Air Purifiers

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Air purifiers remove allergens, odors and pollutants from the air. They range in size, function, design and price and deciding the best machine for your needs can be confusing. We offer the best ozone free air cleaners that address a wide variety of needs including smoke and odor control, allergy, asthma, multiple chemical sensitivity and air quality issues like pollution, cigarette smoke and dust. If you are considering your first air purifier, read our air purifier buying guide first.

We offer many brands rated best by Consumer Reports. We offer the lowest prices available online, free same day shipping and no sales tax. Feel comfortable buying the correct air purifiers for your needs with our 60-day return policy.

Air Purifiers Technology

There are many types of air purifier technologies. HEPA filters remove 99.97% of all airborne particulates like pollen, dust, and animal dander. Many of the air cleaners we offer also use activated carbon to remove chemicals and odors. Combining both a HEPA filter and a carbon filter provides the most effective air cleaning filtration.

Manufacturers vary on the technology used to clean the air we breathe.  In addition to HEPA filters and granulated carbon filters, several manufacturers go a step further and use ultraviolet light. UV light can be used in addition to HEPA and carbon filter technologies to eradicate bacteria and mold spores.  Some manufacturers implement pre-filters in conjunction with the other filter technologies mentioned above. Pre-filters extend the life of the HEPA filter and increase air cleaner efficiency.  Additionally, manufacturers use electrostatic or electronic filtration technology. Electrostatic air cleaners use very small levels of positively and negatively charged particles to attract particles to collecting plates or filters. For example, airborne particles entering an air purifier are positively charged; and, the collection media is negatively charged causing the two to attract to one another.

Another process used in air purification to clean the air is called ozone generation. We recommend avoiding this technology. We follow the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines which state that ozone generators should not be sold as air cleaners. We do not sell, recommend, or endorse ozone generators. For more information on the EPA indoor air quality guidelines, you can visit http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

We recommend the best air purifiers based on your specific needs and your air cleaning goals.  We tailor our recommendations to each individual.  Whether you need allergen control, mold removal, odor removal, or asthma management, our job is to find the best air purifier for your unique situation.

Air Purifiers for Allergy Relief

Air purifiers help allergy sufferers by removing allergens in a room specific environment.  We strongly recommend starting in the bedroom.  Air purifiers only remove airborne contaminants and allergens.  Particles that are heavier than air should be removed with a quality HEPA vacuum cleaner.  Particles that are lighter than air include pollen, mold spores, animal dander and dust.  Particles that we consider heavier than air include dust mites and dust mite particulate. 

Air Purifiers Air Exchanges

A quality air purifier operates efficiently and quietly in a one room environment.  To be effective, an air purifier must have a motor attached to a fan that draws air into the unit.  Once the air is pulled into the unit, it is filtered through various types of filter media.  Clean air is released back into the one room environment to start the cycle all over again.   

Air Purifiers for Pollution Control

Controlling the source is the absolute best way to contain air pollution or contamination.  For example, if there is a smoker in the house and another person living there does not like the smell of smoke, the smoker should cease smoking in the house.  The same idea goes for pet odors, fumes, etc.  If something or someone is generating unpleasant or noxious fumes, control should begin at the source.  However, when air contamination cannot be contained at the source, air purifiers help control the odors, smoke, and pollution.  Often with beloved pets and even beloved smokers, source control is impossible or undesirable.

Air Purifiers Proper Placement

As a general rule, it is more difficult to filter the air in a large and open space (see the previous air exchanges section).  Large living rooms and family areas, especially those with abnormally high ceilings, present a challenge to effective air filtration.  Our rule with larger rooms is to attempt to direct the purified air exhaust from the air purifier to the vicinity of the room’s inhabitants.  Many of the machines we sell have directional outflow registers.  This allows the user to dictate where the clean air cycle begins and ends.
We suggest purchasing air purifiers for the bedroom first.  Place the unit 6-10 feet from the headboard of the bed with the directional registers pointing at the bed.  If the unit is too close, you will feel the draft from the unit.  If the unit is too far away from the bed, the cleanest air from the air purifier will not be breathed.  In the world of clean air, a smaller space is easier to effectively clean.  This is one reason why we suggest starting in the bedroom.  In addition to spending the majority of your life there, it is usually smaller than the other living areas of your home.

