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If you worked in a military or government procurement office the term True HEPA filter would have no meaning. Nor would it mean anything if you were contracting a HEPA filter supplier for industry.

Only in air purifier marketing will you see the term hyped as if it were the all-important gold standard. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Air purifier companies have one very good reason for it – Shady competitors with inferior products dishonestly associate themselves with the HEPA efficiency standard.

The term true HEPA is entirely a marketing term. In industry, government and military applications a filter is either HEPA or it isn’t. However, there are different specifications for defining HEPA.

Defining The True HEPA Filter Standard

The usual standard for measuring air cleaner efficiency health or cleanroom purposes is the MIL-STD-282 Method 102.9.1 Dioctylphthalate test (D.O.P test) which requires the filter to capture 99.97% of 0.3 micron particles. So a True HEPA filter has the proven efficiency of 99.97% at 0.3 microns by this test.

However, there are specific filtration grades given to each filter spanning that range. This allows an end user to know exactly what they are purchasing. In many respects, it is a better way of expressing air filter efficiencies.

How Other Filters Compare To True HEPA

A True HEPA filter’s D.O.P.-rated efficiency is it’s minimum starting efficiency. The actual operating efficiency is higher than that, for all particle sizes from 0.001 micron upwards.

The starting efficiency of any non-HEPA air cleaner is very much lower – anywhere from 5% to 60% by the D.O.P. test. True HEPA filters are far more efficient for air cleaning than other types of filtration systems.

Filter systems like electronic air cleaners’ aluminium plates or 3M Filtrete media depend on electrostatic charges to attract dust to its plates or fibers. As the plates or fibers load up with dust, their ability to attract more dust drops dramatically.

An electronic air cleaner or 3M Filtrete-based air cleaner’s starting efficiency is usually the maximum efficiency. With use the efficiency will drop very fast and the average operating efficiency is much lower.

Some published studies have shown that an electronic air cleaner’s efficiency can drop to one-fifth of its starting efficiency within 26 hours of operation. That, plus the fact that most electronic filters are not very efficient at .3 microns and even worse for particles less than .3 microns, makes a strong case against electronic filter types.

A Few Facts About True HEPA

True HEPA filtration is currently the only type of air purification recommended by the U.S. Government’s Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.

Contrary to the claims of misleading air cleaner ads, bacteria and viruses do not breed in true HEPA filters. HEPA filters provide a dry environment and without moisture there is nothing to keep bacteria alive, much less breed. If such is the case, methods for killing bacteria within a HEPA filter include antimicrobial treatment of the media or a germicidal ultraviolet light.

Though it may only be a marketing term, it is born of the necessity to counteract the efforts of many impersonators. There are many air cleaners claiming to have HEPA type filters. These air cleaners have no specified performance rating, so you have no way of knowing how good it is. In many cases a high efficiency furnace filter with a MERV 13 rating would be as good as these much more expensive air cleaners.

My own personal conviction is that buying a HEPA filter air purifier is the best choice I can make.

Ionic air cleaners exposed!

What is it about an ionic air purifier that consumers find so compelling?

Is it the long, svelte curves that seem to say “High Tech”?

Is it the promise of whisper quietness that tickles their ear?

By comparison, how could you prefer that fat, loud and unattractive box, the HEPA air purifier?

But beauty’s only as deep as the injection molded plastic.

What you read in this review of ionic air cleaners may make you reconsider rushing the merchant with a fist full of dollars.

Get facts no ionic air purifier review dares reveal

Facts like these that directly impact your health and satisfaction…

• Even the best electronic air purifiers are no better than 80% efficient
• Cleaning power falls rapidly, losing up to 80% in as few as three days
• Regular plate cleaning is a must, exposing you to captured allergens
• Cleaning efficiency steadily declines over the life of the unit
• Defects and burn outs result in a short service life
• All ionizing air purifiers produce dangerous ozone
• Very low air flow severely limits coverage area
• No ionic air purifier has any effect on gases and odors
• Ionic air cleaner pricing is often unrelated to quality or effectiveness

Read on for the full exposé…

Ionic air purifiers are not better than HEPA

How well does an electrostatic precipitator really clean your air?

Marketing claims of “better than HEPA” performance abound because ionizing air purifiers may remove particles as small as 0.1 micron.

You may be aware that HEPA filters are at least 99.97% efficient at 0.3 micron. So, the ability to remove 0.1 micron particles seems to justify claims of better performance than HEPA filtration.

How does this stand up to the facts?

First, the efficiency rating of HEPA air filters is clearly stated in every HEPA air purifier ad you see.

Bottom Line: Ionic air purifiers compare poorly to HEPA. They offer only low, inconsistent and undetermined efficiency.

Ionic air cleaner efficiency drops quickly

Unlike HEPA filters that increase in capture efficiency as they load up with particles, electronic air cleaners rapidly lose efficiency. No ionic air purifier review reveals this severe limitation.

In as few as three days efficiency can be less than 20% that of clean plates. Since the best ionic air cleaners may have an initial efficiency of 80% your electrostatic precipitator may only attract 15% of passing particles.

Bottom Line: The poor performance of an ionic air purifier rapidly becomes even more dismal.

Ionic air purifier maintenance is more than claimed

Marketing typically presents only favorable information. Real or imagined deficiencies in competing products are exaggerated or simply misrepresented.

Have you been persuaded by cleaning and maintenance claims like these?

“See how easy it is to clean, just wipe or toss in the dishwasher!”

“Oh, how difficult it is replacing filters in HEPA air purifiers!”

“Oh, how impossibly messy filters are!”

“Oh, how expensive filter replacement is!”

Consider this fact, a HEPA filter may only require replacement once every two to five years depending on the model. Most purifiers are designed for quick filter replacement, taking perhaps five minutes.

At least one air purifier, the Honeywell 50250, is marketed as never requiring filter replacement, just occasionally vacuum it clean.

Yet, as addressed above, rapid efficiency loss due to plate loading means ionic purifier cleaning should be a daily chore to keep efficiency at a reasonable level. Most people never perform this task as often as needed.

The next time you hear an ionic air cleaner crackling and popping like a bug zapper on a summer night remember this article and clean that thing.

Bottom Line: Electronic air purifiers demand more effort than advertised.

Ionic air cleaners degrade steadily over time

This means pollutants can become stubbornly, if not permanently, adhered to the collection plates. Thus whatever efficiency you once enjoyed is gone for good.

Even with regular cleaning, oxidation of the aluminum plates occurs causing reduction in efficiency.

Bottom Line: Ionic air purifiers degrade steadily over time no matter what you do.

Electrostatic precipitators have a short service life

The numerous ionic purifiers I see sitting on curbs awaiting garbage collection would seem to say “No, this isn’t a good product”.

Of course, many may get thrown out when people realize they don’t work very well anyway.

One indicator you can rely upon as a guide to life expectancy is the manufacturer’s warranty. How long is it? 90 days? A year? Two years?

Most manufacturers anticipate few warranty claims. They know most customers throw the old unit away and forget about it. Even so, they protect themselves with short warranties.

Compare ionic air purifier warranties with those of top HEPA air purifiers like those featured on this site.

Some of these manufacturers stand behind their air purifiers for as long as ten years with many satisfied customers still using air purifiers originally purchased fifteen years ago or more.

Bottom Line: Ionic air cleaners offer no long term value.

Ionic air purifiers are not effective for large areas

Ionic air purifiers often use no fan or a very low speed fan.

Consider a quick comparison.

While I’m no fan of CADR ratings, they sometimes prove useful.

