Alen Company Info
Alen air purifiers are manufactured by the Austin, Texas-based Alen Corp., a relative newcomer in the field of air cleaners that has been in operation since the year 2005. According to Alen, the company’s focus is on “quality, affordability, and sustainability”; it also prides itself on the quality of its customer service, as well as the lifetime warranty it offers on all its air cleaners.
In support of its claims to good customer service, Alen Corp. has a fairly well-done website at http://www.alencorp.com/, with information about the company’s various products and how they work, as well as a comprehensive support section. They are also present on Facebook and Twitter.
Air Purifier Technology
Alen states that all of its purifiers are free of lead and ozone. All of Alen’s products use a mix of technologies, which vary from model to model. For particles, these technologies include a special kind of HEPA filter, ultraviolet light, and ionizers. The HEPA filters used by Alen are coated with Silver Ion to kill microbes. Alen claims that this filter eliminates “up to 99% of bacteria, up to 50% of viruses that cause influenza, and 99% of airborne allergens.”
The HEPA filter also works against substances such as dust and pet dander. Exposure to ultraviolet light hurts bacteria by damaging their DNA. The ionizing mechanism creates negatively charged particles than Alen says help fight pollen and dust, which are often positively charged. Note that not all of Alen’s air cleaners use all three of these methods.
Odor and Gas Filtration
Also, some of Alen’s offerings are designed to target odors and gasses. These models mostly use a carbon filter, but one, the A375UV Multi Gas, employs a different tool, known as photo-catalytic oxidation. Photo-catalytic oxidation is a complex process that, according to Alen, breaks up dangerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and renders them harmless. Results of tests performed by the company and published on its website claim that the A375UV resulted in about a 75% reduction in VOCs over the course of six hours. Again, though, note that only one model uses this process, and that some of Alen’s purifiers do not claim to reduce gaseous pollutants at all.
Alen Air Purifiers – Cost and Availability
Alen purifiers are available from a variety of locations, both online and at brick and mortar stores. Vendors can be found on the company’s website. You can also place an online order directly from the company. There are several purifiers covering the range between these two prices. It is possible that Alen cleaners might be found cheaper elsewhere under certain conditions, though ordering directly from Alen also means free shipping.
There are also diverse options for replacement filters. For the products that include ultraviolet lights, replacement bulbs need to be purchased every one to five years as well (depending on the model used).