Air Purifiers

Accualt

Between my Siberian Husky and three chinchillas the pet fur, dander, and other small particles are starting to annoy the hell out of me. Do these air purifiers, ionic or otherwise, actually work? I trust the PA community to be honest and correct, unlike the drivel you see across the internet.

I'd love some recommendations, especially if you know of some good deals. I'd prefer ones without filters you have to buy every time you change them but them actually working is even better.

In a related note I saw an Ionic Light Bulb the other day at Walgreens. I can't possibly imagine that being very effective but then I don't know dick about this technology.

corcorigan

Vacuum clean regularly. Best way. Also I've found shifting animals from saw dust to old newspaper and cat litter works quite well, although they tend to eat it.

I imagine that ionic bulb is going to do absolutely nothing a regular bulb isn't already doing. How's it going to emit ions? Where do they come from? Plus you'd gradually build up a huge charge on it. It could just be a UV emitter and create free radicals from stuff in the air, but then it'd probably damage your eyesight (or at best) give you a mild tan.

Accualt

From the looks of the bulb it has a little spout where the ions come out. The bulb itself doesn't create them, its just built into it.

I do vacuum regularly but the entire house is hardwood floor so the carpet isn't there to help trap this stuff. It all just floats around. I was hoping these air purifiers would help with that, at least in the smaller rooms.

Satan.

Accualt wrote: »

From the looks of the bulb it has a little spout where the ions come out. The bulb itself doesn't create them, its just built into it.

I do vacuum regularly but the entire house is hardwood floor so the carpet isn't there to help trap this stuff. It all just floats around. I was hoping these air purifiers would help with that, at least in the smaller rooms.

Ex-girlfriend's mother ran one of these, she had cats. I cleaned it out once and noticed it was dusty... no animal hair in it.

Anecdotal, but it's something.

Barrakketh

Satan. wrote: »

Accualt wrote: »

From the looks of the bulb it has a little spout where the ions come out. The bulb itself doesn't create them, its just built into it.

I do vacuum regularly but the entire house is hardwood floor so the carpet isn't there to help trap this stuff. It all just floats around. I was hoping these air purifiers would help with that, at least in the smaller rooms.

Ex-girlfriend's mother ran one of these, she had cats. I cleaned it out once and noticed it was dusty... no animal hair in it.

Anecdotal, but it's something.

My understanding is that ionizers are only going to work on small particulate matter, and only in a small radius around the device. And by small, I mean a few feet.

Dark_Side

You should also know that Ionizers produce Ozone, which appears to be part of the process for removing particles, because the 3rd Oxygen atom can detach and reattach to other particles.

This EPA page is pretty ruthless towards them.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

Barrakketh

Dark_Side wrote: »

You should also know that Ionizers produce Ozone, which appears to be part of the process for removing particles, because the 3rd Oxygen atom can detach and reattach to other particles.

This EPA page is pretty ruthless towards them.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

Available scientific evidence shows that at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone has little potential to remove indoor air contaminants.

Gihgehls

I have an ozone generating purifier that also has a large fan for moving air through it. I used it during fire season and it trapped tons of ash. It also has knobs for adjusting the ozone generation and it is possible to create toxic levels of the stuff (you're suppose to tune it to the size of the room.) I love my air purifier.

RandomEngy

Consumer reports tells me that the Whirlpool Whispure AP45030S is a good HEPA-filter based room-sized purifier.

FaceballMcDougal

We got rid of our ionizer the same day we moved all the chemicals out from under the sink and into the garage and gave away all our scented candles. Which was when we found out my wife was pregnant.

I know people talk about unsafe "levels" etc... but if you look at the science of what these things can do to your air quality it's pretty scary.

Accualt

The irony that Air Purifiers actually ad toxic pollutants to the air is lovely.

Djeet

I got one of these (http://www.blueair.com/products/501.php) and it seems to work. Costs like $100 a pop to change out the filters, uses activated charcoal (my understanding is growers of things that get smelly during the flowering stage use activated charcoal to kill the odor). And initial investment was $400-500.

The animal hair stays on the floor (I have similar setup with multiple hairy 4-leggers and wood floors). I don't know from the ionic ones.

Honestly, I don't think it's worth it unless you have respiratory problems. Though it makes the air taste cleaner, and seems to help my allergies (this could be psycho-somatic).

corcorigan

Accualt wrote: »

The irony that Air Purifiers actually ad toxic pollutants to the air is lovely.

It's like having a big smog-generator in your living room! Awesome.

So yeah, I guess they must use UV light to create ozone from atmospheric oxygen. Great.

Vacuuming sounds the way forward to me. ;-)