24x30x1-merv 12 A/c Furnace Air Filters By Nordic Pure

These MERV 12 filters are a nice step up from the fiber filters you get in the local hardware store. They felt-like pleat really capture the dirt.

This is a huge filter, so it's hard for a piece of cardboard to remain rigid. During the summer when the humidity is higher, I've had the filter get sucked into my air handler, though I honestly think that the fault of my filter port there's no cross beam to provide support for the center of the filter. However, keep this in mind if you're buying a large filter like this.

Not much more to say the filters do their job and you throw them away every month or two. It's not a sexy part of your HVAC system, but it's an essential one.

Febreze AF-FB2030 20-Inch by 30-Inch

This filter is about 5 dollars cheaper than the other premium allergen filter we were using from the local big box hardware store and we are impressed with it's quality and great smell. It does seem that the smell does disappear after a couple of days but we've had the filter installed for about 3 weeks and it does seem to be capturing more than previous filters did. The smell is a nice plus but I am more interested of the filter quality for the money and it seems like it is a well made and good quality. This is going to be our go-to filter from now on.

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Vicks Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier

I've read all of the reviews for this model, V-5100-NS and most of the reviews of its sister model, V-5100-N.

I think it's clear that without at least once weekly maintenance -IE, a full cleaning, probably with diluted white vinegar to help remove buildup this unit will eventually fail.

Is that the manufacturer's error?? No way!

A basic understanding of an atomizer, otherwise known as a nebulizer, actually functions will explain this.

The little metal plate at the bottom of this humidifier agitates the molecules of the water, along with... ALL OF THE DISSOLVED AND SUSPENDED SOLIDS IN THE WATER!

By contrast, a hot humidifier uses a heating element to raise the water's temperature high enough to cause the water to switch phases and become steam.

Since steam is really bad at carrying dissolved or suspended particles of anything it, all the minerals in your water are left behind on the heating element.

That is the white or colored gunk you will see on a typical hot steam generating humidifier.

This does not occur with ultrasonic humidifiers like the V-5100-NS because everything in the water is atomized. Everything it is agitated so much that it rips away from its adjacent molecules and becomes an ultra-fine mist.

Any and all contaminates in your tap water will be atomized and sprayed all over the place -this is how the humidifier works. It is not a design flaw.

It's important to note that in some cities, the PPM or parts-per-million of dissolved solids can be has high as 500 PPM or more -this might not seem like much, but at those levels you will be atomizing a lot of interesting minerals, with unknown effects.

So, if you want to use this product you are pretty much stuck using very filtered water (NOT just a Brita, I would recommend a decent reverse-osmosis system to really help lower the PPM) or just buying distilled water, which is actually very inexpensive if you buy in bulk. Do not buy distilled water at the grocery story -it'll likely be marked up a lot.

No humidifier is perfect, and all methods of creating a mist for use in raising the relative humidity of a space will have problems with water contaminants, unless you are using absolutely pure distilled water. This is a matter of physics and solubility, not some problem with the technology being used to generate the water mist.

Lastly, I've been using the model V-5100-NS for a while now and I have been very satisfied with it. It generates a very consistent stream of cool mist, and the fan is indeed very quiet. I've owned many other models of humidifiers, and this is absolutely the quietest by far. Could I sleep in the same room with it?

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Sunpentown SF-609 Evaporative Air Cooler with Ionizer

I hate weeding through the reviews for evaporative coolers because it seems like the majority of bad reviews are from people who have no clue what they are and what they are supposed to do, a few are from people who can't follow basic instructions, and there are only a handful of legitimate negative reviews that are usually due to defective issues.

I live in Denver, CO. It's dry here and it's the perfect climate for evaporative coolers. I've had whole-house swamp coolers in previous homes I've lived and know many friends with them. In my home, I have no option for a portable or window A/C air conditioner as I spend most of my time in our finished basement and there's not a good option for exhaust. Last summer we got quotes for central A/C but it's a lot more money than I want to spend and I also don't want the electricity bill that goes along with it. We have a whole house fan (not to be confused with an attic fan) that we run in early morning before it reaches 70 degrees and that we run again at night, usually after 9pm, or whenever it gets cool enough outside. Sometimes with an afternoon rain shower we turn it on sooner.

I bought the evaporative cooler to supplement the whole house fan on those reallllly hot days and/or for the middle of the day when we we're not running it due to it being hotter outside than it is inside. The house fan cools the ground floor much better than our basement due to the lack of air flow from our basement windows because of the window well covers we have. Also, this summer I'm pregnant with a due date of August 15th and that doesn't help my comfort situation. Basically, an evaporative cooler is exactly what I wanted and what fit our situation.

