IONIC 90TP201TW01-W THERAPURE 201 GERMICIDAL AIR P

We initially bought one for our basement to get rid of the mildewy smell. It worked so great that we bought another for our bedroom and then another for our motor home. I run them continously, clean them about month and my allergy problems nearly disappeared. My sister lives in a very old house and the basement has been wet more than once. She refinished it and put her bedroom down there and suddenly started having one sinus infection after another. I gave her the one from our motor home and within two days she had symptom relief. Now I am researching costs because my parents want to purchase one or two of them. The white noise that they produce is just an added bonus.

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Austin Air Jr. HealthMate Air Purifier HM200

I got the Austin Air Healthmate Junior air purifier when I moved into my new house. The previous owner was a smoker. Although I'd replaced the carpets, painted the walls, and cleaned the ducts, I still needed something to help cut down the residual smoke smell. After extensive research, I chose the Healthmate Junior.

It did the job. It's nice and quiet on the low setting. On the high setting it's a bit noisier, but I just set it in a corner and it's fine. (Not right up against the wall though, because you have to leave a few inches of space around it for it to work right.) I left it running for over a year. The smoke smell is gone from the house now. Even my mother, with her super-sensitive nose, can't smell anything when she comes to visit.

I did buy a new filter after about nine or ten months. The air coming out of the Healthmake Junior started to smell a bit acrid. I called Austin Air and asked about it, because I thought the filter should last longer. They said it depends on the quality of your air. That makes sense. They gave me a discount on the new filter because it had been such a short time.

I'm quite pleased with it. It looks nice, it's relatively light, it's simple to use, it's quiet, and it works.

Sebo C2.1 Air belt C-Series Canister Vacuum Cleaner

We have had this vacuum for three years now and it is tough as nails. It is built for the long haul and it works very well. We have two cats and a dog and they shed a lot. The Sebo makes short work of all the mess. It also filters the dander so there is no sneezing. Better than any vac we have used.Made in GermanySEBO Airr Belt C2.1 9648AM Teal Green Canister Vacuum Cleaner

Honeywell Long-Life Pure HEPA QuietCare Air Purifier

As someone who is highly allergic to cigarette smoke and other air pollutants and irritants, I purchased a round Honeywell HEPA air filter when it first came on the market several years ago. It still works well in the living room, but it is quite noisy even on its lowest setting.

This year I purchased another Honeywell air cleaner with a HEPA filter (Model 17400) for my bedroom because I had contacted bacterial pneumonia last year and wanted to make sure I did not get it again. Next, I purchased this Honeywell 17000 Air Cleaner (with HEPA filter) for use in a smaller bedroom which has been turned into a home office and library.

These air cleaners really work! This winter I have not had a cold or flu. Also, this Honeywell Air Cleaner with HEPA filter is whisper soft, and I have had no problems with sleeping, working, reading, watching tv, or listening to music when it is running on the low and medium settings. I leave it on all the time, and I've found that it cleans the air best when the door is closed.

It has a convenient handle on the top, so I can move it to another room quite easily. Also, it is light enough that I can take it with me in the car if I want to use it away from home.

The prefilters last about 3-6 months, (and they can be vacuumed often if you have pets who shed). I change my HEPA filter every year, but you can wait 3 years to do so. These filters are easy to change. The Model 17000 is for a smaller room, and the Model 17400 is for a larger space.

Highly recommended for anyone who has pets, who lives with or entertains people who smoke, and who is allergic to dust, molds, or pollens.

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Venta Airwasher #6001040 8.8 OZ Venta Cleaner

This is a bottle of citric acid (the stuff that makes lemons sour) with a wetting agent that helps dissolve the minerals (scale, calcium carbonate) that deposit on the evaporator (the moving white plastic finned drum) of the AIRWASHER. Simply fill the bottom housing with fresh water, pour the entire contents (8 oz), turn to low setting; after 2 hours, dump out the water that now has loosened scale, wipe any remaining scale and don't forget to get the stuff on the bottom of the fan. No smell like the vinegar I used to use. Not harsh like "lime-away" bathroom cleaners. Our local water is hard and during the summer, molds (black and red) can bloom.

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Ultra Big Shark Turbo Hand Vac XSH166

I HAVE OLDER BIG SHARK THAT FILTERS CLOGGED QUICKLY. WITH THIS NEWER DESIGN IT'S EASY TO POP OF YELLOW SCREEN PRE-FILTER TO GET THE HEAVY DEBRIS OFF. IT EVEN SUCKS BETTER WITH THIS FILTER. I WOULD BUY AGAIN. DELIVERY WAS SPEEDY.

