Clean, unpolluted, healthy air should be a simple thing to find. With your reliable air purifier comparisons in hand, all you need to do is pick a superior quality air purifier, right?
But when faced with the diverse array of potential contaminants, whether particulate, gaseous, or biological, how can you choose the best air purifier for your needs. A dizzying variety of air cleaners built around combinations of various air cleaning technologies, each with their claims and counterclaims is nothing short of confusing.
Most air purifier comparisons you find in magazines or on the web review only a limited number of products. They also do not do a good job of clearing the air of confusion surrounding competing technologies.
Should you buy an ionic purifier or a HEPA purifier? Is ozone bad or good? Should you avoid units that produce even the smallest amount of ozone or go completely in the opposite direction and buy an ozone generator to produce as much ozone as possible? Electrostatic precipitators, negative ion generators, electronic air cleaners, electrostatic filters, UV purifiers, activated carbon, and on and on – What can really benefit you?
Further complicating the matter is the way some sellers make extravagant claims for their own products while making acrimonious accusations against competitors, watchdog groups and even against government agencies.
In the US, the battle between Sharper Image’s Ionic Breeze and the Oreck XL plays out during what seems to be every television commercial break. Sharper Image also initiated a lawsuit against Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports Magazine, for reporting negatively on one of its products.
Alpine Air launched a lawsuit against the US Federal Trade Commission to overthrow restrictions placed on it’s advertising because the FTC found its ads misleading.
This outrageous boldness in seeking to throw off criticisms and restraints in advertising claims is the result of a general slackness in regulation of air-cleaning devices that has been termed by Consumer Reports Magazine as “a regulatory black hole”. New Concerns About Ionizing Air Cleaners Consumer Reports May 2005 p. 23.
Regulations in other countries are likewise weak, though in Canada, Health Canada has issued warnings against the use of devices specifically designed to produce ozone and has given the public a list of devices to avoid. Health Canada Warning
With your family’s health at stake who is to be believed?
I believe that air purifiers can be of great benefit to you in promoting a healthy living environment. But it is also obvious that not all methods of cleaning the air are equal. That is why thorough and reliable air purifier comparisons of both products and technologies are needed.
The rest of this article will seek to detail the competing technologies in air cleaners and provide you with links to more information on them. The various types of air cleaners are listed alphabetically with a link to an article discussing their merits and flaws. These air purifier comparisons will give you clear direction as to what constitutes a superior quality air purifier. Those methods that are ineffective and even dangerous are clearly exposed and the reasons why they should be avoided are given.
At the bottom of the page is a link to my home air purifier guide. It provides air purifier comparisons of products commonly found on the market with a short review and whether it is recommended or not.