Think of it as a fan on steroids. Cold air DOES come out of it. Today it is 88 degrees outside and humidity is 16%... a typical Colorado summer day. I have the cooler about 3 feet away from me and 8 feet away from my husband. I have it on high and I'm actually getting cold. I have it on the "swing" setting otherwise I would probably turn it down. It doesn't guzzle through water too quickly and filling it once a day is enough since I'm not running it 24/7. I use a gallon pitcher to fill it up faster since it holds 10 liters (2.5 gallons). I have an automatic ice maker in my fridge so I don't have any issues running out of ice. I can't think of any features it's missing. It's not too loud even on high it's like a normal fan. There's no smell at all but I do actually change the water frequently and follow the cleaning instructions. Trust me on the smell thing, I can smell anything from very far away ever since I've been pregnant. You can wash the air filter on the back but DO NOT USE WATER to clean the wick. It is meant to be placed in direct sunlight to clean. I think that is why some other people had issues with smell or mold. Follow the directions, please. It has a remote, timers, sleep modes, swing function (just the fan blades inside swing, not the entire unit), warning beeps and visual indicators when it runs low on water (nice feature to avoid burning out the water pump), and an extra place to put ice on top in addition to putting ice in the water tank. You can adjust the blades on the front to direct the air flow whichever way you need to vertically. It also has an ionizer and you can run it as just a fan if you'd like, so no need for a second unit just to get some air circulating.

All in all... this thing does exactly what it says it will do. It's exactly what I wanted. It came assembled, which was a big bonus. It's only 17 lbs and has built in handles on the sides so I can actually carry it upstairs by myself if it's empty, even being super pregnant. It's on wheels to make it easier to push around when I don't have to take it to another floor. It was less than half what other similar units cost for the same tank size and air output.

I've only has this thing for a week. I will be sure to update my review once I've had it for awhile.

UPDATE 6/24 I've found that when I run this thing on high for 8-10 hours per day, we do need to fill it every day or every other day at the very least (depending on if I fill it to the max level... usually I just add 1 gallon when I fill it). However, when I'm running it on medium or low and not using it as much (more like 5-6 hours per day), it can last about a week without needing a refill. I typically don't bother putting ice in anymore unless it's a day with over 95 degree temperatures and I want extra cold air. The only thing I wish it had was an easy way to drain it in case I want to move it upstairs when it's not empty. However, I don't think any model I looked at had this feature (or at least it wasn't mentioned). It has NEVER made the room feel muggy even with no open windows and honestly I don't feel any difference in the humidity in the room. Almost every day it's been less than 20% humidity outside, and I've never seen it get over 30% outside. I'm still happy with this purchase and stand by my 5 stars. I'm glad I got this instead of spending much more on a similar unit.

UPDATE 6/25/2012 We didn't use this thing at all once it got cool out last fall. We drained it (easy to do while not pregnant) and put it in our basement storage closet. When we brought it back out a couple weeks ago, I vacuumed the screen on the back, filled it with water and drained it again to rinse it out. No musty smell or anything and it works just as well as last year. The room we normally are using this in stays pretty cool compared to the rest of the house, so now we're purchasing a wall-unit swamp cooler that is 5500 CFMs, hoping it will keep the entire house cool. The only thing I don't like about this cooler is that it's too short to feel it when laying in bed. You can tilt the blades up and down to direct airflow vertically, but it's not enough for a king size bed that's on a frame and box spring. For those of you wondering the electricity cost is negligible. I don't see any difference in our electricity consumption when we are using it every day compared to when we aren't. However, my husband and I work work full time so we don't use it as much as someone that doesn't work or works from home. I'm still happy with this purchase and thing it's a great portable swamp cooler for the price!

Also, here's a chart that shows evaporative cooler effectiveness based off outside temperature and humidity. I will also post it to the pictures.

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Electrolux Oxygen Ultra Air Cleaner

No one's reviewed this unit yet? It surprises me. I really like it. It has lowered the overall odor in my home and completely eliminated the pungent odor from daily hookah smoking from my dining and sitting room in about a month running on auto-mode. The 5 speeds it has goes from a soft soft whisper up to a bit of a roar and the amount of air it moves is noticeable too. I've been using it for a nearly 2 months now and believe it's very effective. I have a chronic low level sinus issue where stuff in the air can really bother them and many times don't breathe well at night and wake up very fuzzy-headed, but in the first week of having the 2 different Electrolux purifiers in the house I wake up feeling alert and clear-headed now. I certainly didn't expect that! There are so many fake air purifiers out there and I did some homework on the technologies to weed out the fakes and reading reviews to weed out the ones with issues.

