IQAir® New Edition GC MultiGas Air Purifier

I'm in my second year of dealing with my neighbor's unbelievably bitter, nasty fireplace smoke. He's down on his luck and burns wood in an old stove. Things are so bad, I may buy him a new furnace but he hasn't paid his mortgage and I don't feel like giving the bank a new central heating system.

What you need know about this unit. I assume you know anything under $350-400 is worthless. Oreck, Sharper Image, Seen On TV, Ronco, Popeil etc. are of no value whatsoever. Honeywell units with charcoal have the right idea but at that price, you don't get enough charcoal to last for more than a few weeks. I started my odyssey with a AustinAir which is pretty good for the money but the wood smoke killed the 2-year filter in 6 weeks. (Note that AA now has a HealthMate Plus that has potassium permanganate and should do a better job with smoke). Long story short, I finally forked over the money for the IQAir and haven't looked back. This year, I'm getting a second unit while I wait for the bank to foreclose on my neighbor. There really isn't anything bad to say about the IQ Multi-Gas but in my experience, it puts out a sort of "sweet" smell. Almost like vanilla. I'm not crazy about it but it's not a problem. It might be, if you have extreme sensitivity, though. One other thing; although the IQAir costs a ton and as with all good units, the filters are $300, the IQ filters seem to really last. I'm starting my second winter on the original cylinders so it may turn out to be cheaper than the Austin Air in the long run.

One other thing that may or may not be of interest. The IQ units disperse the "cleaned" air in a 360 pattern. So, wherever you position the unit, some of the output will be directed at you. At the highest speeds this can be a little drafty but not that much, since the air dispersed in all directions. In contrast, the Austin Air collects incoming air from all directions but disperses through a single opening on one side. Wisely, they've angled the slats so the air goes up and won't blow on you if you're in bed but still the Austin is more of a directional blower than the IQ Air.