Air Purifier Filter: Help My Friend Breathe!
June 25, 2015 8:12 AM Subscribe
My friend, on a limited budget, needs recommendations for an air purifier in the low to medium price range. When I offered to post this question, raving about how the Hive Mind has helped me on Ask MeFi in the past, friend said "Yes please!" It would be especially helpful to get recommendations/advice from people who actually have used air purifiers themselves. We are in a major Canadian city, so Canadian recos are even more welcome.
My friend writes:
"I need recommendations for a good air purifier in the low-to-medium price range.
My specific needs: the purifier cannot cost more than $400 Canadian. (That price has to include any taxes, and shipping, if applicable.) I have allergies (to mold, furry pets, pollen, etc.), and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities — so I need the purifier to have a true HEPA filter, as well as an activated carbon/charcoal filter for VOCs. And of course I need it to actually clean the air well, and not give off too many VOCs itself. (This is where you folks come in: I can get the specs for many, many models off the internet. But which ones actually work well?) It'd be a bonus if it's not too loud. I will be sleeping close to it. Also, there is a cat in the house, if that matters as far as which air purifier would be best.
If anyone has recommendations (ideally based on personal experience, or the experience of someone you know) of specific models that fit my criteria, please share? I don’t really care if it’s available through a local store (I live in a big Canadian city; we have most chain stores) — or if I need to order it off the internet — as long as it fits my needs.
Thanks very much!"
My friend writes:
"I need recommendations for a good air purifier in the low-to-medium price range.
My specific needs: the purifier cannot cost more than $400 Canadian. (That price has to include any taxes, and shipping, if applicable.) I have allergies (to mold, furry pets, pollen, etc.), and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities — so I need the purifier to have a true HEPA filter, as well as an activated carbon/charcoal filter for VOCs. And of course I need it to actually clean the air well, and not give off too many VOCs itself. (This is where you folks come in: I can get the specs for many, many models off the internet. But which ones actually work well?) It'd be a bonus if it's not too loud. I will be sleeping close to it. Also, there is a cat in the house, if that matters as far as which air purifier would be best.
If anyone has recommendations (ideally based on personal experience, or the experience of someone you know) of specific models that fit my criteria, please share? I don’t really care if it’s available through a local store (I live in a big Canadian city; we have most chain stores) — or if I need to order it off the internet — as long as it fits my needs.
Thanks very much!"
I have a Honeywell 50250-S that I run almost every night and I've been very happy with it. It's helped me breathe a lot better, sleep better, and kept dust down. It's about the same volume as a box fan and I find the white noise helps me. Amazon Canada currently has it for about $231, but I bet there are better deals out there. It is a lot quieter and more energy efficient than my older Honeywell was and it's pretty easy to find new carbon pre-filters. I've had it running pretty much every night for a year now and had no issues. The air is definitely cleaner with it on than off. I have had a cat during the time I've used it and it has helped with cat dander as well. My mom who is both more allergy and noise sensitive than I am has the same one and has also been very happy with it. I am not sensitive to VOCs though, so I'm less sure about that. There is a graphic on the Amazon page that addresses that (also several of the reviews say that it is loud--I am pretty noise sensitive and I have not found it to be loud and in fact I have found it quieter than most of the air purifiers I've seen, but clearly YMMV).
posted by eleanna at 9:09 AM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by eleanna at 9:09 AM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was having horrible allergies last year. I was even waking up coughing and also easily losing my voice.
I did a lot of research and was super overwhelmed. There are way too many options. I also had the constraint that I wanted to use a Home Depot giftcard that I had, so it had to be available there. I I liked The Sweethome's advice to make sure that you get a CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) of at least 200, and to make sure it has a "True HEPA" filter. I looked at their suggestions and also Consumer Reports.
I ended up with the Honeywell Model # HA202BHD which is basically the smaller version of one recommended by Consumer Reports. It also has the carbon pre-filter. It makes some noise but not a ton. My allergies aren't cured but they are definitely diminished.
posted by radioamy at 9:53 AM on June 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
I did a lot of research and was super overwhelmed. There are way too many options. I also had the constraint that I wanted to use a Home Depot giftcard that I had, so it had to be available there. I I liked The Sweethome's advice to make sure that you get a CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) of at least 200, and to make sure it has a "True HEPA" filter. I looked at their suggestions and also Consumer Reports.
