Aprilaire #56 Humidistat

• For use with Aprilaire models 110, 112, 220, 224, 400, 440, 445, 445A, 448, 500, 550, 550A, 558, 560, 560A, 568, 600, 700, 760, 760A and 768.<
• The Aprilaire Auto Trac humidifier control is computer-equipped, completely automated and will never need manual adjustments.
• The advanced computer technology measures the outdoor temperature and indoor humidity and continually adjusts your homes indoor humidity to its optimum level.

Had one of these units prematurely quit, not triggering the Aprilaire humidifier. Aprilaire technical reps were great assisting to determine the problem of the humidifier not working, which was the humidistat. Unfortunately, it was out of warranty, so had to purchase. Mechanical and electrical installation was simple. Worked at start-up, and has been doing fine since. Do hope it lasts longer than the last one, though. They are not cheap.

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Soleus Air DP1-30-03, 30 Pint Portable Energy Star Dehumidifier

I received this unit yesterday so this is a preliminary assessment. The reason why I needed a dehumidifier is the one that we have in our basement is literally 20 years old. It's so old, it doesn't have a piece of plastic on it but it refuses to die. While I didn't test the old unit for electrical draw, my monthly electric bills are too high. I unplugged/put on a timer every appliance that I thought could contribute and it came back down to my belief that my old dehumidifier is an energy hog.

Our basement is HUGE but I still only bought the 30 pint unit because I'd rather run a small unit more often than cycle a larger unit. Same concept as a house air conditioner and a dehumidifier is a miniature air conditioner. Besides, I'd need the Mother of All Dehumidifiers to completely dry the basement and that's not going to happen.

Even though the old unit had just been running before I installed the Soleus, the new hstat read 70%. I don't really care if that's accurate or not, the basement just smelled damp. I installed a drip hose to run into the laundry tub, set the hstat to 55% and went to bed. This morning, it's definitely drier but I didn't bother to check the hstat. I assume the unit ran all night.

The impressive point is that I used the same drain hose on both dehumidifiers and, subjectively, the Soleus is draining a LOT more water than the old unit. Plus it is VERY quiet.

Once I get the feel of the hstat sensitivity, then I 'll set it and forget it so I can assess the energy usage. I know that I could buy an energy meter but I'll just save the $50.

The unit is also light which is important because I put the unit midway up the wall on a shelf (to drain into the tub). The supplied wheels should move very well on carpets but mine is static. BTW, based on my own reading, the Energy Star rating means very little but it's better to buy an appliance with the sticker.

Thanks to all those who previously reviewed this product and helped me make my decision!

I've updated this since I've used the system for a few months. Previously, I was wrong in saying the blower stays on constantly when the dehumidifier isn't running. Not true, don't know where I got that. All I can say is....dagnabbit but this does pull a lot of water from the air, and it uses less electricity than my old one.

One year later and I'm at the point where I just leave it on. Works extremely well and I'm very satisfied.

It will soon be two years of nearly constant use (at least during the air conditioning season) and it performs just as well as when I first wrote this review.

Yup, two years now and it has been running perfectly. Good investment.

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Black & Decker HEPAFreshTM Air Cleaner BXAP148 3 Speed HEPA Purifier

I've been using this air cleaner for a couple days now to see how well it does its job. We have a great deal of Juniper pollen in the air at the moment and it's causing quite a bit of distress to everyone's system. It is suggested that this air filter is put in a small, single, closed room up to 155 square feet for best results. I am using it in my computer room as this fits the mode. I've been experiencing less pollen disturbances in this room than any other room in my house so I can recommend this machine for that purpose alone; it's doing a pretty good job of removing the airborne pollen and depositing it in the filter.

I am particularly happy with the machine itself as it seems very user friendly and if I didn't read the directions, I could still easily figure out the filter layers and how it works. The filter access cover comes off without a hitch and the filters are also easily removed for cleaning. The control panel is self explanatory, the machine has a built in carrying handle and it stands upright without tipping over. I am happy that the stand is included/molded into the design of the tower just as the handle is because screwing a bottom stand on tower appliances can be a bit tricky. No problems here, it just comes out of the box ready to roll. I like it.