The Sharper Image Ionic Breeze had a CADR rating of about 20. The 3M Ultra Clean air purifier, has a CADR rating about 13 times greater than the Ionic Breeze.

Similar comparisons can be made with any electronic air purifier versus a HEPA filter air purifier yet the typical ionic air purifier review isn’t going to inform you of this weak performance.

Bottom Line: Ionic air purifiers are ineffective for areas larger than a bathroom.

Electrostatic precipitators have no effect on gases

So if you are concerned at all hundreds of chemicals in cigarette smoke or any other odor or chemical pollutant you need to look elsewhere.

Bottom Line: No ionic air purifier will protect you from chemicals.

Ionic air purifiers expose you to dangerous ozone

Ozone has numerous effects, none of them healthful. Initially it can seem to give a sensation of clean in the air, because ozone has that after-the-rainstorm odor.

Unfortunately ozone deadens your sense of smell while simultaneously increasing your sensitization to allergens. Thus allergic persons have even more severe reactions in the presence of ozone.

In sufficient quantities it can cause death.

Studies show that it reacts with fragrances, air fresheners and cleaning products to produce ultra-fine particulates with cancer causing properties.

Bottom Line: Ionic air cleaners pollute your air with dangerous ozone.

Ionic air purifier prices don’t reflect quality

Likewise, ozone dangers are not necessarily less in a pricier model. Even those claiming to have some kind of “ozone guard”.

It seems the basis for price is simply what the market will bear for the promise of clean air and a fancy, sleek design.

Final Analysis of Ionic Air Purifiers

Electrostatic precipitator air purifiers have built their reputation on promises of quiet operation and low, filter free maintenance. A careful comparison reveals that silence is the only thing they have going for them.

Unfortunately, silence about their glaring faults keeps unwary customers buying these air purifiers by the millions.

If you’re searching for effective tobacco smoke air purifiers you’re certainly not alone. Millions of non smokers are concerned about the health effects of second hand smoke exposure in the home.

Attempting to cash in on this concern are numerous Johnny-come-lately manufacturers touting their latest “high tech” purification method. They hawk a confusing array of air cleaners to remove tobacco smoke, “Ozone! No ozone! Best! Newest! Latest technology! Multi-Tech! Eats smoke! Three ways, no four ways, no five ways to clean your air!”

How do you know what is really going to work? With all the competing and contradictory claims from so-called smoke eaters, how do you choose the right air purifier for cigarette smoke? Are there any effective smoke air purifiers on the market?

The answer begins in understanding the problem.

Understanding what tobacco smoke air purifiers must remove

Tobacco smoke contains two different kinds of pollutants.

The first is particles. This is the smoke that you see and is the easiest to filter. These particles come in a wide variety of sizes, measured in microns. A micron is one one-thousandth of a millimeter. Though microscopic, most filter media is capable of trapping some or even most tobacco smoke.

The smoke that you see is not necessarily the smoke that you smell. The second component of tobacco smoke is the chemical gases given off by burning tobacco. Over four thousand chemicals have been identified in tobacco smoke.

As dangerous as particle contaminants are to the lungs and tissues of the airways, these chemical toxins are extra dangerous.

Why?

While particles are limited to the airways, chemical toxins pass through the lung tissues into the bloodstream. This is how nicotine is delivered to the brain. While in the bloodstream these toxins will pass through every organ and tissue in the body. This is why exposure to tobacco smoke increases cancer risks for every organ of the body. The health effects of tobacco smoke are systemic, encompassing the whole body.

So, smoke air purifiers need to effectively address both particulate and chemical pollutants of tobacco smoke.

Unfortunately, while there are a lot of choices, most are not up to the job.

Capabilities and limits of smoke air purifiers

There are five primary technologies marketed as air purifiers for cigarette smoke. These are sometimes combined with one another to produce the diverse products on the market.

This makes it impossible to consider products individually but if you understand the underlying technologies you can determine which have merit. We’ll consider each technology’s ability to remove tobacco smoke in addition to other pollutants.

Negative ion generators as smoke air purifiers

The first air purifier for cigarette smoke we’ll consider is the negative ion generator, or air ionizer.

This method of air cleaning relies on the fact that negative ions will charge particles suspended in the air. These particles are drawn to and collect on room surfaces or possibly each other, making them heavier and more likely to settle out of the air.

Unfortunately, your walls, tables, chairs, and everything else become one big particle collector. That’s why these devices are notorious for blackening the walls where they are placed. The effect has even been given a name; it’s called “black wall effect.”

The biggest problem is that these charged particles enter your lungs and imbed there with even more tenacity than they otherwise would. This is the exact opposite outcome you’d like considering that you want to remove tobacco smoke.

Finally, the negative ion generator has no effect on chemical contaminants, gases and odors, since these do not attach to the negative ions and become charged.

Electrostatic precipitators as smoke air purifiers

The second air purifier for cigarette smoke we’ll consider is the electrostatic precipitator. These products are the ones usually promoted as “ionic” and are among the most common air purifiers on the market.

It is like an ion generator except that a set of oppositely charged plates has been added. This attracts the particles and they tend to separate out of the air before the air leaves the air cleaner. This helps eliminate the black wall effect because the contaminants collect on the plates instead.

Since it is possible to collect particles down to 0.1 micron versus a HEPA filter’s 0.3 micron filtration you will sometimes hear a manufacturer proudly proclaim their product to be “Better than HEPA!” However, these devices have been shown to only be about 80% efficient at collecting particles versus HEPA’s 99.97% efficiency. This means an electrostatic precipitator leaves about 20% of the contaminants in the air with each pass.

What is worse, efficiency steadily declines as the plates become loaded with contaminants. Research has shown that 80% of the plates’ collection ability is lost in as few as three days. This is under normal use. Attempting to remove tobacco smoke with its heavy particulate load will render the plates ineffective at an even faster pace. The end result is the owner must clean the plates at a minimum of every other day and preferably every day to maintain any reasonable level of usefulness.

Of course, these ionic electrostatic precipitators also do nothing for chemicals, gases and odors. If you want effective smoke air purifiers you should pass these by.

Ozone generators as smoke air purifiers

A third type of air purifier for cigarette smoke is the ozone generator. The basis of its air purification claims is ozone’s ability to react with chemical contaminants.

When ozone fully oxidizes a volatile organic compound the only products left are water and carbon dioxide. This sounds wonderful, right? But there are several really big catches to this scenario.

It is true that commercial ozone generators are used in hotel room prep, car detailing, and fire and smoke restoration to eliminate smoke odors. When used in these capacities an extremely high level of ozone is being produced.

But no humans or animals are present when these devices are in operation due to the danger of ozone exposure. The area being treated is ventilated afterward to allow the ozone to escape and decay.

Ozone’s highly reactive nature means it can rupture cell walls and destroy tissues as easily as it can break up chemical contaminants. Exposing a person to the levels necessary to remove tobacco smoke effectively would have dire consequences up to and including death.

Any ozone generator sold for home use must produce ozone at far lower levels. However it is widely recognized by everyone but sellers of ozone generators that levels tolerable for long-term exposure could never effectively deal with indoor pollution, much less remove tobacco smoke. You’d be better off simply opening a window.

It is also recognized that asthmatics and others with breathing difficulties are especially susceptible to increased ozone levels. A home-use ozone generator can be especially dangerous to the very people they are marketed to.

Unfortunately, in the US no governmental body has oversight and authority to pull the plug, though the FTC has filed suit against some manufacturers for fraudulent claims regarding these devices.

If you want an air purifier for cigarette smoke an ozone generator simply isn’t up to the task and exposes you to an additional health risk.