I researched and shopped around for the best purifier at a reasonable cost and this is it in my opinion. I'm a senior electronics technician of over 25 years by occupation in the fields of medical and telecom equipment and good at understanding how technologies whether electrical or mechanical works.

I'm very skeptical about the claims they all make and there are so many of these too good to be true purifiers that work by magic or seem to be really leading edge sophisticated technology that's not so much. Honestly when I started educating myself on air purifiers it got confusing. I spent many hours over a month or so looking at all the different makes and trying to eek all the science out of each one. These Electrolux units I think are solid and clean the air with a simple 3 stage process instead of 6 to 9 steps and the extra maintenance and cost that would entail to do maybe as well as this one. I think that this unit does as well or better as some of the ones that go for $500 or more.

This Electrolux is well worth the money if you have a larger area with it's ability to move a lot of air and it's CADR specs are impressively higher than some of these high priced things that rate half as good and do little more than a walk-in closet. Between the HEPA filter and the PlasmaWave ionizer it scrubs the air of everything and it's cool how it senses when the air needs more cleaning and steps the fan speed up to clean more and gives an indication on a 5 segment display. Mostly I just leave it in auto mode and it adjusts as needed to the air quality. The air in the house is not only dust free as in I never see anything floating in the air through the sunlight or a lamp, but the overall odor that the place had has been much neutralized. It does a great job of eliminating cooking odor even if I don't use the kitchen range exhaust fan.

I've figured out that these Electrolux units are built on the same chassis as the Winix 5300, Sharp Plasmacluster, and possibly the Rabbit BioGS. Seriously go look them up and tell me they aren't based on the same unit! But all have wildy varying ratings and prices and the brute performance and low price of theElectrolux makes it for me the cream at the top.

I can't think of anything to ding it on; the quality seems very good and the construction is solid. It's very good so it gets a 5 star. I'll revisit this review later and update it from a longer term perspective.

I also have the EL490A that I use upstairs. It's a lower CADR rating but still higher than most, does about 80 sq ft less area and half the price. My overall impression with that unit is the same as this one; superb!

It's been over a year now and I still like it as well as the day I got it. The overall odor of the house is much more neutral than it was since it sucks the odor out of everything in the place and the amount of dust throughout the house is noticeably lower!

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SPT SF-608R Portable Evaporative Air Cooler

First off, this is NOT an air conditioner. If you expect your room to be freezing cold, this is not the product for you. It's a COOLER, and it does its job very well. It works by evaporating water. Try soaking a T-shirt, wringing it out, and putting it on wet to get the effect. It doesn't work very well in humid areas, but it works GREAT where the air is dry.

I'm in southern California, where the humidity varies pretty widely. I place the cooler six or eight feet from my chair, and on the hottest days I'm quite comfortable.

Benefits:

* it's about 1/5 the cost of an air conditioner

* operating expense is a fraction of the cost of air conditioning

* neat features! (timer, sleep function, etc.)

* remote control

Drawbacks:

* it's not freezing cold like air conditioning.

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SPT WA-1230E 12,000-BTU Portable Air Conditioner

I bought this AC unit during the excess heat wave this summer. The unit, (once properly vented) works really well for cooling my bed room but it shuts off when the water needs drained. Durning these hot temperatures this is after only 2-2.5 hrs. Draining the water is not an easy task because the drain is only 1 inch from the floor so you can only use a really really shallow dish. It does come with a hose to connect to a drain for continous drainage but the drain must be below or at the same level as the AC unit.

This drainage problem makes the unit NOT useful for long term cooling (you can't run it all night or use it to cool while at work)

As a long term solution I am working on buidling a stand to set the unit on for continous drainage into a bucket but it is heavey and vibration makes noise a problem. Other portable AC unit have a collecting bottle which is easy to revome for drainage.

BEM1040/BEM1042 Bemis Aftermarket Humidifier Wick Filter

I order this thinking it was that exact same type of filter. It is an off brand not what is picture on website. To send it back it would cost me the same as I paid for it. Really be sure you want an item from this company the due charge a re-stock fee and will take some back for return shipping. The filter is like a honeycome style filter only half as much surface area. I did not receive any type of resolution after my inial email so I'm going have deal with it and buy directly from the manufacture.

Honeywell QuietClean Compact Tower Air Purifier

We bought this one to replace a larger Honeywell tower that had burned out the motor bearings. We have a room dedicated to small parrots, and they produce a lot of dander that we don't want to spread into the rest of the house. Our old Honeywell worked well, but it was hard to clean and fairly loud. This new one is much quieter, and works just as well, filtering a great amount of dander out of the air. It is far easier to clean, and the fact that no filters ever need to be replaced was a major reason for our purchase. It is running constantly, but it is virtually unnoticeable. We have tried several air purifiers over the years, and this is by far the best we have had.