According to the majority of the air purifier manufacturers we work with, placing the unit near to where you are going to be is the norm.  Ideally, place the unit between 5 and 10 feet from where you spend your time.  Within the bedroom, the unit should be pulled out about a foot from the wall.  We have debated if there is benefit to elevating the air purifier off the ground.  In our opinion, it is not necessary.  Gravity is pulling particulate down; and as it gets lower to the ground, the intake suction of the air purifier should pull the air and particulate towards the machine.  Most air purifier manufacturers implement a bottom to top airflow--meaning the air is pulled into the machine at the bottom and released towards the top.  A long time ago when Honeywell Enviracaire made the only air purifier, their models pulled in from the top and exhausted downwards towards the floor.  This system runs counter to the conventional wisdom of working with gravity to create air circulation.  Fortunately their designs have changed for the better and other manufacturers have followed and further innovated with better air flow circulation in mind.

Air Purifiers Performance and Limitations

Air Purifiers Fans and Motors

A question we field multiple times per day is, “Should I leave my air purifier on all the time?”  The answer is an emphatic “Yes!” (Unless there is an unusual circumstance like you are leaving on a 3 month vacation).  Air purifier motors are quiet, very energy efficient, do not consume a large amount of electricity, do not get hot, and easily maintain a constant RPM.  An air purifier can not clean the air if it is not turned on.  In fact, we recommend turning your air purifier on its highest setting when you are away.  This promotes maximum CFM output and air exchanges per hour.  The highest fan speed setting is usually too loud to tolerate when you are in the room, which is why we suggest running it on the highest setting when you are absent from the room.

Air Purifiers Benefits vs. Side Effects

Some of the many benefits of using an air purifier in your home or office include:  breathing less contaminated air, keeping your allergen load below its reactionary threshold, sleeping and breathing better, and living healthier naturally.  The side effects of using an air purifier are very small:  energy cost (similar to the use of a 60w light bulb) and white noise.  Actually, most people unknowingly benefit from the white noise from air purifiers.  White noise drowns out distracting background noises that can interrupt sleep.  White noise also helps people relax.  For these reasons, white noise is used widely in sleep centers throughout the country.

Air Purifiers Associated Cost

In addition to the acquisition cost, you should factor in the cost of replacing the filters.  We sell very good air purifiers that are very quiet; but, you have to change the filters more frequently for this luxury.  The piece of mind of changing an air purifier filter as recommended is priceless.  The motor and the filter work more efficiently when the filter is clean.

Wash or Replace Pre-Filters

A debated subject in our company is whether you should wash or replace pre-filter media?  It is a personal decision.  Pre-filters capture the large particles and need to be replaced more frequently.  Some people do not mind ordering a few extra filters and simply throwing away the old filters when it is time to replace.  Other people have no problem removing the old pre-filter, rinsing it through water, and allowing it to dry thoroughly before replacement.  As long as you do one or the other, we do not foresee any problems.  

Beware of Scams and False Advertising

As the case with many industries, there are good guys and bad guys.  According to the EPA as well as Consumer Reports, many manufacturers falsely advertise that ozone cleaners are air cleaners.  This is false.  There is actually a consumer alert out issued by the EPA.  The bottom line is ozone generators do not clean the air.  They charge the air using electricity which makes molecules generally heavier so they fall to the ground.  Our concern, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency's and Consumer Reports, is that ozone generators do just that; they generate ozone.  Ozone is a harmful lung irritant.  Another name for an ozone generator is an electrostatic precipitator.  Buyer beware, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.  Again, air purifiers will not perform miracles.  Many bars and restaurants use ozone generators, because they claim to help with alleviating cigarette and cigar smoke.  We have no proof that this claim is true.  Ozone is a concern because it is a threat to users.  There is currently no standard for acceptable ozone levels.

Before You Buy

Before deciding to buy, take some time and research your purchase on our website, and read some articles on air purification products.  Do not buy an ozone generator that is marketed as an air purifier.  The Sharper Image was successful at marketing one of these units, but look where it got them.  Because of the false benefits of its proprietary Ionic breeze machine, they are now bankrupt due to class action litigation filed against them.  The scary part for consumers is that prior to the litigation, the Ionic Breeze was the most popular selling air purifier in the world.  Infomercials and media blitzes worked for them in the short term, but the company failed to provide a product that added lasting value.  To clean the air, you must have a fan and a filter.  The Ionic Breeze had neither.  We pointed out this flaw in our first air purifier review in 2002.

Easy Returns

Another question to consider when buying an air purifier is what if you do not like the unit after purchase? What if the air purifier is not for you?  In addition to offering free lifetime technical support on all the air purifiers we carry, we offer the most liberal return policy in the industry.  We have a 60 day policy on all returns.  In the event you buy an air purifier from us and want to return the unit, the process is hassle free.  You speak directly with a customer service representative, or you simply fill out a return authorization form to begin the process.  We ask only that you keep all the original packaging and contents so that we can work with the vendor on a return.  If you received promotional free shipping, you will be liable for the shipping costs and the return shipping to get the unit back to us or the appropriate vendor.