HEPA filters as smoke air purifiers

Our fourth contender to remove tobacco smoke is the HEPA filter. HEPA filtration technology was developed by the US Atomic Energy Commission to remove fine particles contaminated with radioactive isotopes from the air at nuclear research projects.

HEPA filters have the ability to remove particles from the air as small as 0.3 micron at 99.97% efficiency. This was the standard set for HEPA filtration because it is at this point that most filter media becomes least effective.

This particle trapping efficiency is more than adequate to remove tobacco smoke from the air. Its effectiveness at doing so will remain at 100% throughout the life of the filter. The only reason to replace it is when particle loading reduces the amount of air flowing through the filter.

A high quality HEPA filter should last five years under normal use, less in a smoke filled environment, but is still your best choice for smoke air purifiers.

However, while the media being used may meet HEPA standard the air purifier incorporating it may be way off the mark. Since HEPA filter media can be brittle it may have become cracked or otherwise damaged in manufacturing. Poorly made air purifiers may have gaps between the housing and the media that allow air to pass. Poor seals may allow air to bypass the filter. These defects reduce the efficiency of the air purifier and its ability to remove tobacco smoke and other pollutants.

To choose the best HEPA air purifier look for a company that specializes exclusively in air purification products. Look for warm rolled medical grade HEPA filter media, to insure against cracks. Expect a well built housing and quality seals. Try to find a company that guarantees the actual efficiency of the overall unit, not just the theoretical efficiency of the media.

Finally, HEPA filters will not remove chemicals, gases and odors. For that HEPA media needs to be partnered with activated carbon, our next air purifier technology.

Activated carbon as smoke air purifiers

The last air purification method we’ll consider is the activated carbon filter. Activated carbon is the media of choice to remove tobacco smoke gases and odors.

Activated carbon can adsorb as much as 60% of its own weight in chemical pollutants. This makes it ideally suited for tobacco smoke air purifiers.

Additional catalysts and compounds can be used to treat the carbon so that it removes specific contaminants with greater success. This occurs either by improving adsorption ability or possibly catalyzing the decomposition of certain VOCs.

The effectiveness of activated carbon has led numerous manufacturers to include it in their products. Unfortunately this often takes the form of a foam pad impregnated with a few ounces of carbon. This foam pad may serve double duty as a prefilter on some air cleaners to protect a higher efficiency filter downstream.

This does not benefit the consumer. Without any depth to the carbon bed, there is insufficient dwell time for the carbon to adsorb chemicals. Using the carbon as a prefilter subjects it to particle contamination that clogs its pores and reduces its ability to adsorb chemicals.

The inadequacy of these designs is made obvious by the fact that manufacturers of this kind of filter also include a scent cartridge to mask odors. If the carbon were working the scent would be unnecessary. Not only that but the carbon would adsorb the scent rendering the scent useless.

To truly be effective an air purifier for cigarette smoke needs to include many pounds of activated carbon.

It is also preferable if the activated carbon has undergone special treatments to enable it to better handle the chemical contaminants typically found in tobacco smoke. Look for a special smokers air cleaner carbon blend such as offered by Allerair.

My recommendation for smoke air purifiers

Tobacco smoke in the home can be especially difficult to remove. If you’re looking for an air purifier for cigarette smoke you need one that can handle both particles and gases. The above guidelines will help you in your search.

My own personal recommendation is the Allerair smokers air purifiers. Allerair has developed innovative products you simply won’t find anywhere else.

The Allerair smoker’s air purifiers have a patented tar trapping prefilter that removes heavy tars in tobacco smoke before they reach the rest of the filter media. The smoke laden air then passes through a deep bed of activated carbon, custom blended for enhanced adsorption of chemicals found in tobacco smoke. This bed may be from 15 to 160 pounds of activated carbon, depending on the model. High quality True HEPA filters complete the process by eliminating smoke particles from the air.

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“Can you recommend any energy efficient air purifiers?”

Sabrina from Seattle

Let’s face it. Air purifiers are meant to be operated 24/7. After all, you breathe 24/7. And you want that air to be the cleanest it can be, right?

But running an air purifier perpetually is going to burn some electricity.

Fortunately, even if you get a big honkin’ behemoth like the IQAir HealthPro Plus your power usage may be as low as 85 watts.

Or it could be as high as 215 watts. It all depends on the fan setting. Power consumption is totally up to you depending on how much air cleaning you need at the moment.

However, there are a few energy efficient air purifiers that have earned an Energy Star Certification for keeping electric use low.

So whether you’re thinking about the environment or your pocketbook you do have some good choices in quality air filtration.

However, don’t make this newby mistake…

Energy Star Certification by itself is no indicator of how energy efficient an air purifier may be.

Consider two air purifiers with similar Clean Air Delivery Rates (CADR), the Sharp FP-A28U and the BlueAir ECO10.

Both have an Energy Star Certification, but the Sharp air purifier just barely makes the standard with a CADR per Watt rating of 2, the barest minimum required performance.

On the other hand, the BlueAir ECO10 has a CADR/Watt rating of 19.66, almost ten times more efficient than the Sharp model. In fact the BlueAir ECO10 is the most energy efficient air purifier on the market.

But BlueAir gets absolutely no extra recognition for this performance.

Obviously, with actual efficiency ratings spread across a broad range, you need to dig a little deeper to discover the real performance numbers.

And don’t make this mistake either…

Energy Star Certification is not an indicator of quality, suitability or safety. Read this because you could expose yourself to real physical harm.

Energy Star Certifications are determined by comparing electric use to the AHAM CADR rating.

CADR ratings are fundamentally flawed.

CADR does not take into consideration serious health concerns such as ozone production.

CADR does not rate chemical and odor removal.

CADR only rates removal of particulates of a certain size range, not the sizes most harmful to health, but those easiest to remove.

CADR is a short duration test. Many ionic air purifiers post good numbers but would rate extremely poorly on a long duration test.

Here is a hypothetical scenario…

You purchase an energy efficient ionic air purifier with an Energy Star Certification. It received this because its performance on a short term test met the standard.

However, within three days it’s only cleaning at 20% of its rated CADR due to plate loading.

Within a week it’s essentially useless but still burning electricity. This is why regular maintenance cleaning is an absolute must.

But it gets worse…

This same ionic air purifier is producing ozone, a tissue damaging lung irritant.

Elevated ozone levels are proven to induce asthma attacks, heart attacks and stroke. It also increases allergy sensitivity because of respiratory irritation.

And it gets worse still…

Ozone also reacts with volatile organic compounds and micro particulates in the air, resulting in ultrafine particulates that reach deep into the lungs and even pass into the bloodstream.

Some of these byproducts are known to be toxic and carcinogenic.

Your ionic air purifier not only doesn’t remove them, it is the cause of them.

Yet this questionable device is rated acceptable under the CADR test and gets an Energy Star Certification as an energy efficient air purifier.

And just one more thing…

There are air purifiers that would rate as energy efficient, but their manufacturers refuse to submit them to the test based on principle.

Take IQAir and AllerAir for example.

Both of these companies are among the best air purifier manufacturers in the world and oppose the CADR test because of serious flaws in its design.

They argue quite correctly that this self regulating industry has put together a weak test that utterly fails to address serious issues while allowing almost any participant to receive good ratings.

Thus, they refuse to grant it any semblance of credibility by submitting their air purifiers to it.

But no CADR rating means no Energy Star Certification.

Recommended Energy Efficient Air Purifiers

There are no easy answers. Energy Star Certification by itself is not an adequate guide.

The bottom line is you need to break out the calculator and crunch some numbers to see if an air purifier meets your expectations.