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Rainshow'r Bernoulli Polished Chrome Shower Head

I bought this shower head because I was disgusted with the crud building up on our old shower head. I wanted something with no plastic and low flow, but I also wanted a powerful shower. This was relatively inexpensive, beautiful, and well-made. It took about the same amount of time to install as it does to change the nozzle on a hose (save for the time spent getting a wrench from the toolbox to remove the previous showerhead). I'm ordering a second one immediately for our other shower.

18x20x1 (Actual Size) Accumulair Emerald Filter

After searching every place in my city in Atlanta, Ga, I couldn't find this filter anywhere. Thanks Goodness for Amazon! This filter worked very well for my daughter's town house. It was definitely true to fit and I will be buying again

BISSELL Healthy Home Upright Vacuum Cleaner

I've been using the original Bissell Healthy Home vac for nearly two years and have been extremely pleased with it. This updated version builds upon the strengths of the original and adds a few new features.

My biggest complaint with the original Healthy Home was the weight. Bissell has addressed this common complaint by making the new model lighter by a few pounds. But, the lighter weight appears to come at the expense of solid construction parts like the handle and collection bin feel less substantial. I know you can't equate durability with weight, but my initial impression of the new model was that it's less resistant to the knocks and bruises that vacs tend to take. Too early to tell, however. It has a five year warranty like the old model.

Assembly is a snap two screws for the handle (which are no longer recessed, so they are easy to get in) and two screws for the cord wrap.

Operationally, the new vac preforms just as well as the old model. I have seven cats. Yes, seven. This is the house where vacuums get put to the test. The Bissell takes all that is thrown at it with nary a problem. The carpet suction is excellent; the tool suction is good. Easy to maneuver with large, non-marring wheels.

As in the old model, the carpet beater can be turned off for hard floor or very delicate/thin carpet use. The switches have been repositioned so they are less prone to being hit accidentally. The beater has a clutch, so if it gets bound up in something it stops turning rather than burn out the belt. The belt is (according to Bissell) a "life time" belt.

The carpet height is adjustable with a knob. I prefer that type of manual adjustment since the auto adjust models from other brands never seem to get it right on some carpets. Doing it manually lets you set a higher height for more delicate rugs, and a lower, more aggressive height for rugs that need to be churned up more to get the pet hair/dirt out.

The HEPA filter has been moved from the side of the vac to under the collection bin. According to Bissell this allows for better functionality/cleaner exhaust. Seems to work fine, but the old method also worked well. Having the filter in-line does make the vac narrower that's probably the main benefit.

It still has the foam (washable) pre-filter. Great feature to have since it extends the life of the non-washable HEPA. I've been getting about 18 months life out of the HEPA filters in the old model.

The hose routing has been changed. It's a bit harder to dislodge than the old model for tool use, but still fairly easy compared with other vacs I've used.

The collection bin is also easy to take off and empty. I prefer bagless since I can't stand paying for bags. The new bin has straight sides to help get all the crud out. Still, dumping out the bin of any bagless vac can be messy, and you sometimes have to reach in to get out the big clumps of light-weight material (such as cat hair). If you have major allergies or just don't like to deal with this, you may want to consider a bagged model.

Tips:

1) Every so often take the collection bin apart and wash it out. Very fine dust can collect in the upper cyclonic chamber, and can affect performance. Make sure all parts are bone dry before putting them back on the vac.

2) I recommend you replace the plastic wand with an aluminum wand. You can get it at the Bissell site online (register online and you'll get free shipping). The metal wand is more robust than the plastic and also has positive click stops to ensure it does not fold up when you push hard.

3) The contour head is also a nice add-on if you have pets. It is a non-powered head (unlike the included turbo head) which is good for more delicate fabrics or furniture throws with loose threads that can snag. You can get it from Bissell or Amazon.

4) If you want a full-size floor brush, the models from Sears fit the Bissell.

In summary, this is an excellent vac. The new model takes a couple of steps forward and perhaps only a half-step back (construction quality). If you can get the old model at a discount, it's well worth it if you can deal with the weight. If not, this model is also highly recommended.

Kalorik 10-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker

Materials and construction seem very cheap. The spring in the part that allows you to take the pot out while still brewing, fell out while I was unpacking it. I returned it and purchased a Zoji. I am pleased with that coffee maker.

