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Looking at purchasing one of these but know little to nothing about them. Anyone on here have any knowledge regarding them? Do they work? What do I look for? Recommendations?
Before an answer, I have a question for you: "What problem do you want the air filter to fix ?"

The most effective air filtration method for particulates is High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA). A properly fitted and mounted HEPA filter device, will filter out 99.97 particles 0.3 microns or larger. Most air purifiers combine HEPA (beware HEPA type or HEPA-like they aren’t the same) with some other technology such as – charged plates (Ionic), germicidal light (UV), ozone, or carbon filters.

Ionic – interestng idea I believe HEPA is superior, though HEPA will require periodic filter replacement. I would not purchase just an Ionic machine without HEPA.

Germicidal light or ultraviolet-c will kill mold and bacterial, I am unsure if the particles will have adequate dwell time in the UV chamber to be killed. Stand HEPA filters may be degraded by UV light exposure. This is a could be nice feature, depending on how it is implemented in the individual machine.

Ozone – pass on it. In order for the ozone to be effective the machine would need to generate enough ozone to be potentially harmful to you. Ozone can actually be a lung irritant. Ozone works by oxidizing some substance, be it a germ, or the plastic seal on something, the substance formed by the oxidation reaction may be worse than the original. Skip this one in general.

Carbon Filters: If you believe there is some sort of volatile organic chemicals (fumes, off-gassing new home materials, etc) then the carbon filter could be a good addition to HEPA. Look for a device with a separate carbon and HEPA filter.

Air Volume! This is an important criteria, if your bedroom has an area of 120 square feet with 8 foot ceilings, then it has a volume of 960 cubic feet. Most air purifiers probably have a low end through-put range somewhere between 20-50 cubic feet for minute (CFM). Assuming the theoretical bed room was sealed so no air moved in or out it would take a 20 CFM unit 48 minutes (960/20 = 48) to potentially move all the air in the room through the room.

Given that your room will not be hermetically sealed the air purifier is only going to have a limitted area of influence. Place the unit so that the filtered air is directed to the area you are occupying most of the time — couch or bedroom ?

With that in mind your best bet is an affordable HEPA based unit that moves a good amount of air (within a tolerable noise limit). Don’t believe the HYPE on maintenance free, any product that are you are probably going to use on a near continuous basis is going to require some maintenance. When checking on a model look for the cost of replacement filters. Some machines may be more expensive upfront, but have a lower cost over the life of the machine based on filter replacement costs.

hawaiimold
I had a Trane Clean Effects installed in my house. LOVE IT!
Do you have a price range or any specific features that you’re looking for?

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