While energy efficiency is definitely a reasonable expectation I recommend you not sacrifice air cleaning performance solely in the name of efficiency.

Such may well be a case of “penny wise, pound foolish”.

Energy efficiency concerns should be kept second to your primary concern for healthy air. Once you have a short list of air purifiers that will work for your situation, only then should you compare their energy use.

Don’t prevent yourself from getting the results you need because of a few Watts.

That being said, I do recommend a number of energy efficient air purifiers that also meet high standards of air cleaning performance.

You may wish to consider any of the following Energy Star Certified air purifiers:

• BlueAir air purifiers
• Alen air purifiers

If you want the best activated carbon air cleaner for your home, there are only four on the current market worthy of consideration: Allerair, Austin Air, BlueAir, and IQAir.

Each of these companies understands that a large quantity of activated carbon is essential for proper gas and odor control performance. You will not find any others that include the same level of activated carbon or make available specially impregnated blends to ensure best performance.

The best online vendor for air purifiers is AllergyBuyersClub.com. They also understand air purification fully and do not represent any products that are inferior or questionable in any way. This is really the first principal of customer service – To sell only what will meet the customers expectations.

To learn more about activated carbon for air purification view these additional articles:

• Why is activated carbon filtration essential in your air purifier?
• Choosing activated carbon filters | How to evaluate air purifier quality
• The activated carbon filter pad in multistage air purifiers isnt good enough
• Activated carbon for odor control in your home

Activated carbon air cleaners by IQAir

IQAir is a new entrant into the home air purifier market place from Switzerland. The company is in the hospital clean room business.

Iqair’s Healthpro Plus covers up to 900 sq. ft. and features a gas filter element with 6 lbs of activated carbon to reduce odors and gases. Each air filter can be changed independently. All the filters stack up modular fashion and can be changed in about 3 minutes without tools. You should replace the activated carbon filter every 10-21 months. IQAir guarantees this air purifier in the United States for 5 years. Filters are, as consumables, exempt from this warranty.

IQAir’s Gas Control Series air filters have 11 to 13 pounds of activated carbon. There are four models: The IQAir GC Multigas Air Purifier, IQAir GC Chemisorber Air Purifier, IQAir GC VOC Air Purifier, and IQAir GC AM Air Purifier. The IQAir GC Series air purifier models each contain four gas filter cartridges that provide a specific type of gas, chemical, or VOC control. All of the IQAir air purifiers for gas control have controls for monitoring each filter’s useful life. Filters need to be changed every 12 to 30 months. No tools are required to change filters. IQAir guarantees these air purifiers in normal household use for 1 year in the United States. Filters are, as consumables, exempt from this warranty.

Activated carbon air cleaners by Allerair

Allerair provides you with the best air purification on a cost for performance basis. Due to his wife’s multiple chemical sensitivities, Sam Teitelbaum and his partner Wayne Martin decided to develop their own air purifier. That effort resulted in their founding Allerair with a commitment to provide the most effective and cost efficient air purification available.

What sets Allerair apart is it’s founder’s personal experience with poor air quality affecting his family’s health; it’s commitment to innovation and quality; it’s specialized knowledge of indoor air quality issues; it’s goal to design and offer safe, high quality and well priced air cleaning equipment. From reducing a child’s allergy symptoms to containing infectious disease to large-scale disaster restoration, Allerair is the best air purifier manufacturer for cost effective air purification.

Allerair has developed well over one hundred air purifier models, more than any other air purifier manufacturer in the world. Combined with over forty different specialized blends of activated carbon, Allerair is equipped to provide you with any air cleaning solution imaginable.

Allerair’s residential activated carbon air cleaners offer activated carbon filters with four to forty-eight pounds of activated carbon. They are typically designed for large areas up to 1800 sq. ft. or whole house use. Activated carbon filter life is as long as 3 years. All filters are easy to change without tools. There is even the option of replacing the carbon in bulk as opposed to a filter cartridge. All units are simple and no nonsense in design and operation. They come with a five year warranty.

Activated carbon air cleaners by Blueair

Blueair is a Swedish company that manufactures air purifiers combining ionizer, electrostatic, activated carbon and HEPA filter technologies. Even with the ionizer and electrostatic components their purifiers emit no external ozone. They are noted for their very quiet operation.

The Blueair air purifiers are available with HEPASilent particle filters or HEPASilent/Carbon filters that are a combined HEPA and activated carbon filter for smoke, odor, gas and VOC control. They utilize 5.3 pounds of activated carbon impregnated with several chemisorbers for improved purification. Filter replacement is recommended every six months and is very easy to do. The activated carbon air cleaners by Blueair are effective for areas up to 679 sq. ft. They carry a 10-year warranty on all models except the Blueair 201 that has 5 years.

Activated carbon air cleaners by Austin Air

Austin Air manufactures good economy priced HEPA air purifiers that also provide VOC, gas and odor removal. Austin Air air purifiers concentrate on the essentials of air cleaning and are not loaded with fancy features.

Austin Air’s air purifiers use activated carbon-zeolite air filters weighing from 6.5 to 15 pounds. Zeolite is a naturally occurring mineral that has gas adsorption properties similar to activated carbon and is often used in economy air purifiers.

The Plus models include impregnation with potassium iodide enabling these air purifiers to better remove volatile organic chemicals and chemically reactive gases such as ammonia, bleaching solutions, ethylene, formaldehyde and paint smells. All filters are rated to last five years.

Austin Air also offers a unique air purification technology they call HEGA, for High Efficiency Gas Adsorption. HEGA combines the gas trapping ability of military activated carbon cloth for smoke, smog and fumes from city environments with HEPA particle filtration. This military activated carbon cloth is lightweight and used to protect military personnel from toxic poisons.

Austin Air air purifiers cover 350 to 1500 sq. ft. Austin air purifiers replacement filter costs are low, which means less annual maintenance cost. Austin Air offers a 5-year prorated warranty for normal home use and includes a permanent pre-filter you can vacuum clean.

What You Need To Do

Discover which home air purifiers give the performance you need.

Together, we’ll compare these five types of air purifiers:

1. Filter Based Air Purifiers
2. HEPA Air Purifiers
3. Ionic Air Purifiers

1. Gas and Odor Air Purifiers
2. Ozone Air Purifiers

Understanding these air purifier technologies permits you to reject poor performers so you can focus on the right air purifier for you.

I’ll show you how…

Are you confused by too many home air purifier choices?

It’s good to have a choice, but not if you’re unable to choose confidently.

I know this frustration well. I face MCS, allergy and asthma daily in my family. Finding the right home air purifier was an absolute necessity.

I proved to myself that HEPA air purifiers were best for my personal needs. If you also contend with mild to severe breathing problems, I believe you’ll find a HEPA air purifier helps you the most.

You’ll discover why by comparing the different types of home air purifiers.

Let’s Compare Home Air Purifiers

Filter Based Air Purifiers – Use Caution

Filter based home air purifiers may use simple foam or fiber pads, pleated paper or even HEPA filter media.

Because a fan forces air through them, these air purifiers have the small drawback of noise. However, they can clean large amounts of air quickly.

Unfortunately, while they may clean large amounts of air they may not clean to the standard you desire. Why is this true?

Because efficiency is often no greater than 50%. Most manufacturers do not reveal filter efficiencies. Home air purifiers using unverified filters may be completely unable to collect the particles that concern you. Even larger particles like pollen may not be removed effectively.

Short filter replacement schedules are also common. One of the greatest scams in the market is to sell a cheap air purifier and then bilk the customer later with high priced replacement filters.

