Which air purifier should I consider buying for my best friend who suffers from allergies and wakes up every morning complaining how his chest hurts.
May 2, 2006 8:14 PM Subscribe
Which air purifier should I consider buying for my best friend who suffers from allergies and wakes up every morning complaining how his chest hurts. (He's also a non smoker)
I went to a local pharmacy (CVS) and saw one of those Vicks Air Purifiers that ran at about $30.00. I am wondering which would be the best one to get under the $50.00 price range.
I found one for a friend on ebay a while back for about that much. I cant find it now, and he and I aren't quite speaking right now, but you could look there and maybe find some that are of higher quality but still in your price range.
posted by gilsonal at 10:08 PM on May 2, 2006
posted by gilsonal at 10:08 PM on May 2, 2006
I don't have any suggestions for a specific model, but you may want to check amazon - they often have certain models discounted and you can check the reviews.
The most important thing to look for in an air purifier is that it has a HEPA filter.
Also, avoid the "Ionic" (ozone) air cleaners, its a scam, and they do not function like a HEPA filter. In fact, the ozone created by those machines may even aggravate your friend's chest pain. Here's all sorts of information from the EPA, I'm honestly surprised these are still allowed to be sold.
posted by dicaxpuella at 11:26 PM on May 2, 2006
The most important thing to look for in an air purifier is that it has a HEPA filter.
Also, avoid the "Ionic" (ozone) air cleaners, its a scam, and they do not function like a HEPA filter. In fact, the ozone created by those machines may even aggravate your friend's chest pain. Here's all sorts of information from the EPA, I'm honestly surprised these are still allowed to be sold.
posted by dicaxpuella at 11:26 PM on May 2, 2006
Consumer Reports tests those; they last reported on them in October 2005. Your local library has back issues of the magazine. What I remember from skimming the report is that yes, the ionizers are useless, and spending more money did not necessarily get you a better filter.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:39 AM on May 3, 2006
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:39 AM on May 3, 2006
I'm actually going to re-state what tomble said. He should go to a doctor/allergist to make sure it's not something more serious. I have severe seasonal allergies, and take shots+pills regularly. However, even before I started these, I felt very crappy, had 20 sneezes in one minute, and felt like crap in the mornings, but my chest NEVER hurt!
My wife currently suffers from allergies as well, and can't use any medication because she is pregnant, and she complains about itching throat, stuffed nose, sniffing, burning eyes, but NEVER a hurting chest.
He could have the beginning of asthma (untreated allergies can turn into asthma) or something more serious, so he should go have it checked out by a doctor.
posted by tuxster at 7:25 AM on May 3, 2006
My wife currently suffers from allergies as well, and can't use any medication because she is pregnant, and she complains about itching throat, stuffed nose, sniffing, burning eyes, but NEVER a hurting chest.
He could have the beginning of asthma (untreated allergies can turn into asthma) or something more serious, so he should go have it checked out by a doctor.
posted by tuxster at 7:25 AM on May 3, 2006
Also, avoid the "Ionic" (ozone) air cleaners, its a scam
Slightly more complicated than that: there's ozone-based air cleaners which are basically nonexistent now. Those are the ones with a tiny little window that only produced ozone, which are pretty much gone now, and then there's the "ionic breeze" kind, which isn't designed to clean the air with ozone, but does as a byproduct of its ionizing.
The infamous Consumer Reports air purifier study showed that a lot of ionizing air purifiers (including the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze) produce so much ozone that they make things worse overall, but they also identified one "best buy" that was an ionizing filter.
Still, don't get an air purifier that doesn't have a HEPA filter, and of those that both filter and ionize, check Consumer Reports' reports to make sure the ionizer isn't doing more harm than good.
posted by mendel at 8:05 AM on May 3, 2006
Slightly more complicated than that: there's ozone-based air cleaners which are basically nonexistent now. Those are the ones with a tiny little window that only produced ozone, which are pretty much gone now, and then there's the "ionic breeze" kind, which isn't designed to clean the air with ozone, but does as a byproduct of its ionizing.
The infamous Consumer Reports air purifier study showed that a lot of ionizing air purifiers (including the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze) produce so much ozone that they make things worse overall, but they also identified one "best buy" that was an ionizing filter.
Still, don't get an air purifier that doesn't have a HEPA filter, and of those that both filter and ionize, check Consumer Reports' reports to make sure the ionizer isn't doing more harm than good.
posted by mendel at 8:05 AM on May 3, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tomble at 9:54 PM on May 2, 2006