With the variety of home air purifiers available today from many different manufacturers, just how does one decide which home air purifier best meets ones requirements?   When making a decision about purchasing an air purifier, consumers should consider the following items carefully:

• Installation: Purchasing an in-duct home air purifier device requires that special installation requirements must be met including the need to have sufficient access after installation for inspection during use, time of repair or maintenance.

 

• Major Costs: Major costs include other items than the installation cost. Follow up maintenance (such as cleaning or replacing filters and parts) and operational costs (such as electricity) will contribute to the total cost of the system.

 

• Odors: Air purifiers designed for only particle removal are not designed for and cannot control gases and some odors. For example,the odor and many of the carcinogenic gas phase pollutants from tobacco smoke will not be remove and will remain.

 

• Soiling of Walls and Other Surfaces: Most Ion generating home air purifiers are not designed to remove the charged particles that these home air purifiers generate from the air while attempting to cleanse the air. These charged particles that are discharged by the home air purifier may collect on room surfaces, soiling walls, floors and ceilings.

 

• Noise: If the air purifier has a fan, noise may be a problem especially portable air purifiers. Portable home air purifiers that do not contain a fan are usually very much less effective than home air purifiers with a fan.

As a minimum research, read the comprehensive performance reports and customer reviews for home air purifiers that are prepared by independent testing organizations such as Consumer Reports.  However, beware of some advertising gimmicks that abound in the industry. For example, home air purifiers being marketed by Sharper Image and Oreck include  a Seal of Truth form the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. This seal is available to any and all home air purifier manufacturers that submit an application and a $5,000 application fee regardless of the effectiveness or performance of their air purifiers.

As the Consumer Reports site points out, this kinds of endorsement program between business and supposed non-profit groups raises many ethical concerns. The only way to verify that a given home air purifier will perform as claimed is to refer to an unbiased consumer interest organization that independently tests home air purifiers and publishes its findings.

Return To Home Page From Home Air Purifier