HEPA Filter Air Purifiers – Verified, Guaranteed Performance

Only HEPA air filters meet a verifiable performance standard. HEPA filters must remove 99.97% of particles 0.3 micron in size.

A common misconception is that HEPA filters perform less well with smaller particles. In reality, HEPA efficiency is higher with smaller particle sizes.

This may seem to defy logic, but what many are unaware of is a law of particle motion called Brownian diffusion. This effect prevents particles smaller than 0.3 micron from escaping the HEPA filter. This enables removal not only of allergens and irritants but even many bacteria and viruses.

Because HEPA filters are superior many manufacturers try to boost your confidence in their products by advertising so-called HEPA Type filters. These often fall far short of the HEPA standard, so use caution when considering home air purifiers that don’t use true HEPA filters.

The cost of replacement HEPA filters may seem high compared to other filters. However, replacement may be once every two to five years. Thus the actual cost for exceptionally clean air is low by comparison.

HEPA air purifiers provide the best filtration of large volumes of air.

Ionic Air Purifiers – Not Recommended

Ionic air purifiers use electric charges to remove allergens and irritants. They have no effect on gases and odors.

With collector plates collection efficiency tends to be no greater than 80%. Studies show efficiency reduces to as little as 20% in as few as three days because of plate loading.

Without collector plates charged particles may cling to any surface. This is called “black wall effect”. The EPA warns these charged particles may deposit in the lungs. This makes such air cleaners a possible health threat.

Regular cleaning of collector plates is a must for continued performance. Many owners complain it is difficult cleaning closely spaced collectors.

These types of air purifiers are often praised for being silent. With little air being moved and thus cleaned you might ask for whom is this silence golden, you or the marketers pushing the idea of a silent air purifier?

Ionic air purifiers produce ozone which is lung damaging and elevates sensitivity to allergens and irritants. Never expose asthmatic persons to it.

Gas and Odor Air Purifiers – Good Additional Protection

Gas phase filters remove odors and chemicals but not particles.

The most effective gas filtration technology is activated carbon. It removes up to 60% of its own weight in chemicals.

A deep bed of activated carbon is best. That is why high quality air purifiers include many pounds of activated carbon.

Thin activated carbon pads are practically worthless. They cannot supply the “dwell time” needed for pollutants to remain in contact with the carbon. Without sufficient dwell time few pollutants are removed.

Rather than a competing technology, gas filtration is considered complementary to HEPA air purification. Combined with HEPA air filters it creates the most effective home air purifiers available.

Ozone Air Purifiers – Reject Completely

Proponents of ozone air purifiers claim ozone oxidizes pollutants, reducing them to water and carbon dioxide. In the real world such textbook reactions rarely happen. Instead, numerous byproducts are created.

These byproducts can be more dangerous than the original pollutants.

Ozone cannot distinguish what is and is not a pollutant. It reacts with almost anything it contacts, degrading materials and creating additional pollutants.

Supporters claim ozone kills bacteria but deny it kills cells in your airway. They reject all scientific evidence and warnings that ozone is harmful.

Sellers of ozone air purifiers are perpetrating a fraud. They get away with it in the US because no agency has authority to regulate these products.

An ozone air purifier is ineffective and exposes you to danger.

Conclusions About Home Air Purifiers

Choosing an air purifier is a serious undertaking. Please take the time to carefully research the right home air purifier for your needs.

I highly recommend these five air purifier manufacturers in particular:

• Austin Air
• Allerair
• BlueAir
• IQAir
• NQ Clarifier

Now that you know more about the types of air purifiers, does HEPA seem to offer you the performance you need for real health benefits? I’d like to invite you to explore our next step – Why the best air purifier demands HEPA filtration.

Are you one of many office workers considering your own personal office air purifier as a means to combat office air pollution and resulting health problems?

Is your office air at stale and irritating? Do you experience an increase in your allergy symptoms or nasal and eye irritation, even drowsiness and mental fog? You may be a victim of Sick Building Syndrome.

Would you like to know more about office air quality? EPA document on office air quality OSHA and US Dept. of Labor site about office air quality Please share this site about air purifiers

Sick Building Syndrome, a term first used in the 1970s, continues to affect office workers now as much as ever. Due to tighter buildings and a failure to recognize the importance of office building indoor air quality, health problems among office workers are on the rise.

While modern building codes require buildings to supply adequate clean air, in actual practice these are often circumvented. Office air intake may be limited to reduce power consumption, but this reduces the available fresh air. Air handling systems may be turned off at night or on weekends to save money, allowing office air pollution to build up.

Activities within the building such as cleaning, the use of aerosols and so-called air fresheners, perfumes and other personal care products, as well as office equipment and building materials can contribute an office air pollution load greater than ventilation systems can remove.

Is there anything you can do to improve your office indoor air quality? While better source control and ventilation would go a long way toward improving office building indoor air quality, you personally may not have any control over these issues. (For a list of seventeen suggestions to reduce office air pollution see Control Measures That Help Office Air Purification at bottom of the page).

One option you may wish to consider is investing in your own personal office air purifier.

One of the most important factors in keeping your office a healthy and pleasant place to work is indoor air free of health robbing contaminants. An office air purifier can help to remove those contaminants.

If you are experiencing irritation of the eyes, skin, nose and throat, mental fatigue, headaches, a stuffy nose, and other flu-like symptoms on a regular basis at work then poor air quality is probably to blame. Good quality air is air that can be breathed continuously without suffering these health effects.

Choosing the best office air purifier to provide this continuous supply of good quality air requires that you understand the pollutants you face and which of air purifier technology best removes them.

Requirements of an Office Air Cleaner

While respirable particles under 10 microns are always a matter of concern, the typical office workers health is affected most by two other contaminant sources.

These are biological (fungi, molds, bacteria, viruses, and allergens like pollen and cat dander brought in from outdoor sources) and chemical pollutants (fumes from cleaning products, furniture, carpets, paint, solvents, office supplies and equipment, personal products of workers, and manufacturing activities in adjoining areas). Both types of pollutants have the ability to irritate tissues and cause allergic reactions or infections.

Biological contaminants respond best to source control, however an office air purifier can help to reduce them. Since biological contaminants are particulate in nature, any air purifier chosen to control them must be able to deal effectively with extremely small particles.

This is best achieved with a HEPA media based office air cleaner.

Why Reject an Ionic Office Air Cleaner?

Though popular and heavily advertised, ionic style electrostatic precipitators should not be considered due to their many disadvantages.

These include low collection efficiency and rapid reduction in collection efficiency as the plates load with particles. In as few as three days, ionic cleaners can be reduced to less than 20% collection efficiency with the most significant reduction occurring with the smallest particle sizes, the very ones you wish to control.

Another big disadvantage is ozone production. Ozone is itself an irritant and lung-damaging chemical with the added effect of increasing sensitivities to other allergens and irritants.

Finally, ionic air purifiers have no effect on chemical pollutants at all, making them unsuitable to control some of the most significant health threats in your office air. If you want a truly effective office air purifier you should remove ionic type air cleaners from consideration.

Why is a HEPA Office Air Cleaner a Better Choice?

A HEPA media based office air purifier will remove 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 micron. This is adequate for pollens, most dander, fungus, mold spores, and some of the largest bacteria.

A HEPA filter will also demonstrate some collection efficiency in particle sizes below 0.3 micron and thus trap smaller bacteria and even viruses. However, without tested ratings in these smaller particles it isnt possible to know the effectiveness any given air purifier may demonstrate.