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Sears Kenmore 83152 Sears/kenmore Air Cleaner Replacement Filter

For anyone who has one of these old air filter machines, this is really the only replacements out there. Fits tight and works well just as the originals did.

Sharp FP-P30U Plasmacluster? Air Purifier

My review is on three thingspower use, audibility, and the ionizing feature.

Measurements of power consumption:

Quiet mode: 3 watts

Medium: 8 watts

High: 16 watts

Based on this I'd say the device deserves its energy star rating.

Noise:

The quiet mode is almost imperceptible in a room with some other background noise (traffic, wind), the medium level is far quieter than the low speed mode of some cheaper filters (Holmes,Honeywell) that I've used. The high mode is similar in noise level to a medium setting on a cheap filter, perhaps a little quieter.

The quality of the noise is very uniform. I only hear some variation in sound on the quiet mode, the fan seems to rub against something on every cycle. This will likely go away with use.

The ionizer makes a steady on-off very high pitched (probably not audible to older ears) noise sometimes and very little at others. This may have to do with humidity. It can be turned off.

Ionizer/Plasma Cluster:

Running this in an empty room for a few minutes and entering the room I notice a very big difference. The air feels very close to the "after a storm" feeling. Their web site explains how this technology works if you want the details, but it definitely alters the "feel" of the air in the room in a significant way.

Misc:

The blue light on the front is way too bright, as with most appliances these days. I guess you can put a sticker on it or color it with a black permanent marker to dampen that down. That's my only dislike so far.

Its design is such that you might assume you could mount this on a wall. Not so. It is for floor use only as far as I can tell.

20x30x5 (19.75x29.75x4.38) MERV 11 Honeywell Aftermarket Grill Filter

I was very disappointed with this product. First off, the description says that it is a Honeywell filter. Nowhere on the filters was the name of Honeywell even mentioned. Secondly, the cardboard portion of the filters was so flimsy (especially when compared to the REAL Honeywell filter that I currently have) and the corners were smashed in and taped with white tape. Thirdly, because of the flimsy cardboard, the filter did not have a good seal around it because the cardboard was misshapen. The box they came in was not damaged so I can only assume that they sent me damaged product.

I contacted customer service right away and they issued a UPS call tag immediately. I was impressed by that but that's where the good impression ended! After contacting them (all via email) about when to expect my refund (I had already received my credit card statement with this charge on it), she told me that it had not been long enough to receive and process. I can understand that. But, when I finally got a notice that the company had received the filters, she told me that they were damaged and she would not/could not process a credit for me. She told me I had to contact UPS to make a claim. I was confused by this, since they issued the call tag and I thought that was their responsibility. I called UPS and UPS told me that they could not talk to me because the company had already filed a claim. To me, it seemed a little fishy. I emailed Filters-Now back and told her I expected a refund and she finally gave it to me. I WILL NEVER BUY FROM THIS COMPANY AGAIN!!!!!! SHODDY PRODUCT AND CONFUSED CUSTOMER SERVICE.

18x30x1 (17.7 x 29.7) Filtrete 1250 Ultra Allergen Filter by 3M

My house uses forced air for heating. The disadvantage of such a system is that it distributes the dust in the air everywhere in the house. However, it is supposed to be possible to filter out the dust. Over the years, I have steadily increased the quality of the filter that I use for my forced air heating system. However, until now I have not noticed any obvious difference in my allergic reactions that seem to start with the heating season.

There are cats in my house. I have read that cat dander, tiny flakes of cat skin shed by the cats, is five times smaller than household dust particles. It stays in the air much longer than ordinary dust before it settles. Because of its small size it requires a more efficient filter to get it out of the air.

Until three years ago, I used of variety of filters with mixed results. However, then I started using the 3M Advanced Allergen Filters, the ones in the blue wrapper. These have a 3M Microparticle Performance Rating of 1500, and a MERV rating of 12.

MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value produced from a test designed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). A higher MERV rating indicates better filter performance.

3M uses particle data between 0.3 and 1.0 micron size to calculate a Microparticle Performance Rating or MPR. The higher the MPR, the better the filter. However, higher rated filters cost more.

Here are some of the Filtrete filters offered by 3M:

Dust & Pollen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 600,

MERV rating of 8

Micro Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1000,

MERV rating of 11

Ultra Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1250,

MERV rating of 11

Advanced Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1500,

MERV rating of 12

Ultimate Allergen Filter, Microparticle Performance Rating 1900,

MERV rating of 13.

The difference made by the Advanced filter was immediately obvious. My running nose stopped running. I assume that the new Advanced filters must be taking out more of the dust in the air including the cat dander. I have not noticed a change in the speed of the circulated air.