New Wave Enviro Premium 10 Stage Water Filter System

I searched for the best water purification technique available primarily because I was shocked at the state of our drinking water and I couldn't just go on blindly dumping chemicals into my body. My criterion was to remove all added chemicals from my drinking water including Fluoride and as an Engineer with a scientific background I needed scientific backing.

Note: The usage of Fluoride in our water systems is controversial, but Ninety-seven percent of western Europe has eliminated fluoride from drinking water. goggle "Fluorosis" and "fluoride side effects", read the article on "about dot com" on "fluoride removal". Read the article on "livestrong dot com" on "side effects of fluoride ingestion". I quote, "Fluoride ingestion has been associated with adverse health effects such as IQ deficits in children, depression, weight gain and heart disease. The "Journal of Applied Clinical Pediatrics" reports that "high fluoride intake has a damaging effect on intellectual ability," and human studies from China, India, Iran and Mexico found that elevated levels of fluoride in children resulted in reduced performance and impaired development of intelligence. The U.S. National Research Council has also found that fluoride affects normal endocrine function, which may contribute to hypothyroidism, or reduced activity of the thyroid gland. Hypothyroidism can lead to fatigue, depression, weight gain, hair loss, muscle pains and heart disease.

I started off with on a friends recommendation the Nikken Pi-Mag which i soon rejected because they independent lab results were not available, fluorine was not removed from the water and I could not trust a MLM companies claims' that were not scientifically verifiable.

I looked at Aquasana and Multipure's product line but I became obvious that the life expectancy was about a year and I would deal with leaks, and defective housing. The reviews for the New Wave were 10Stage Filter were promising on amazon and I bought it right away, but soon grew suspicious of their claims as there were no results posted on their website either. I called New Wave customer service which I must add was great and friendly and asked for the independent lab results, which they emailed. After analyzing the results I was disappointed to see that a company that makes water filters provided results from a lab called, Truesdale lab but back in 1995 (15yrs ago!). Surely they can get this tested recently since both regulations and water quality have changed since then and made this readily available to their customers via their website. Anyway the results they provided showed that it was tested for Cyst Removal (based on the 1988 NSF standard), Lead, Choloform and Lindane removal. Fluorine was not removed which for me was not good enough.

I returned the New Wave Environ and finally found the Berkey filter system which has an additinal fluoride filter as well. Although more expensive (about 250 inclusive of a set of flouride filters), the Berkey filters would be cheaper in the long run as they last between 3,400 gallons to 19,500 gallons depending on water quality, unlike the New Wave Filter's 1500 gallons. Furthermore I liked openness and readily accessible lab results by independent labs such as the University of Arizona, LSU and Spectrum labs (google Berkey lab results). Furthermore they are used by emergency organizations like the Redcross and Unicef.

I must add that there is no perfect system, the fluoride filters usually use an activated alumina filter media and Aluminia has been associated with Alzheimers. I was concerned about any aluminum dust residue left in the water and a little more research revealed the residue to me negligible.

Here is a comparison:

Water boiled in an Aluminium pan for 5mins had: 2.791 ppm aluminum

Colgate toothpaste: 52.878 ppm aluminum.

The Berkey flouride filter after 10 cycles had .037 ppm aluminum and after 20 Cycles: .029 ppm aluminum which in my opinion was negligible and safe.

I hope this helps you and saves you time!

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Homedics Ar-20 Hepa Air Cleaner 100 Cadr

I don't normally review products on Amazon; however, I just had to share with you how awesome this product is.

The Bad:

There is little bad about this air cleaner, but it is inconvenient enough that it does warrant one star being removed. First, it doesn't have any sort of handle. Sure, it has a few surfaces you could grab it by, but they don't seem quite sturdy enough. A good, built-in handle would just about make this thing perfect. Finally, the buttons light up. I mean REALLY light up. At night when you're trying to sleep, THEY LIGHT UP THE ENTIRE ROOM. And there is no way to turn these lights off (that I could find). We now have a folded up t-shirt dedicated to forever sitting on top of it so that we can sleep at night with it in the room. Something should really be done about that...

