plants. This is based on a NASA study.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-filtering_plants

[jazznap]

I have the same IQAir mentioned above and agree with everything said. A great purifier but can get costly to maintain.

FYI - Check out http://hepaairdirect.com. They now make replacement filters for the IQAir and run ~$90 cheaper for the three pack (i.e. all three filters in the unit) and are made in the USA.

[svelocity]

Look into the purifying properties of some house plants. This is based on a NASA study.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-filtering_plants Ya learn something new every day!

[Tandem Rider]

Slidey, do you have carpet or a lot of rugs? If so, try getting rid if as much of them as possible.

It is often the dander that we (me) are allergic to in pets, not the hair. A conventional vacuum sucks in on the hose end, and blows an equal amount of air out the discharge port. This is often pointed down. What this means is that while one is dilligently capturing the heavier particles and dirt with the hose, the much lighter dander not yet vacuumed up is blown into in a cloud inside the home which gets re-distributed after the air settles down.

Mrs.TR purchased a robotic vacuum which sucks/blows much more gently and runs it daily, helps a lot, but ours won't work on rugs/carpet. Prior to this we would drymop daily to collect fine dust and dander as well as before running the vacuum which worked pretty good. lots of extra work though. No carpet and only a few rugs in our house helps.

[mandasol]

I suffer from terrible allergies and chronic sinusitis several times a year, so I've used many different air purifiers ranging from cheap units under $100 to whole house units built into the HVAC system costing thousands.

I was having the worst allergy symptoms at my work with coughing nonstop, runny and stuffed nose, and could barely breath so I searched for yet another unit for my office at work and found this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0067D7CKU/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00

It's pretty cheap (bought it when it was on sale for $119) so I wondered if it actually would be any good, but since the reviews were good and it was cheap I gave it a shot. Well, it's been working great for me. I bought another for my bedroom at home and leave both of them on 24/7 on low setting when I'm not in the rooms and on medium or high when I'm in them. I can actually breath comfortably again at work and all through the night. Since I bought it I haven't felt the need for nasal rinsing.

[Richard]

Here is the Consumer's Reports list in best to worst order:



Whirlpool AP51030K

Hunter 30547 $260

Blueair 503 $600

GE AFHC32AM $350

Blueair 650E $800

Holmes HAP756-U $146

Electrolux EL500AZ $280

Honeywell 50250 1 $190

Honeywell 50255
Similar to tested model: Honeywell 50250


Blueair 403 $500

Kenmore Plasmawave 85450 $300

GE AFHC21AM $250

3M Filtrete Ultra Clean Air Purifier FAP03-RS 1 $200

FilterStream AirTamer A710 $330

Amway Atmosphere 101076 $1075

Idylis IAP-10-280 (Lowe's) $300

Sharp FP-A60U $250

Vollara FreshAir HEPA US40726B 1 $500

Therapure TPP250 $175

Humanscale Zon HZAB $300

Oreck Airinstinct 200 AIR108 $500

Idylis (Lowe's) IAP-10-200 $250

HoMedics AR-20 $120

[Richard]

Just an FYI, you should google Allegra or Fexofenedrine and the notion of addiction or dependence. I used to take it every day for a few years and when I decided to stop, the withdrawal effects were very bothersome. Think about Claritin, instead.

[Tin Turtle]

We use an IQAir in Beijing. Great unit, and a neccessity there.

[slidey]

Just thought I'd update on this, mainly since I don't like loose ends.

Thanks everyone for the PM's on this as well as all the suggestions on here, all of which have been very helpful. I really am very glad to the forum for being such an awesome place...hopefully, I'll be able to help some of you in some way too.

As for my solution, keeping an eye on the future which I'm expecting to bring a change in location, I've had to resort to the worst means of preventing my dander allergy-triggered asthma i.e. popping one Allegra a day. :butt: