Would you like to know more about how you can buy air purifiers while avoiding costly mistakes?
Why not invest the time now to discover the simple rules to getting the clean air you want?
Rule #1: Don’t Be Pressured To Buy The “Best Air Purifier”
Instead, focus on of satisfying your real needs
We all want what’s best for ourselves and our family. But what do you think? Is the best air purifier for you the same one I use, or the one on TV, or the one your brother-in-law recommends?
Or is it the one that satisfies your personal needs, your health and your budget?
Unfortunately, many consumers buy air purifiers based upon misguided advice that doesn’t take into consideration what they really need.
As a skilled craftsman chooses the right tool for a task you should choose the right air purifier for your circumstances. Before you buy air purifiers know the health benefits you want to achieve.
For instance, do you need an air purifier for allergies? Particles in the 2.5 to 10 micron range often cause sinus irritation and allergies. How effectively will your air purifier remove these? How often will it cycle your room air each hour? A minimum of four air changes is best for allergies.
If you have asthma, COPD, emphysema, MCS or other breathing ailments then particles smaller than 2.5 micron are your greatest concern. Only buy air purifiers rated to remove these particles while delivering six air changes per hour in your room.
I invite you to read more about how your health is improved by the right air purifier in my article, Buy An Air Purifier That Really Works.
Whatever your health need, the idea of a single best air purifier is a myth. Each air purifier is an exercise in trade-offs. Compare air purifiers based on the performance balance you wish to strike.
Certain air purifiers deliver high air flow but sacrifice odor removal. Some tackle odors exceptionally well but the dense activated carbon filter reduces air flow. Others balance both needs but at greater cost and noise. Some air purifiers perform well at a reasonable price but without extras you may want.
Lesson: The best way to buy air purifiers is to focus on your personal health needs and get value for your budget. A good place to begin is achoo!Allergy’s Air purifier Buying Guide.
Rule #2: Don’t Trust Air Purifier Reviews
Do your own careful research
Lesson: Do not rely upon air purifier reviews to compare air purifiers. What air purifier reviews don’t tell you is that they may exclude the best air purifiers simply because they aren’t available in the big box retail stores.
Or they exclude air purifiers clearly superior to whatever they’re promoting.
Or their testing criteria fails to address dangers like ozone, or realistically evaluate long term performance for the particles most harmful to your health.
These problems plague even the best air purifier reviews. For instance, the highly respected Consumer Reports has drawn fire for ill advised air purifier reviews. The primary complaints against Consumer Reports on air purifiers are:
- Flawed selection criteria based on sales volume not quality
- Flawed testing based on AHAM CADR (More about the flawed AHAM CADR ratings here.)
- Failure to evaluate permanent particle removal, allowing units that “static cling” particles to the test chamber walls
- Testing for only the largest 20% of particles, not the most harmful ultra-fine particles
- Failure to test for removal of gases and odors
- Basing results on a 30 minute test, not long term performance
- Accepting and recommending air purifiers that produce ozone despite the health risks of ozone
Here is one mother’s experience with Consumer Reports on air purifiers:
Lesson: Do not rely solely upon air purifier reviews to buy air purifiers. The results reflect the prejudices of the reviewers. Do your own research. A good place to begin is here on my site or achoo!Allergy’s Air purifier Buying Guide.
Rule #3: Don’t Trust Industry Air Purifier Ratings
Search out accurate third party air purifier information
Consumers almost always buy air purifiers that under-perform because air purifier ratings are subjective at best, deceptive at worst and almost always overstate the area that can be cleaned.
Air purifier experts recommend four air changes per hour (ACH) for allergy relief and six ACH for those with more severe and chronic respiratory ailments.
But how can you compare air purifiers for air changes per hour? Performance statistics are often not published. So there is little basis for trusting a manufacturer’s room size recommendation.
Where performance numbers are available manufacturers often make room size recommendations for one or two ACH. They base this estimate on air delivery at the maximum fan speed.
Even worse, some size recommendations are based on “free flow” ratings. Free flow means without any filters in place. Since you’re using your air purifier with filters installed this rating is useless for air purifier comparisons.
You should buy air purifiers based on how much clean air is delivered at low speed. That way noise is kept to a minimum. It also gives you surplus capacity when indoor air pollution is unusually high.
The CADR air purifier ratings should also be taken with a grain of salt. They often overstate performance for many air purifiers because the test is of short duration.
A case in point is ionic air purifiers. They do well initially but performance can slide by 80% in as few as three days as collection plates load with particles. Most consumers will let days or weeks pass between maintenance cleanings during which time little air purification is happening.
CADR ratings are based on large particulates like dust, pollen and smoke not the far more toxic and harmful ultra-fine particles smaller than 0.1 micron. CADR ratings provide no help to the consumer seeking to compare air purifiers for these more important health hazards.
Lesson: Don’t buy air purifiers based on manufacturers’ air purifier ratings. Seek out resources that honestly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of products like Allergy.com’s air purifier comparison chart.
Rule #4: Air Purifiers Alone Can’t Do It All
Take personal responsibility for your indoor air quality
Far too many buy air purifiers as a cure-all for indoor air quality problems without taking any other action.
What can you do to clear the air in your home and make certain you’re not countering the benefits of any indoor air purifiers you may be using?
You and I both choose the indoor environment we live in. No government agency holds sway over how you clean and maintain your home, what products you use, whether you keep pets, or whether you provide yourself with clean air. You alone make the decisions that affect your indoor air quality.
If you want to make the best decisions about your health then begin by learning how you can protect yourself by eliminating the sources of indoor air pollution.
Lesson: Indoor air purifiers play a role in clean air at home but the single most effective step is eliminating pollution at the source first.
Rule #5: Take Ozone Seriously
Ozone kills
Ozone has a fresh, after-the-rainstorm smell. Don’t be fooled! This is not the smell of clean air.
Exposure to ozone is the last thing you need. Ozone exacerbates asthma and other breathing difficulties. It increases sensitivity to allergens.
A 2004 EPA study found increased ozone concentrations were directly related to premature deaths. The study found that lowering outdoor concentrations of ozone by a mere 10 ppb (parts per billion) would result in some 4000 fewer premature deaths each year.
Yet ozone generators sold as air purifiers can increase indoor ozone levels by 300 ppb! How many may have paid the ultimate price, their very life, by using these machines?
Ionic air purifiers should also be considered with caution. While not emitting such high levels of ozone as ozone generators, they do produce ozone as a byproduct of normal operation. Do you really need this?
Lesson: Any product producing the pollutant ozone shouldn’t even be considered as an air purifier. Under no circumstances buy air purifiers that produce ozone.
Rule #6: Don’t Try to Buy Air Purifiers on the Cheap
Instead, shop for true value
Many who buy air purifiers mistakenly consider only the price, not long-term cost or value.
But can you really afford the cost of a wrong choice? Always consider long-term performance and cost. Discount and cheap air purifiers offer only cheap quality and poor performance.
Cheap air purifiers typically have higher maintenance costs. One of the “dirty little tricks” is to sell a cheap air purifier and then rob the customer with high priced replacement filters.
These air cleaners may also have poor prefilters that allow rapid clogging of the main filter, forcing you to regularly replace the filters.
Cheap air purifiers also have cheap motors prone to early failure. Cheap ionic air purifiers have cheap electronics, ionizing wires and pins that fail all too quickly.
Particle collection efficiencies and airflow rates in discount air purifiers may make upgrading your furnace filter a far better and cheaper option.
Lesson: Buy air purifiers that offer true value.
Rule #7: Always Consider Routine Maintenance
Unless you have a maid
Most consumers buy air purifiers without ever considering the true maintenance needs. Certain infomercials have misled the public into believing that filter maintenance is a laborious, messy and expensive chore.
HEPA filter air purifiers of superior quality and value may need a filter change only once every five years and take no more than ten minutes.
On the other hand, ionic air purifiers are presented as needing little more than a quick wipe or toss into the dishwasher.
But let’s dig deeper. In as few as three days ionic air purifier efficiency can become less than 20% resulting in very poor air cleaning.
To maintain efficiency regular cleaning is necessary. Many consumers complain that the plates are hard to disassemble and reassemble, are hard to clean between and don’t always fit in a dishwasher.
What is the five-year cost of running the collector plates through the dishwasher every second or third day? What about the time cost? How does a ten-minute filter swap once every three to five years compare to the time spent removing and cleaning a collector grid three times a week?
Lesson: Filter Free and Living Easy is a false promise. For set it and forget it operation that also delivers best performance go with a HEPA filter air purifier. I invite you to read more in my article about Why a HEPA air purifier is best.
Rule #8: Don’t Consider Only Popular Air Purifiers
Unless you don’t mind paying for their celebrity
Many consumers buy air purifiers they’ve seen on TV, often as a result of some infomercial. Sharper Image took advantage of this fact to such an extent they secured 25% of the air purifier market at the height of their product’s fame.
But saturating the airwaves with radio and TV spots, infomercials, print ads and celebrities costs millions. Who really pays for this? You do, that’s who. How much of an air purifier’s cost is tied to the hype? How much to its design and engineering?
Did you know that buying top billing in the ads listed above Google’s search results can cost an air purifier vendor 7 to 20 per click. How many of those clicks result in sales? Even if one in twenty buy air purifiers from the vendor that means 140 to 400 in advertising has to be covered by that one sale.
Lesson: Your best value is in manufacturers specializing in air purification, not in marketing companies specializing in cleaning out your wallet.
Rule #9: Buy Air Purifiers From A Trustworthy Vendor
One that sells nothing but air purifiers that really work
If you really want a satisfying experience as well as an air purifier that really works buy from a supplier specializing exclusively in allergy relief products. Verify that they carry a a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every product.
Determine whether they offer immediate shipping on your order and how much it costs. Free shipping is good!
Is ordering secure and easy. Do they protect your privacy?
Is their return policy generous, up to 60 days?
Do they provide numerous customer reviews from real people? Is there a large body of educational air purifier information to help you choose?
If you call them do you get a real person that knows what they’re talking about?
Do they offer lifetime product support?