The Good:

I have had allergies for years, and I've always suspected it was because of the cats that live with us in our apartment (I was congested EVERY morning and my eyes itched all the time), but I've never really done anything about it. Then last week I had LASIK surgery, and I decided I wanted to at least try to ease my allergies post-surgery. So I purchased the AR-20 cleaner and set it up in the apartment the night before surgery. The next morning I woke up congestion-free for the first time in years. I've woken up every morning since then congestion-free, and my eyes haven't been itching any. I a SO glad I purchased this before having LASIK. It likely prevented post-op complications!

I highly recommend this air cleaner. Just pick it up at the base, and have an old t-shirt handy.

Shark XSH035 Hand Vac Tap-Clean HEPA DustCup Filter

I ordered 3 of these as I found them hard to locate. The filters are advertised with debris screens. Not a single one came with the debris screen. I am assuming the seller has kept them or given them away and is still selling these at full price. I have had to reuse the screen from my original filter. Luckily it was salvagable. Good delivery, bad service to remove the screens.

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24x30x1 (23.5 x 29.5) Accumulair Emerald 1-Inch Filter

Upgraded our A/C, which included a new air intake. Went from an easy to find 24"x24" filter to a not so easy to find 23.5" x29.5" filter. Amazon had a good selection and for no particular reason I chose this one. Arrived quickly, and most important, it fits. Can't evaluate effectiveness, since I feel no different now then I did with the old system (although my electric bills are down at least 20%).

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.

Essick Air 5D6 700 4-Speed Mini Console Humidifier,White

I just purchased this for a rental property of mine and have been using it for around 1 week. This unit is definitely not fancy, consists of a the fan/motor unit, 2 wicks, and around 3-4 gallon tank for the water. The fan has 4 speed settings, and it has a humidity detection unit that can be set in 20% intervals from 20% to 90% (constant) run. It claims to cover around 1100 sq feet, and so far it is easily doing that. Here are the negatives:

1. Filling is a bit of a hassle. You have to lift the top off and set it aside. The cord tethers you to a small radius of the unit to do this

2. On fan speeds of 3 and 4, the unit can be quite loud. 1 and 2 are soft enough to actually be used in a bedroom or living room.

3. It uses two wicks, costing on average between 10 and 15 dollars a piece. This can be costly to change them if you have really hard water like some of my houses.

4. I had to exchange the unit one time after 1 days use. The motor unit was making a loud "buzzing noise" above the noise of the fan, like a starter in a florescent light continually being charged. The replacement one I have is working good.

I purchased because I did not have many choices in the rural area, nor did I have the budget to invest in another Honeywell HCM-6009 Quietcare, so this will suffice. I will keep this unit tucked in the corner of the dining room, away from the living area, but close enough to cover the bedrooms upstairs. For the price, this will serve it's purpose, but there are better units out there.

Airpura Industries R600 Air Purifier

great air purifier, love the black color. used this for cleaning up so called zero voc paint fumes. works great and we keep it on all the time and it has made our indoor air quality just amazing.

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14x20x5 (13.75x19.75x4.38) MERV 10 Honeywell Grille Filter

These things are hard to find locally, so I'm happy to have this online source. The price is about what you'd expect to pay for it at the store if you can them.

Aprilaire 8463 5/2 or 5/1/1 Day Programmable Thermostat

Nice look. This thermostat is really easy to install and setup. The program allow you to setup for 5 days (Week) and 2 days (weekend). So you can setup your a/c to turn off during the weeks days you are out working, but keep a nices temperature on the weekend so you can sleep a little bit more.

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BISSELL CleanView

I have an Oreck for which I paid almost $350.....I also have a shedding 80 pound English Bulldog. I had vacuumed the rugs/carpet and they still had a fine layer of dog hair over them which I could remove with a dog brush....that is a lot if work. I scanned the products available and came across this one for $80. I vacuumed the kitchen rugs with the Oreck and immediately did a follow up with the Bissell....I filled the Bissell cup ! The Oreck ( and the expensive bags )

is out. This is it for me and I could buy three more and still pay less than the Oreck.