More recently, I have started using the newer Ultimate filter. It works better than the Advanced filter. The additional cost of the filter is worth it if you have allergies or pets. However, if you are happy with a lower-rated and lower-cost filter, then continue using that one.

Holmes HAPF30 Replace Filter

Does the job. Small size fills with allergens much faster than a large unit. For the small size it works great but plan on replacing every 90 days if you use your unit constantly.

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Hunter 30917 Replacement Filter

This is not a HEPA filter, since it does not meet HEPA standards in terms of particle filtration efficiency. Putting "HEPA" in the name is deceptive, and allows to sell a cheap item for several times the price.

I got this to test the filter media to see if it can be used for a true HEPA application in an electronics room. We have tested this filter at 60 CFM using an APC plus particle counter and got the following readings (presented as counts in the 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 micron ranges). Numbers are accurate to within 10%.

Ambient air:

20565, 1125, 254, 0

Hunter-Filtered air:

2102, 51, 32, 0

Positive control (true HEPA filter we used a Whatman HEPA-CAP here to make sure the counter is accurate)

0, 0, 0, 0.

Thus, this filter is ~90% efficient which should be enough for the most folks to achieve an allergy relief, but also could be achieved by a variety of much cheaper electrostatic filters rated above MERV10 one can get at HomeDepot.

The federal HEPA standard is 99.97% particle removal at 0.3 microns and this filter is more than 2 orders of magnitude (factor of 100+) below this rating. The media appears to be polypropylene and has a surface area at least an order of magnitude smaller than a true HEPA filter which is not surprising.

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PORTER-CABLE Bare-Tool PC18HV 18-Volt Cordless Handheld Vacuum

If ever there was some truth to the saying, "You get what you pay for," this is it. By the time you purchase a battery and the charger, you will have spent a lot more money than on any competing product (to my knowledge). But this thing is worth every penny, in my opinion. It's VERY strong, thanks to the 18V battery. I have no complaints about it and my wife loves it, too.

Here's a tip for saving some money and killing two birds with one stone. I ordered the Bare-tool 18-Volt Cordless vac, but I also ordered the combination bundle of a Porter-Cable 18-Volt drill with charger and TWO 18-Volt NiCd batteries. When it's all said and done, I paid only $12.00 for the drill and its carrying case, over the combined price of buying the vac, the charger and two NiCd 18-Volt batteries separately. We all know who uses the vac the most my wife but I got a two-speed, high-torque cordless drill out of the deal for just 12 bucks more!

We keep one battery on the charger and one on the vac. Best of all, when a battery reaches end-of-life, we'll only have to buy another battery, instead of buying the entire tool as is the case with most rechargeable vacs!

Enjoy!

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Sharper Image Ionic Breeze SI730 GP UV Silent Air Purifier

I am not sure how size of a room does they say one purifier can clean. I use two of these purifiers to maintain a clean fresh atmosphere in a 750sq feet Kitchen/living room (with fireplace) area. I think one would be suffecient, but we ended up with two (a gift).

PROS:

-It is absolutly silent, not even little noise.

It is very easy to maintain.

no filters to but, you just have to clean the metal parts when the machine starts making noise (you will know)

Different levels of cleaning: with or without the UV-light, LOW-MED-HIGH.

-

NEGATIVES:

I think two years ago we paid around $375 for one of these and we received a free bathroom ionizer. (it could have been a special promotion, I cannot remeber, but check prices elsewhere before purchasing)

I think it is a bit large.

If you like absolute darkness when you sleep, remmember that this machine will have 1 small light always lit, even when you do not use the UV-light

CLEANING:

The metal part that you clean is not as easy as advertised (on TV) to clean. It takes couple of minutes to clean it, and if it not cleaned and dried properly, IT WILL make noise shortly after you restart the machine. so make sure you clean it well. I use a wet soapy sponge and then rinse and make sure it is completely clean. Then I dry it with dry cotton rag.

SUMMERY:

I think it is great, if not the best purifier I have everhad, I never thought that a purifier without any filters would work good, but it does. It takes care of all kinds of odors, once we had a guest who smoked a cigar and within an hour there were no traces of that smell. Cooking odor is illiminated within minutes or hours depending on it's severity. GREAT PROCUCT I think.

Genuine Eureka DCF-21 Filter 68931 - 1 filter

Great OEM factory filter that is the same as the one that comes with the vacuum when you buy the vacuum. Don't bother to wash this filter as the user manual says you can. It will stink terribly because you can't get all the lint and dirt out of it. I had to soak the plastic cannister parts in ammonia water to get the smell out after I washed the original filter, dried it, & vacuumed with it. YIKES! What a smell. Just toss it and get a new one every time.