A superior testing method does exist and is used to determine HEPA efficiencies in these smallest of particles. It is known as EN1822 (A European filter performance standard). It tests an air purifiers effectiveness at 0.16 micron, known as the Most Penetrating Particle Size (MPPS for short) and below. At this level of purification, bacteria and viruses are much more effectively removed.

The first manufacturer to meet this standard for a home and office air purifier was IQAir. The Allerair AirMedic also meets the standard of an EN1822 certified filter, removing 99% of particles as small as 0.01 micron and so being effective against bacteria and viruses.

Other air purifiers are available that sterilize bacteria, viruses and molds by exposing them to ultraviolet light as they pass through the HEPA filter. This either kills them or renders them unable to reproduce and thus cause infection.

Your best office air purifier will be a true medical grade HEPA based air cleaner. Adding a UV sterilizing option is very desirable as well as adequate activated carbon chemical control as discussed next.

An Office Air Purifier for Chemical Control

Every office has a variety of chemical contaminants, which can accumulate to high levels and affect your health.

Carbon monoxide from vehicle exhaust can be sucked into air intakes and circulated to all parts of the building. Photocopiers and other electrical equipment can produce ozone. Walls, carpets and furniture can emit volatile organic compounds such as formaldehyde. Perfumes and personal care products can expose office occupants to numerous chemicals. In an effort to improve stale and poor smelling air, aerosol air fresheners and other fragrances may be used that simply mask the problem while adding their own chemical load to the air. Photocopier toner or cigarette ash particles can become airborne and inhaled.

An office air purifier must be able to remove this broad range of office air pollution.

The only effective means of removing a wide variety of chemicals is through the use of activated carbon. This requires more than the token few ounces that are found in the carbon impregnated pads used in many air purifiers.

Activated carbon can adsorb up to 60% of its weight in airborne chemicals. To do this, sufficient dwell time, or the time the air spends in contact with the carbon, must be provided. This is achieved only in those air purifiers that use many pounds of activated carbon. Thus the ideal office air purifier will be one that contains a large block of activated carbon in addition to a HEPA filter.

Office air purifiers that meet the above criteria and which you may wish to consider are IQAir, Allerair, Austin Air, and Blueair. Each has models that offer excellent HEPA grade filtration, pounds of activated carbon and UV sterilizer options.

Would you like to know more about the purifiers I consider to be among the best office air cleaners?

Control Measures That Help Office Air Purification

In addition to investing in an office air purifier you may wish to consider the following control measures:

• Be aware of the symptoms of SBS, such as a persistent cough or headache.
• Find out how your building’s ventilation system works. Where are the office air intakes located? re they near an outside source of pollution?
• If your staff is experiencing symptoms of poor office air quality, check to see if there are any sources of contamination to the building’s ventilation system. Volatile chemicals, automobile exhaust from parking lots, or cigarette smoke can be picked up by the air intakes and circulated throughout the building.
• If your office adjoins a manufacturing area, be aware of contaminants from that source.
• Make sure the building’s ventilation system is cleaned regularly and kept in proper working order even if you aren’t experiencing any obvious problems – you may find that it will improve productivity and well being.
• Don’t turn off the ventilation system at night or on weekends. The additional cost is small compared to the lowered productivity and increased absenteeism caused by poor indoor air quality.
• Take the ventilation system design into account when making room for new employees or rearranging the office. Adding heat-generating equipment, such as photocopiers, may also affect air quality. The ventilation system may need to be modified to incorporate the changes.
• Don’t block air intakes or diffusers with furniture or other equipment that will prevent air circulation. Workstations should not be placed close to an air diffuser.
• Keep office temperature in the low to mid-70s F. Relative humidity should not exceed 60 to 70 per cent.
• Eliminate air contaminants at the source.
• Keep lids on containers of solvents or use non-solvent based products.
• Employees who smoke should do so outdoors away from entrances.
• Photocopiers should be in a separate room, and ideally vented to the outdoors.
• Disinfect dehumidifier trays regularly to prevent mold growth.
• Choose plants such as cacti that like dry soil conditions. Potted plants, while touted to improve indoor air quality, do not remove much in the way of pollution. They do add to the biological pollution due to mold and fungi growth in the soil they are planted in.
• Consider having your office air quality tested by a professional ventilation engineer or an industrial hygienist.
• When planning a move to another floor or building, talk to other people who have worked there. Have there been any problems with air quality?

When asked why I feel Allerair air purifiers provide some of the best air cleaners available I have to ask back “Who would you trust to provide you with clean, healthy air? A mega budget marketing company that jumped on the air quality bandwagon in pursuit of the almighty dollar? Or an air purifier manufacturer that has invested almost twenty years solving air quality problems throughout the world?”

They have developed over one hundred air purifier models, more than any other air purifier manufacturer in the world. Combined with over forty different specialized blends of activated carbon, Allerair is equipped to provide customers who have allergies or multiple chemical sensitivities with the best performance air purifier at the most reasonable price.

What sets this company apart is it’s founder’s personal experience with poor air quality and poor air cleaner choices. Failing to find any air purifier on the market that could address his wife’s multiple chemical sensitivities, Sam Teitelbaum and his partner Wayne Martin developed their own air purifier. That effort resulted in their founding Allerair with a commitment to provide effective and cost efficient air purification.

Allerair air purifiers, fume extractors, industrial, commercial and medical air cleaners are used by prominent companies and organizations including MIT, IBM, the U.S Military, the Mayo Clinic, Duke University Medical Center, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and the NASA Ames Research Center. They are trusted by countless contractors and many thousands of loyal clients who suffer from respiratory distress.

Why Allerair air purifiers are superior to so-called “market leaders”

The last few years has seen substantial growth in sales of air purifiers. This is due to growing awareness of indoor air quality problems and resulting bad health effects. Unfortunately, this has caused a rush to market by innumerable marketers whose primary business has never been air purification. The result has been an explosion of so-called air purifiers of dubious quality. The end user has been the poorer for it – both financially and health wise.

When it comes to air purification, there are three main points you should consider before buying an air purifier. These are: “Is it safe?”, “Is it effective?”, and “Is it at reasonable cost?”

Are Allerair air purifiers safe?

Certain types of air purifier technologies and components used in air purification can be detrimental to your health, actually releasing toxic gases into the air. While it seems hard to believe that an air purifier would add pollutants to the air, some air purifiers will help by removing particles while poisoning you with the release of toxic gases.

Below you will find some of the most common health hazards found in air purifiers. Most companies do not go to great lengths to ensure their air cleaners’ safety.

Ozone is not used by Allerair

Some air purifiers use ozone to remove chemicals from the air. Ozone acts by attaching one oxygen atom to other chemicals, forming the normal oxygen that we breathe and a by-product. Manufacturers of these products claim that this changes the chemical structure of the molecule and will neutralize it. This is only partly true. Ozone will irritate the lungs, nose, throat, and eyes. There are indications that there may be negative effects from chronic exposure. The “by-products” that some manufacturers consider “neutralized” can be toxic themselves. A recent study showed that some of these by-products are carcinogenic.

Potassium Permanganate is not used by Allerair

Certain types of activated carbon are treated with potassium permanganate to better adsorb VOCs. While this is an effective method of VOC removal, potassium permanganate releases manganese particles into the air. Chronic exposure to manganese at low concentrations in the air can cause a form of Parkinson’s disease called Manganism and other neurological damage.

Styrofoam & Plastic are not used by Allerair

Plastics are made from hundreds of different chemicals. There is one thing that they have in common: they all release toxic chemicals into the indoor environment. Plastics are made from petro-chemicals, and contain certain carcinogenic VOCs. Styrene, the chemical in Styrofoam, is similar to benzene. When air is blown by them, such as in a plastic air purifier, these chemicals are released into the indoor environment.

