Air purifiers

[The Big Ragu]

I live in an apartment that is a dust magnet and I need to do a ton of vacuuming to try to keep it under control. Do air purifiers work? Is it real or is it an anecdotal thing? I know little about them or how they work.

What features should I look for in one? I am assuming it is like a lot of other things, you get what you pay for, but I don't even know what I should be looking for. Does anyone have good advice? Thanks.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

I used to have a Sharper Image Ionic Breeze. It collected what I thought was a lot of dust and debris. It was a ***** to clean, even though Sharper Image said it was one of the easiest to maintain and clean (I'd hate to see the worst). The accumulated dirt and that fresh-lightning-strike smell made me think it was cleaning the air. And then:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7391185/

And then:

http://www.aircleaners.com/sharperimage.phtml

I just vacuum a lot more now.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Thanks JD. That is kind of what I was looking for. I had no way to know if the claims I have been reading on these things are legit. I never even considered ozone emissions. I guess the vacuum cleaner will continue to get frequent workouts. My home is such a dust magnet.

 

[JR]

Maybe you want to consider upgrading your vacuum to something like a Dyson.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

I use a Miele with a hepa filter and all sorts of accessories. It's expensive as hell, but it does the job.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Thanks. I was hoping to just flip a switch and have everything snatched right from the air. Easy peasy, you know?

 

[Diabeetus]

Just remember dust is a bunch of dead skin and hair decomposing. It always motivates me to clean more

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

If you just want to reduce dust, yeah, a good one will help. We have a cat that sheds a lot, and we have an older Kenmore (about the size of a 15,000 BTU AC but not nearly as heavy) and it picks up a lot of crap. But what percentage is left behind for us to breathe in, I can't say. And our needs are basic, like yours seem to be. Where air purifiers fail to live up to their claims is usually in removing smoke, odors, allergens, bacteria, etc.

This is a good report with links to reviews and sources:

http://www.consumersearch.com/air-purifiers