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Dyson DC40 Animal Ball-Technology Upright Vacuum Cleaner

Bought this vacuum on sale, so that helped out. I never thought I would have spent so much on a vacuum! Bought a Eureka pet model vacuum last year, and it was the WORST vacuum purchased. Did not pick up much, and ended up picking things like lose carpet fibers by hand.

The Dyson vacuum was easy to put together. Snaps easily together. No screw driver needed! Started up the Dyson DC40, and after working in a small area picked up more dirt and pet hair than my fairly new vacuum did. We were shocked to see how much dirt this baby pulled up! Vacuum moves nicely around and under furniture. I know other people have mentioned their dislike of the cord, stating it's too low. I noticed it is low, but I hooked the beginning of it on the top red cord loop and seemed to work out fine for me. Others have also mentioned that they thought the cord was too short. I think it would be a pain to have it longer than it is, it's fine for me.

Dyson also makes it easy to find and clear your blockages if needed. Instructions give clear pictures of where to find your problem area on the DC40, and have made the brush assembly easy to release from the body to clear anything out of that. Amazing they have a 5 year warranty too!

Blueair 201SF Replacement VOC Smokestop Filter

While this filter is expensive, I can tell from using it so far that it will last the 6 months mentioned by the manufacturer. Also, the filter is large and well made with 2 lbs. of activated carbon, which is much more than many other filters I looked at. I tried the regular filter first and found that this one definitely provides extra 'oomph' and a better quality of air that I prefer.

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Dirt Devil UD40285 Featherlite Bagless Upright

Is it too much to ask for a vacuum to pick up stray pieces of paper, not to spit dirt out the back, and be light? This one fits the bill. I owned a dirt devil featherlite 9 years ago but after my husband touched it after 8 years, it didn't suck much anymore. Up till then it worked great. So I bought a vacuum that cost triple this vacuum thinking more expensive so it should be a wonderful vacuum. NOT! It didn't work well at all. Wouldn't pick up papers and kept shredding paper over the carpet, wouldn't suck it up. It also kept spitting dirt out the back on hard floors, or at least every direction except up the canister. I had a herniated disc for 10 months, every time I used the expensive vacuum, it was so heavy and bulky it kept throwing my back out more and kept me down for a week in pain. I was so happy to see kohl's had the new improved version of my old featherlite. It works as good if not better than the last one I had. It sucks really well. I have fun watching the dirt starting to move toward the vacuum before I even get to it. No spitting out the back at all! It is really lightweight but not as wide as other vacuums. The air coming out blows up so items on the refrigerator get blown off sometimes. I don't mind. This is perfect for my 1400 sq foot house and my back is thanking me. Even if I had a larger house, I wouldn't hesitate to use this one. It may take me a few minutes longer but is so worth it. This one even fits nicely in my small coat closet, unlike the more expensive vacuum. I had to force, pull and tug it in. Needless to say the bulky expensive vacuum is gone for good! Just because a vacuum costs more, doesn't mean it's better! I highly recommend this product!

CRYSTAL QUEST® Whole House Single 10" x 5.0" Water Filter System

I ordered this product because I had a tight space and wanted to fit a compact whole house filter under the kitchen sink to filter the cold water line to the sink. This unit appeared promising, having the right size and a reasonable price. This was handled by our GC as part of the work during a kitchen remodel. I am not going to get into the fact that CQ shipped the unit 1 week late even though they had promised me it would get here on time (which it didn't) and we had to juggle the remodel schedule at some cost to us.

The plumber that did excellent precise work everywhere else, spent 4 hours trying to get the nozzles on the unit to seal properly before he came to me and asked for the customer support number of the company. We both spoke with the support rep who claimed that there should be no problem. The issue appeared to be that the hex adapters that come with the unit were not sealing. The CQ rep insisted we just had to add more teflon tape and crank the wrench harder. I consulted with two other plumbers I know who concurred with the GC's plumber with the water pressure in our line there is no way that this would work because the threads in the unit head are NOT TAPERED! We ended up picking up another water filter locally that was pretty much the same. To make matters worse, CQ never responded to my subsequent requests for a refund and the unit is still boxed up in my garage.

All in all this was a very disappointing product and I would not recommend it or any Crystal Quest product.

14ALL Vicks Cut-to-Fit Replacement Carbon Pre-Filter

I have an enclosed cat litter box for my two cats and was looking on line for replacement filters when I ran across this. The filters in the store run $3 each where I live. With just one pack, I was able to cut out well over 20 filters well worth the effort of 10 minutes!