TurboCat Air Driven Brush

The seal on the roller ends needs substantial imprvement because pet and other hair gets caught there and eventually the roller seizes up and it all has to be disassembled to clean which is annoying and time consuming. Cleans great otherwise.

Enviromate E20 Steam Cleaning System

Ordered this steam cleaner shortly after I got my 12 week old puppy who is in the process of being pottytrained. I have used it on my carpet to get puppy stains.odors out and they disappeared immediately! Now I find myself cleaning everything in sight and I do not know how I ever lived without this cleaner. My house smells fresh without the use of chemicals and it has taken in some instances 21 years worth of grime off in a matter of seconds!! Try it and see for yourself.

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Honeywell HHT-090 Permanent Hepa Filter Tower Air Purifier

Alright, so I just bought this so I can't say much about reliability, but I had to post a review online because I'm incredibly impressed with they way my apartment smells now. I have 2 cats, and litterbox odor is a big problem for me...I'm a neat freak, and I can't stand anything that smells dirty so I went out and bought this to help take care of the issue.

And this is really the best part.

I CAN'T EVEN TELL I HAVE CATS ANYMORE. Yes, it's that good. Granted, there's a bit of a rubbery smell because the filters are new, but it'll fade in time. All I did was put it in the same room as the litterbox, turn it on HIGH for about 5 minutes, and the smell was gone. I've since switched it down to low and let it run, and the room smells like it did when I moved in.

Another great thing about this unit is the filters are permanent, which means you never have to buy more. Just pull them out and wash them when the light comes on (yes, it tells you when to clean the filter). That basically pays for itself in a year or two if you look at the price of filters in comparable units.

I will say that it's not the most quiet unit, especially on high, but medium is tolerable and low is barely noticeable if you're in the same room.

Eureka 431DX Optima Lightweight Upright Vacuum

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of this machine. My wife and I moved to a new house with more carpeting and, after 16 years, had to retire our old Hoover. We looked at Dysons and a few other full-size vacs. Problem is, they all weighed a ton. (Well, not really a ton...but a lot.) Seeing that we have to lug the vacuum up and down stairs constantly, we wanted something lighter weight. Then we saw it...a mention of the Eureka Optima in an issue of Oprah magazine while visiting my sister and her family on vacation. We went to the local Best Buy and checked it out. After vacuuming up a bunch of junk on the floor of Best Buy in Nyack, NY, we took the plunge. The vacuum is a breeze to assemble. It's even kind of cute looking. And it does have a great deal of suction. The lack of a HEPA filter may be a drawback to some, but we went from an old bagged vacuum to this bagless...so it's a huge improvement for us even without the HEPA filter. The Optima is a bit harder to push than our old vac, especially on thicker carpet. But our rooms aren't terribly big, so we look at it as an opportunity for a bit of exercise. The incredible weight (or lack thereof) of this machine, along with the low price, more than makes up for the little bit of effort required to push it. It's easy to empty, too. And the telescoping handle is great! Put the handle all the way down and you can store this vac in just about any closet. We've even stored it in a large kitchen cabinet. I'd recommend this vacuum to anyone. Or you can spend six or seven or eight times the money on a Dyson. The choice is yours!!

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Panasonic MC-V194H HEPA Filter

If you read your manual, it recommends replacing this every year. We had our vacuum for two years before replacing this. Now the vacuum works back up to original specs-you can't smell dust any more, and it sucks harder.

You probably want to replace the pleated filter after a year or two also, no matter how good you are at cleaning it.

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ViraTech UV 400

We bought this air purifier just before we brought home our newborn to keep the bedroom air clean. Even during the height of the flu season, none of us has gotten sick once all season (knock on wood). Has many fan settings which help to control the noise level (a little loud on the highest setting, but it also moves a ton of air) We use it on the middle setting and the noise level is no problem at all and moves plenty of air in our 12'x15' bedroom. We turn it all the way up when starting the wood burning stove and it works great for removing any residual smoke odor that inevitably escapes when opening the wood door. Best part is the baby loves the white noise! We lost power for 2 nights in the recent blizzard, and I did notice that I was waking up a little stuffy and didn't quite sleep as well with the unit not running. Once power returned so did my good nights sleep. Very simple control panel, no dirty messy filters to deal with. Had a little bit of a "new appliance smell" the first 2 or 3 days, but that went away quickly. Overall I would give this appliance a great rating. A true set it and forget it. Doesn't even take up much room in the corner. We love it!

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BISSELL Digi-Pro Bag Kit

what can I say, they're vacuum bags... they work as expected. Couldn't find them locally, so I went online and ordered. The distributor delivered promply and the price was reasonable.

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