Allanson International Inc UVA36WB Swordfish Whole Home Air Purifier

We have used the Swordfish Ultraviolet Air Purifier in our home for about 5 years now. It works great. We very rarely get colds now. Our house is a converted cottage from the 70's with a crawl space underneath so base air quality is dubious. The Shark Ultraviolet Air Purifier sterilizes all the air that goes through our furnace air duct system using Ultraviolet Light. Ultraviolet Light kills micro organisms and disrupts the DNA and RNA (genetic code) of micro organisms so they don't reproduce before they die. The system works the same as Ultraviolet sterilizers for water but it is set up to sterilize air. The Ultraviolet light kills the germs, microbes and viruses that pass through the ultraviolet light it emits. I set mine up so it "lights up" both our furnace air filter and our humidifier both of which are breeding grounds for bacteria. I still clean and replace them just as often but I know that bacteria is much less likely to grow in between maintenance with the Ultraviolet killing the microbes it can reach in between.

Installation took about 1/2 hour and I was easily able to do it myself. I am a handy person but this installation was very basic. Just a drill and a screw driver. You have to drill an an approximately 2" hole in your duct work for the installation. Al high quality metal hole saw is provided with the Swordfish air purifier. Planning where you will mount the Swordfish Air purifier is very important because the 2" hole you drill will always be there. Remember, measure 10 times, drill once. The Swordfish Air Purifier will also need to be plugged into a regular 110/1115 Volt household outlet. It comes with a 6' cord. Plan for this as well.

This system is very safe as long as the light is completely enclosed in your furnace or air system duct work. Should not be installed where anyone could possibly see the Ultraviolet light as it can damage the eyes. Other than that this just kills germs and microbes, nothing else.

Warranty was also very good. Our stopped working after about a year and a half. Called up the company, they had me ship them the base mechanism and I had a new one about a week later. No questions and no cost to me.

to me this has been a very impressive product that has reduced illnesses in my family to just about none and it has given me the peace of mind of knowing the air quality in our house is much healthier than it would be without it.

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Winix 6300 True HEPA Air Cleaner

I bought this because we have a wood stove that sometimes produces some smoke. This cleaner helps 100%. It goes on to a higher speed by itself when needed which is what I really like.

I only wish it were taller and narrower so it wouldn't take up as much room.

Filtrete Eureka DCF-3 Filter

This filter fit perfectly into my Eureka Whirlwind "liteSpeed" vacum Model 5844. While the order filled through amazon fullfuillment center came slower than other filters I order for this vacum at the same time, it did arrive within the specified time for the free shipping option for all three filters.

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Miele 25 Miele Type Gn Premium Hepa Filtration Canister Vacuum Cleaner Bags

Really a good alternative to the expensive Miele brand bags for my Miele sweeper. Fit was as good as original, Miele brand, bags unlike another brand I had tried.

Smoke Buddy Personal Air Filter

This is the most useful product I could have ever wished for man. I have one my car and like one also for the house. Oh yeah one spare too. So this product works for all smoke just so you know. It only lasts for one ounce of herb though man, but it's worth adding to the cost of an ounce. Buy this if you're smoking inside and can't get caught or don't want smell.

Metrokane Rabbit Wine Aerating Pourer

In these days of over-hyped products that rarely work as advertised, it's a treat to find something that actually does what it's supposed to do. Metrokane's Rabbit Wine Aerating Pourer is one that does, based on our family's experience. We've found it greatly improves the taste and drinkability of freshly opened red wines without having to decant them from the bottle, while at the same time being functional and easy to use. As an added bonus, clean up is a snap! We tried it out with members of our gourmet group and it garnered kudos from all concerned. Highly recommended!

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90064 ECHO tune-up Kit GT-201 SRM-211 Trimmer Blower

Great product! Fit exactly as expected. Easy Installation. My weed eater has never run better! Will def purchase again in a couple years when tune up is needed again.