Air Purifier?

[Marge]

My husband wants to buy me an air purifier (he wants to get the EXPENSIVE one that Sharper Image has). I have allergies and he thinks an air purifier would help me avoid too much sneezing and coughing during the recovery period. It is sweet of him to be thinking of that (I know sneezing & coughing will be painful) but was wondering if anyone had used them post-op and, if so, did it help you?

 

[Nancy]

The Hepa filter ones are OK, but beware of the ones that have the electronic filters. They produce Ozone as a byproduct, and that is a lung irritant and could make your allergies worse. If anyone has any kind of lung problems, those are definitely not recommended by the American Lung Association.

I wanted to get one of those, but Joe has lung problems, and I did some research and called the lung Assoc. That's what they told us.

http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-17343_18163-44681--,00.html

 

[ShezaGirlie]

Marge & Nancy...

Marge & Nancy...

I was sneezing my head off for what seemed like an eternity in late December, so I got a few of the 'air-purifers' you're talking about at Sharper Image. You know, sneezie, itchy eyes, tearing eyes...allergies. I don't have animals in the house -- would love to, but lost my Panda Cat in June of 2002.

Oops! I didn't have Nancy's info before I purchased them, but did read your link just now.

So, I rummaged around searching for the instructions that came with the units. Found one and read on the FAQ page where it says: "What is the clean fresh scent I smell?" Answer is, "The scent is ozone, (O3), a combination of three oxygen atoms. (The U.S. government has set safe standards for ozone, and the Ionic Breeze complies with those standards.)" Uh, am I supposed to 'trust' this?

From my experience of a whole 3 weeks -- I love the thing as my sneezing ceased the very night after I plugged the thing in in my bedroom. It's absolutely silent and has no filters. They recommend cleaning the filter every two weeks, but my curiosity got the best of me after week #1 and I took a look. YUK, I couldn't believe all that dust in there.

Marge, if you're interested in getting one -- be sure to tell the salesperson the square footage of the room or rooms where you want to have them and they'll get you one which is the correct size. There are several sizes. Also, you might want to go to www.eopinions.com to see what others have said about the Sharper Image ones. Goodluck!

 

[azpam]

I love the Living Air machines. yes they produce small amts of ozone but with small amount is enough to kill bacteria,mold and mildew in the air. also bring down dust. We are the company that cleaned up the Pentagon after Sept 11th. cleaned up all the odors,dust,bacteria, and pungant air in their air ducts. Ours is a whole house air purifier, dirt cheap to maintain, and easy to install. My website is www.ecoquestintl.com/parrish for more info. They are the best on the market!

 

[Johnny Stephens]

I used to have the Sharper Image one, when I lived in Phoenix (before health worries...). It lasted a couple years, and I thought it gave the room a burned metal smell - like someone was arc welding or something. It did seem to collect a lot of pollutants on the electrodes, and they were easy to clean. We got it to Seattle, and it worked for a while, and then started making a sizzling sound. Tried to take the electrodes out for inspection, and found it had fused together at the bottom.

Got rid of it.

 

[Marge]

I looked at the FAQ's about air purifiers at the Sharper Image website. They claim that their air purifiers are not "ozone generators," although they admit that they emit "small trace amounts of ozone, and they advise people with a "history of respiratory disease" to consult their physicians about the "possibility of heightened sensitivity to very low ozone." I really don't have a "history of respiratory disease," (unless CHF counts, and I don't have the congestion, at least not yet) -- actually I've never even been diagnosed as having allergies. But we live in an area where people who never had allergies before seem to come down with coughs and sneezes as soon as they move here! Lots of pollen also lots of pollutants wafted over from the refineries farther along the coast from us. Friend of my husband's who lived in San Francisco & never had any problems moved over here to be with his sweetie & promptly started sniffling all the time; tells us he got one of the Sharper Image purifiers and is now fine. I dunno. It would be nice not to be coughing and sneezing during the recovery but I do not want to make myself more sick. Thanks for the input, folks. Will do more research before I let Jay buy this expensive thing.

