It's been awhile since I've thought about rounding up air purifiers, but I'm more than ready, since I've become a bit of an air purifier nut over the years and have two in the office and two at home. Originally, I used them because I believed that they helped keep the dust down and the home cleaner, and now I've come to appreciate how much better the air quality is as well....
With indoor air much more polluted in general than outdoor air (if you can believe it), having a quiet, energy efficient air purifier in your home should be, in my opinion, an integral part of your home design plan.
Here are my picks for the new year:
>> IQAir HealthPro Plus ($800 and up): This one comes with the highest price tag and the highest rating from our own test lab, BUT it's big: "we cannot recommend this thing enough...it is one of the few products that completely lived up to its claims with immediate noticeable effects in a real world environment."
>> Honeywell HEPA Air Purifiers ($100-$260) - These are dependable, affordable workhorses that do a great job if you don't care too much about looks and aren't hyper air sensitive. We've used these for a number of years and are always impressed how dirty they are inside after just a few months. Honeywell has a number of shapes and sizes, and most are 99.97% efficient at capturing particles 0.3 microns. This seems good enough for most of us.
>> LightAir IonFlow 50 ($350-$450) - This one is a very attractive, ionizer style of air purifier which suits the designer inside of us (consider it the Absolut of air purifiers). It is silent, creates no ozone and we clean it weekly, as it collects dust and particulate matter that quickly. While these don't seem to clean the air quite as thoroughly as the fan driven HEPA models, they DO work, require no filter purchases and tests show that the LightAir "effectively eliminates practically all airborne particles (size 0.3-1.0 μm) in only 5 hours."
There are two other companies that I would trust though I haven't used their machines:
>> Blueair ($300-$1000) - This Swedish company first popped up in the US about ten years ago, offering premium air purification in a much more stylish package. Their purifiers are all filter based, often with multiple stages, extremely quiet and come with steel construction.
>> Blueair Airpod ($99) - I saw this while doing a house tour and liked the design. It's just a mini portable air purifier, which comes with a disposable filter that also doubles as a changeable decor statement.
>> Austin Air ($300-$550) - These air purifiers are made by an American company and also combine steel construction with multiple HEPA filters and activated carbon to clean the air. What I like about Austin is their mini Health Mate Jr. which seems particularly well shaped for small spaces.
© 2010 Apartment Therapy
I have asthma and once lived with a roommate who had a long-haired cat and refused to vacuum. My solution was the IQ Air machine for the living room and the Blue Air for my bedroom. They were extremely expensive, but very, very useful.
Now that I live alone, I don't need both -- if anyone in the NY area is interested in buying one of the two from me, let me know.
view jplee's profile
PS: The BlueAir is quieter than the IQ Air and works really well, but the IQ Air is such a powerhouse!
view jplee's profile
I have an IQ Air in the New York area to sell. I will put it in the AT classifieds, if anyone is interested.
I purchased it for a mold-related problem, which has now been solved, and I don't need it anymore.
view bronxmaria's profile
I have a Rabbit Air HEPA purifier that is amazing. I bought it to control odor/allergies from having a cat in a studio apt. As a bonus...it's very sleek and unobtrusive even in a tiny apartment.
Since I'm moving to a bigger place...I think I'll need another purified. Jplee...let me know how to contact you!
view Kelly in NYC's profile
Oh good... I'm glad the Honeywell HEPA air purifiers are recommended. I think that's the one I'm going to get.
view sparkle's profile
I'm having problems PMing. I'm interested in buying the Blue Air. Are you posting it to classifieds? Or if you can PM me? Thanks!!!
view oleenyc123's profile
This is probably a dumb question, but do you leave them on all the time or just when you're in the room?
view oleenyc123's profile
I have a rabbitAir MinusA2. It is sleek, quiet, and works really well!!
view Kit's profile
After learning a bit more about air quality and reflecting on the fact that I live with 2 cats on a very busy street that's 1 block away from the BQE I JUST got an Austin Healthmate last week on Craigslist and I love it. It's got three speeds so it can either be quiet or a white noise machine, and it really makes a difference. It also inspired me to keep the house cleaner in its honor. I recommend it!
view mskk's profile
I do the best I can to keep my cat's litter box clean, but there is always a lingering odor. Would an air purifier help?
view StudioStarter's profile
I have the Honeywell and it's great. Plus, it's super easy and strangely gratifying to clean the non-HEPA filter, which means that the HEPA filter will last longer.
The trick with all of these - at least all in the low to mid price range - is to use them in an area of your home where the air can circulate well. I've found it's best to use it in short spurts of a few hours in one location because otherwise it's just refiltering the same air over and over.
view katherinec's profile
Mine hums just loud enough to block out neighbor noise when I want to sleep. It's worth every penny if I only used it for the one reason.
view baileyb's profile
I have a vornado vaqs35 with HEPA. It has greatly reduced the dust in my small (290 sq ft) studio. At the highest setting, it clears out lingering cooking smells in about half an hour.
view ilonastella's profile
i have a blueair and has done wonders on my allergy. it is pricey but it's well worth it.
view cscamp20's profile
Keely in NYC and oleenyc123 -- if you'd like to talk about buying my air purifiers, you can reach me at jplee1974[at]gmail[dot]com
I will wait to hear from you; if I don't, I'll post to the classifieds.
view jplee's profile
StudioStarter: Get a high-powered HEPA filter. Can dander is among the hardest to deal with, but the IQ Air and the Blue Air both worked when I had to deal with my roommate's cat.
view jplee's profile
Kelly in NYC and Oleenyc123 - I have posted my IQ Air, BlueAir and Hamilton Beach air purifiers in the NY classifieds. I will sell all for about 1/2 of what I paid for them. (This ends up being larger than 50% savings, because I also spent a significant amount to ship each of them.)
Hope to hear from you.
view jplee's profile
jplee,
Sent you an email via classifieds but haven't heard back yet. Please let me know if you still have the BlueAir for sale. Thanks!
view Kelly in NYC's profile
Kelly, I tried to write back but haven't heard back again. Can you contact me again? Perhaps there was a blip in the email system.
view jplee's profile
I have Biozone air purifiers http://www.air-purifier.org and they work great for removing pet odors and my allergies. No more smelly cat litter box!
view jlc68's profile