I ended up with the Honeywell Model # HA202BHD which is basically the smaller version of one recommended by Consumer Reports. It also has the carbon pre-filter. It makes some noise but not a ton. My allergies aren't cured but they are definitely diminished.
posted by radioamy at 9:53 AM on June 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
I too have used the Honeywell that eleanna recommends and I found it to be very helpful. I used it mainly because I was a smoker and had cats and I still wanted people to find my home welcoming. It worked like a dream.
From past experience, I strongly advise you not to get an air purifier that includes a negative ionizer.
posted by janey47 at 11:21 AM on June 25, 2015
From past experience, I strongly advise you not to get an air purifier that includes a negative ionizer.
posted by janey47 at 11:21 AM on June 25, 2015
You will be able to get a HEPA purifier for your budget, and I have used and can vouch for the Honeywell unit mentioned above. That filter does have a very thin carbon prefilter that may remove some odors, but the VOCs it can remove are negligible.
You can't actually get a new purifier that will remove VOCs for your price range. If you want to double your budget, Austin Air makes good machines that I can vouch for. They are especially attractive to people with chemical sensitivities because they are steel and don't offgas. They are also nice b/c you don't have to change the filters very often.
Air purifiers are actually much more complicated than many people realize; some people think the more powerful the machine, the better. But you can actually end up pulling polluted air from the outdoors or from neighboring units *into* your home if the unit is too powerful.
In the end, you might try to do what you can to avoid bringing VOCs into your home in the first place (e.g., use zero VOC paints and don't buy pressed wood furniture) instead of trying to deal with it after the fact.
To sum up: you aren't going to be able satisfy all your conditions on your budget. You could possibly look for a used machine and buy a new filter, I suppose, but I don't know if that will save you a significant amount of money since it is the filters which are pricy. No matter what, remember to factor in the price of filters and electricity into your deliberations.
posted by girl flaneur at 1:09 PM on June 25, 2015
You can't actually get a new purifier that will remove VOCs for your price range. If you want to double your budget, Austin Air makes good machines that I can vouch for. They are especially attractive to people with chemical sensitivities because they are steel and don't offgas. They are also nice b/c you don't have to change the filters very often.
Air purifiers are actually much more complicated than many people realize; some people think the more powerful the machine, the better. But you can actually end up pulling polluted air from the outdoors or from neighboring units *into* your home if the unit is too powerful.
In the end, you might try to do what you can to avoid bringing VOCs into your home in the first place (e.g., use zero VOC paints and don't buy pressed wood furniture) instead of trying to deal with it after the fact.
To sum up: you aren't going to be able satisfy all your conditions on your budget. You could possibly look for a used machine and buy a new filter, I suppose, but I don't know if that will save you a significant amount of money since it is the filters which are pricy. No matter what, remember to factor in the price of filters and electricity into your deliberations.
posted by girl flaneur at 1:09 PM on June 25, 2015
Response by poster: Hi, sorry, out of town for a bit. My friend has an additional comment/question:
"actually, i found one that fits my criteria, for $260, here's the link, does anyone have experience with it?:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/gree-gree-grunaire-air-purifier-gcf280cana-white-gcf280cana/10281956.aspx"
We welcome all input! And thanks for the input so far.
posted by Schadenfreudian at 10:34 AM on June 29, 2015
"actually, i found one that fits my criteria, for $260, here's the link, does anyone have experience with it?:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/gree-gree-grunaire-air-purifier-gcf280cana-white-gcf280cana/10281956.aspx"
We welcome all input! And thanks for the input so far.
posted by Schadenfreudian at 10:34 AM on June 29, 2015
Response by poster: Hi everyone,
Thanks for your input. My friend unfortunately didn't get the information they needed from this thread, but thank you for being willing to help!
posted by Schadenfreudian at 9:22 AM on July 27, 2015
Thanks for your input. My friend unfortunately didn't get the information they needed from this thread, but thank you for being willing to help!
posted by Schadenfreudian at 9:22 AM on July 27, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
I've only used small table top devices by Haier; I can't find them online now but they used HEPA filters as well. I currently have a Dyson vacuum cleaner and use MERV-7 filters in my whole house air conditioner system, replacing the filters monthly.
posted by tilde at 8:21 AM on June 25, 2015