Are Allerair air purifiers effective?

Many air purifiers are just poorly engineered. While this is not going to make you sick, it isn’t going to make you any healthier either. People who spend money on products with these design flaws do so due to lack of quality information. Well designed air purifiers can be purchased for almost the same price as many inferior models.

Allerair air purifiers do not use attached filters

A deliberate design “flaw” used in many air purifiers are combined HEPA and carbon filters. The owner has to change both filters at the same time. However, the approximate filter life of a HEPA filter is 5 years, while a carbon filter should be replaced every 2 years. Combined filters force the owner of the air purifier to change the HEPA filter two and a half times more often than is necessary. This is not only a waste of a perfectly good filter, but also will add to the maintenance cost of the air cleaner.

Allerair air purifiers include pounds of carbon, not just a few ounces.

Many air purifiers claim to use activated carbon for gas and odor removal, but will not mention how much is in their filter. This is because they have simply coated a mat with a few ounces of activated carbon. In an average home, that small amount of carbon could get saturated in days, even hours. After this, the filter would need to be replaced or it would be doing nothing. If an air purifier does not make any obvious claims to the amount of activated carbon it uses, you should question the filter’s effectiveness. An air purifier without any activated carbon at all is really only half of a purifier.

Allerair air purifiers do not have poorly installed HEPA filters

Most air purifiers use HEPA filters, but many do not use it well. If air can seep around the filter instead of through it, the filtration process is not very effective. If the HEPA is not warmed before it is rolled and installed, it can crack, again drastically reducing its effectiveness. Many filters are pleated, but if they are not evenly spaced, the effectiveness decreases once again. Allerair filters use spacers to ensure even spacing.

Does Allerair stand behind their air purifiers?

Allerair air purifiers are covered by the best warranty in the business. A ten-year warranty on parts; 5 years parts and labor cover all of their home air purifiers, with an additional 5 years on all parts. That means every wire, switch, and motor is covered for an incredible 10 years.

Think of the last small appliance you brought for your home. How long was the warranty? 1 year? 5 years at the very most? Most companies today can’t stand by their products for longer because they’re manufactured with inexpensive, unreliable parts.

Review of Allerair air purifiers

Allerair’s air purifiers provide relief from asthma, allergies, MCS, and hyperreactive airway disease at home, office or while traveling. You can choose air purifier solutions that offer mold abatement, remove tobacco smoke and odor, and control chemicals and odors.

The AirMedic air purifier: The AirMedic provides better than HEPA filtration. With a filtration system that equals the standards of an EN 1822 certified filter the AirMedic will remove 99% of particles down to 0.01 microns, the size of bacteria and viruses. Definitely the best air purifier for protecting your family’s health.

The AirTube air purifier: Fully portable and excellent for hotel, smaller rooms, nursery, office desktop, or cubicle. Both units offer HEPA filtration and 4 or 7 pounds of acivated carbon.

The 4000 series air purifiers: Designed for air purification in areas up to 1200 sq. ft. the 4000 models feature HEPA filtration and 12 pounds of MAC-B carbon that can be customized to your particular environment. UV sterilizer models are also available in this series.

The 5000 series air purifiers. Designed for air purification in areas up to 1500 sq. ft. the 5000 models feature HEPA filtration and 18 to 28 pounds of MAC-B carbon that can be customized to your particular environment. UV sterilizer models are also available in this series.

The 6000 series air purifiers. Designed for air purification in areas up to 1800 sq. ft. the 6000 models feature HEPA filtration and 22 to 36 pounds of MAC-B carbon that can be customized to your particular environment. UV sterilizer models are also available in this series.

Knowing what sets the best HEPA filter air purifiers apart from the mediocre is becoming ever more important.

Why? Because growing public concern about indoor air pollution has moved many companies to cash in on the business of selling air cleaners.

But these companies often have no experience in the field of air purification. Their products are not always manufactured with the user in mind. Suitability of the technology used, soundness of construction and materials, overall effectiveness, and safety with respect to harmful byproducts may take a backseat to profits.

It’s up to you to sort through the multitude of air cleaner brands, models and bold claims.

What glaring flaws will you find in poor quality HEPA filter air purifiers?

The filter is not really a true HEPA filter

There are many sly dogs who want to capitalize on public familiarity with the term HEPA.

You may see air purifiers that claim to be HEPA-type, HEPA-like, microHEPA, microfiltration, 99% something or another, xxxxHEPA or HEPAxxxx, where xxxx may be any number of buzzwords. Don’t be fooled. HEPA filter air purifiers should plainly state that the filter is true HEPA or medical grade HEPA.

The filter uses HEPA media but cannot certify HEPA performance

HEPA filter media is essential as it is the only filter media capable of trapping 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns.

But while the media may be true HEPA what if, due to poor construction, the filter is not?

HEPA filter media is a fine pleated paper and cheaply made media can suffer cracks at the folds that reduce actual efficiency. Be sure to insist on a medical grade HEPA filter that has been warm rolled to prevent cracks and laser tested to ensure integrity.

A manufacturer should be able to assure you the filter is free of defects and capable of actually performing at the rated efficiency of the media.

Air bypasses the filter, reducing the air cleaner’s efficiency

Many air purifiers are promoted as having true HEPA air filters, but these air purifiers do not have high efficiencies as a unit.

The reason is that the filter is not tightly secured in the housing with airtight gaskets to ensure against air leakage around the filter. These gaps reduce actual efficiency. This problem is often seen in air purifiers made with cheap, soft plastic housings that do not securely fit with the filter.

However, do not dismiss all plastic units. Hard, ABS type plastic is a suitable lightweight alternative to metal housings. This is the chosen material for IQAir air purifiers.

Cheap fan motors with no warranty or a very limited warranty

There is another reason the claim of HEPA filtration is not accurate in poorly designed air purifiers where some of the airflow bypasses the HEPA filter. The motor is at the heart of the problem.

A powerful fan and motor made with properly sealed bearings is an essential component of high quality air purifiers. The amount of clean air delivered to your home is directly dependent on the amount of air you can pass through the filter media. The more the better.

A well sealed system with tight gaskets is going to build up a lot of back pressure that requires a strong motor to overcome. Such a motor must also resist the buildup of heat due to strenuous duty. A suitable motor thus adds considerably to the expense of a quality air purifier. Air purifiers with enough fan power can also be noisy, up to 70 decibels.

In order to offer the public a cheap air purifier, designers start with a cheap motor. To accommodate an inferior motor, air is permitted to bypass the filter. This relieves the back pressure and thus the strain on the motor. It also allows the bypassing air to help cool the motor, thus extending its life and reducing warranty claims. This deliberate bypassing and weaker motor combination also helps reduce noise, which seems to be a concern of many consumers.

However the end result is a poorly performing, inefficient, mass market “HEPA air purifier”.

Price may serve as no guide

Most evil of all, these non-performers may not be “cheap” at all. Some are priced similarly to or even higher than superior quality air purifiers in an effort to be viewed as being of the same caliber.

Who offers top quality true HEPA filter air purifiers?

Each of the companies below manufactures some of the best HEPA filter air purifiers available for home use.

• Allerair air purifiers come in over 100 models, most providing true medical grade HEPA filtration. Allerair offers excellent filtration for an economical cost.
• Austin Air.
• Blueair air purifiers use a special approach to HEPA filtration. In addition to providing a large surface area filter, Blueair filters have larger openings in their polymer based media. This allows a much higher airflow and thus requires a smaller, less noisy fan. The trick in these air purifiers is the addition of electrostatic brushes in the airflow prior to the HEPA element. This charges particles and gets them to “stick” electrostatically to the filter media. Blueair thus offers the quitest HEPA filter air purifiers available.
• IQ Air.