 

[azpam]

Differences between Living Fresh Air machines and Hepa filters: hepa filters(and sharper image) are room units only. hepa filters are noisy,take quite a bit of electricity to run, pricey filters to buy, and are as good as the amount of air that must go through the machine to clean it. Living Fresh Air machines are whole house units,small about the size of a big toaster, cheap to maintain, quiet, and they don't need the air to go through the machine to work. they go through the walls 60 ft in all directions. An article in Good Housekeeping October 2003 did not show sharper image machines as being worth their money. Not sure how good Good Housekeeping studies are on why they quoted that about them. Still think my machine technology is the best but an informed decision is a good one. Lots of my customers that have asthma love them. But that is their story not yours. Just wanted to inform you all of the differences between machines.

 

[ShezaGirlie]

Hey Pam...

Hey Pam...

Golly Moses -- after reading your post I did a little searching and came up with the Good Housekeeping article you were talking about.

Sounds like I might have gotten a dud for an air purifer?? Especially since the ones you sell cost "less than half" of what I paid for the Sharper Image ones. Hey, I'm always in the market for a bargain -- so could you really ship me one for less than half?

And Johnny -- load that old Sharper Image Air Purifer and take it back. There's a five year warranty on them...


http://www.freshairmachine.com/air/comparetosharperimage.htm

 

[Christina]

My dear friends, let me put all the fears and myths to rest about electronic airpurifiers.
I have had an Alpine/Ecoquest Airpurifier since 1997 and I wouldn't want to go without it. I even have a small one in my car so I won't breathe all the exhaust fumes when I am driving.
One large machine will purify 3000 square feet and the ions will go through walls and ceilings. Put one in the upstairs and it'll do the job downstairs as well. Ever seen dust particles in mid air in your livingroom when you look towards your window? You won't see that anymore as this little box (size of a speakerbox) will drop all that to the floor, so no more breathing all that junk into your lungs. Just vacuum and dust once a week. LOL, no, it is NOT going to dust for you, but the dust will be finer when you find it on your furniture. Just leave your doors open a bit for the ozone to get in. Afraid of Ozone? LOL, please educate yourself about ozone. Don't go outside than either because our outside air is full of Ozone. It is healthy for you. Have you ever smelled the air after a thunderstorm? Aaah, it smells so fresh when you first come outside. That is ozone you smell. The air in your house will smell thunderstorm fresh. It'll also take care of dog, cat, and cooking odors. My husband could notice a difference within one hour after we installed a machine. No filters to clean or replace, EVER.
Just plug it in, and that's it! Pst.. it's very quiet too.

PS.. I am not a dealer...Just a happy customer.

 

[Marge]

<< Just vacuum and dust once a week. LOL, no, it is NOT going to dust for you, >>

Haven't found anything to dust for me yet, but I think I found something that comes darn close to vacuuming for me. We were back at Sharper Image today looking at those air purifiers again and I spotted something called the ROOMBA. It's a round disc-shaped vacuum cleaner with a remote control. They had a video running of what it does. It zips around the floor, no wires, you run it with the remote control. It goes under furniture, etc. Promo said "perfect for seniors or anybody who has trouble pushing a vacuum cleaner around."

That's ME -- as a matter of fact, vacuuming is one of the things specifically mentioned in my Valve Surgery Recovery Guidelines as something I should not do for at least a month after surgery. This little toy costs $250.00 so probably won't be getting one any time soon -- but it so CUUUUUTE as well as ingenious. My husband did point out, however, that it does not take the vacuum bags out to the garbage.

 

[azpam]

Thanks Christina for that great post!! Everything you said was absolutely right!! The website Janie posted is not the brand i sell.Sorry Janie. Thanks for checking out the Good Housekeeping article though!If you look closely at the website Janie posted, for a 4 room house, it would cost at least $550 for 4 machines as those do only 1 room. Most homes have more than 4 rooms .So for that brand to qualify as a whole house unit (like mine does,)several would need to be bought. Would require more upkeep for 4 units too.See my above first post on this subject for my website for info on the Living Air/Fresh Air purifiers.(Ecoquest)Thanks again Christina for the testimony.