Are air purifier manufacturers that claim an activated carbon filter pad can remove chemicals and odors deceiving you?

Many air purifiers use activated carbon for gas and odor removal, but will not mention how much is in their filter. This is because they have simply coated a mat with a few ounces of activated carbon.

In an average home, that small amount of carbon could get saturated in days, even hours. After this, the filter would need to be replaced or it would be doing nothing.

If an air purifier does not make any obvious claims to the amount of activated carbon it uses, you should question the filter’s effectiveness.

To learn more about activated carbon for air purification view these additional articles:

• Why is activated carbon filtration essential in your air purifier?
• Activated carbon air cleaner report | The purifiers that really perform
• Choosing activated carbon filters | How to evaluate air purifier quality
• Activated carbon for odor control in your home

Why an activated carbon filter pad doesn’t give you the air purification you expect

Air purification is big business. Realizing the demand for air purification, many companies have entered the air purifier market.

However, you should take note: These companies are not air purifier manufacturers whose sole business is air purification. They are consumer product sales organizations. Most manufacture nothing at all, but contract design and production to others. Their primary concern is to blanket the market with whatever is the hot seller of the day.

Eager to gain the approval of consumers by giving the appearance of quality and superiority, they hype the fact that they offer a “multistage” air cleaner that can control all sorts of air pollution.

Activated carbon filters are usually featured as one of the stages in these air purifiers. They typically take the form of a foam mesh impregnated with a few ounces of activated carbon.

Is this really good enough? Are these companies really being honest? What about those manufacturers that offer a deep activated carbon bed that includes many pounds of activated carbon?

Question the quality of the activated carbon

First of all, lets bring up the question of the quality of the activated carbon. Activated carbon can vary greatly depending on the methods used to produce it. For instance, the surface area available to adsorb pollutants can vary between 400 sq. meters per gram to over 1500 sq. meters per gram.

Also, it is true activated carbon can generally remove some of any chemical. However, raw activated carbon may not be very effective against some of the very pollutants you’re concerned about. That’s why activated carbon needs to be impregnated with special catalysts and chemisorbers to ensure maximum effectiveness against the pollutants you wish to target.

Air purifiers using an activated carbon filter pad never address these issues in any of their consumer literature.

Question the quantity of filtration

How much chemical contamination can a few ounces of activated carbon adsorb?

Activated carbon can adsorb as much as 60% of its weight in pollutants. This is best accomplished by increasing the “dwell time” or time spent in contact with the pollutants.

An activated carbon filter pad cannot supply much in the way of dwell time. This is why air purifier manufacturers whose real business is nothing but air purification include a deep activated carbon bed that often weighs many pounds.

Question the design of the air purifier

Activated carbon filter pads are often used as a prefilter in front of a higher efficiency particle filter. This exposes the activated carbon to the incoming stream of dust and microparticles. The structure of activated carbon is that of macropores branching into ever-smaller micropores. Incoming particles can easily clog these larger pores and prevent gaseous contaminants from entering the micropores where adsorption takes place. Using an activated carbon filter pad as a prefilter is a bad design decision.

Another bad decision that seems to defy all common sense is the inclusion of scent cartridges in air purifiers with activated carbon filter pads. Since activated carbon is supposed to remove odors and volatile chemicals from the air, why is a source of volatile chemical fragrance included? This seems to defeat the purpose of the activated carbon. The reality is that the scent masks the odors in the air and is intended to lead you to believe the air purifier is doing a good job.

Purification with activated carbon works if you choose the right air purifier

Activated carbon filters have real value when they take the form of a deep activated carbon bed. There are several air purifier manufacturers that design and build there own products with this in mind. Some examples are Allerair, Austin Air, Blueair, and Iqair. These companies understand that a large volume of activated carbon is essential for air purifier performance.

Activated carbon filter pads are a gimmick of marketing companies. These sales organizations are only interested in grabbing a piece of the air purifier market with inferior products. They rely on the absence of consumer education about air purification to succeed.

You can make a much better choice.

• Discover why the best air purifier for your needs includes HEPA filtration.
• Build the foundation you need to buy air purifiers like an expert.
• I’ll show you how…

HEPA Filters Meet The Challenge of Medicine

Your air purifier should clean your air sufficiently to give you real health benefits.

Will a HEPA air purifier provide you with these benefits better than any other?
What do you think? Would you trust the choice of hospitals as a guide to the best air purifier?

Medical facilities need air purification to control infectious microbes that spread through ventilation systems causing illness and death. Thus operating rooms, outpatient surgery, labor and delivery, isolation rooms, intensive care and other areas require high efficiency filtration.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American Institute of Architects, (AIA) and the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) all recommend HEPA filters for medical facilities.

Likewise, in Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Healthcare Facilities, the CDC recommends HEPA filtration to remove airborne contaminants. No other air purification method receives this endorsement.

If a HEPA filter is the best air purifier choice for hospitals then what is your best choice?

The Best Air Purifier For Health Benefits Is HEPA

Only HEPA filter air purifiers have the efficiency you need to improve conditions like:

• Allergic rhinitis
• Allergic conjunctivitis
• Asthma
• Allergic sinusitis
• Allergic bronchitis
• Animal allergies
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

A HEPA filter air purifier is effective at removing many types of airborne allergens, asthma triggers and infectious agents such as:

• Pollens
• Molds and mildews
• Dust mite debris
• Animal dander
• Cockroach debris
• Tobacco smoke

Facts About The Best Air Purifier Technology

HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air filter. A HEPA air filter must be 99.97% efficient, allowing no more than 3 particles in 10,000 to penetrate the HEPA filter media.

HEPA air filters were developed to contain radioactive particles at nuclear facilities. Since then, HEPA air purification has been used in industrial, medical and military clean rooms.

There are two very different types of air filters on the market that use the term “HEPA”.

• A true HEPA filter must remove 99.97% of all particles 0.3 microns in diameter.
• HEPA-type filters use similar media as true HEPA. However, their efficiency may be no more than 55% at removing particles regardless of diameter. These filters are much cheaper than true HEPA filters.

Avoid products that hijack the HEPA term but provide no performance guarantee.

HEPA filter material causes a great deal of resistance to airflow so a powerful fan is needed to push air through the air purifier.

Because of this resistance neither a HEPA air conditioner filter nor a HEPA furnace filter is practical. A whole house HEPA filter system is not recommended as your best air purifier choice. They filter only a portion of the air passing through your ductwork and provide you with less benefit than HEPA room air cleaners you can place wherever needed most.

HEPA filter replacement is essential to best air purifier performance. Your HEPA air purifier filters need to be changed when they are dirty or else your clean air will steadily dwindle. How often they need to be changed depends on several factors:

• How large the air purifier HEPA filter is. The greater the surface area of the filter the longer it will last. Some filters can exceed a five-year useful life expectancy.
• The best air purifiers use a prefilter. Prefilters stop larger particles from reaching the HEPA filter. Prefilters can often be cleaned and allow the HEPA filter to last longer.
• The kind of environment where the filter is being used. Homes with mold, pets or smokers require filter changes more often.

Now that you understand why HEPA filters are at the heart of the best air purifiers as well as some background information it’s time to move on.

I’d like to invite you now to consider why not all HEPA filter air purifiers are created equal and how it affects your choice of the best air purifier.