Air purifier suggestions

[DonTee]

We have a 1500 sq foot, two story house with no Hvac system. I would like to add an air purifier (or multiple air purifiers). Here’s what we have going on.

Downstairs is the basically one big room except for the bathroom. So the kitchen, living room, dining room, and bathroom are downstairs.
Upstairs is 3 bedrooms. Two with doors, and the third open to the stairs.

We have multiple birds, dogs, plants and a cat inside the house. Primary heat source is the woodstove.
Basically a lot of dust generating things inside.

I’m thinking something that’s good at collecting dust would be nice. So maybe a hepa filter?

Could I use one larger air purifier unit downstairs, and then maybe one smaller unit per bedroom upstairs? I’m not sure what the best way to do it is.

I’ve read about people making filter units by using a box fan and Hvac air filters. As much as I would like to do that, my wife is against it. So whatever we get has to be a store bought unit.
I’m just not sure what type of air purifier units to look at.

I think this is the correct forum section to post this in. If it’s not, pls move it for me mods. Thank you.

 

[EbS-P]

I use the Winix units. I use an foam wind AC trimmable filter to keep the heap filter from filling up with bigger particles

 

[DonTee]

Ok. I see Home Depot carries the Winix D360 and D480. Not super expensive either.

Are you using the other filter on the front of the Winix to capture the big particles first, or on another device?

 

[EbS-P]

Ok. I see Home Depot carries the Winix D360 and D480. Not super expensive either.

Are you using the other filter on the front of the Winix to capture the big particles first, or on another device?

On the winix (well I use the washable pre filters on everything I can too hvac, HPHWH).
I wash the hepa filters too. Maybe I shouldn’t but I’m not super concerned about true hepa. Just really want to keep dander and dust and pollen to a minimum.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Expensive, but worth it. We have never been so pleased with air purifiers. We own 2 of the Alen Breathesmart 75i True HEPA Air Purifiers using the "Fresh" filter (captures allergens, dust, mold, germs, cooking odors, smoke, and volatile organic compounds). We placed one on both floors of our house. It has the highest Consumer Reports rating of the 113 air purifiers they tested with a score of 91/100.

True HEPA Air Purifiers For Homes & Businesses | Alen®

Alen air purifiers for homes and commercial businesses remove dust, mold and odors with True HEPA air filters. Rated #1 in customer reviews.

alen.com

The 2 Winix models you mention didn't even make it into the 113. The Winix9800 was rated #5 (score 77 out of 100), Winix5300-2 was rated #29 (score 59 out of 100), WinixC535 was rated #38 (score 55 out of 100).

 

[DonTee]

Interesting. I’ll look into those too. I told my wife I’d do some research, and then we can pick out the units we want. She probably will want to spend more money than I do. I know, shocking right? Haha

Basically a few members of my family have had cold or allergy like symptoms for months now. It’s off and on, but more than half the time. We want to rule out poor indoor air quality as a contributing factor. None of us have suffered from seasonal allergies before, so I don’t know why it would be starting now, and be so bad.

We were RV’ers for the past couple years, and that meant running a ceiling vent fan most of the time. So our air was well circulated before.
This is our first full year in this house, and the first fall we’ve spent here. Ever since the weather has cooled down, we've had the windows closed more. So poor air circulation in the house.

Another thing I need to test is for radon. The house has a crawl space underneath. It doesn’t have any plastic or anything over the ground. So I should probably do a radon test. Since most of our symptoms would fit with that as well.

 

[Ashhole]

We use 2 Blueair 211+ units also recommended by Consumer Reports. A little clunky to change the filter but 1/3 the cost of the Alen Breathesmart 75i. Replacement filters are readily available and fairly inexpensive.

 

[zrock]

I use a larger areomax in the living room and a smaller one and a Honeywell in the 2 bedrooms. They have sensors on them so they adjust by themselves and the honey well if wifi but iv never been able to connect to it. A couple of years ago when i purchased the areomax they were in the top 3 for ratings, They ae all nice and quiet on low and med but if they kick into high they sound like a jet. After 2 years im changing the filters on the one in the living room as i notice its switching speeds a lot more than usual. The ones in the bedroom's i just use to circulate air yes a expensive fan..LOL. I have been running air purifier's for over 10 years an these are some of the best i have had usually i get rid of them in the first year because they are to loud. I may try dyson next but those just seem to be away overpriced including the filters, only bennifit i see so far with them is they move more air than a conventional purifyer

 

[zrock]

On the winix (well I use the washable pre filters on everything I can too hvac, HPHWH).
I wash the hepa filters too. Maybe I shouldn’t but I’m not super concerned about true hepa. Just really want to keep dander and dust and pollen to a minimum.

Once you wash them they are garbage as a filter..

Expensive, but worth it. We have never been so pleased with air purifiers. We own 2 of the Alen Breathesmart 75i True HEPA Air Purifiers using the "Fresh" filter (captures allergens, dust, mold, germs, cooking odors, smoke, and volatile organic compounds). We placed one on both floors of our house. It has the highest Consumer Reports rating of the 113 air purifiers they tested with a score of 91/100.

True HEPA Air Purifiers For Homes & Businesses | Alen®

Alen air purifiers for homes and commercial businesses remove dust, mold and odors with True HEPA air filters. Rated #1 in customer reviews.

alen.com

The 2 Winix models you mention didn't even make it into the 113. The Winix9800 was rated #5 (score 77 out of 100), Winix5300-2 was rated #29 (score 59 out of 100), WinixC535 was rated #38 (score 55 out of 100).

Thats interesting the one i have in one of the bedroom's looks 100% identical to that one but its not a alen. Its the only one in the house.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Ok. I see Home Depot carries the Winix D360 and D480. Not super expensive either.

Are you using the other filter on the front of the Winix to capture the big particles first, or on another device?

Check what they have at costco or sams club, look for multipack deals. Please dont trust units that say they handle viruses/bacteria via UVC. UVC can be harmful if not in the right 'zone'. It creates ozone that people say smells pleasant but it is harder on the lungs than not having it. There is a range though that doesnt create ozone. I forgot all of this until now that I saw this thread so you will need to do some research on this. There are MANY cheap, untrustworthy units on Amazon. The Winx brand seems to stand out as was mentioned.

I have multiple units, one in each bedroom where there are people sleeping that have a history of bad coughs through illness or allergies, and I have one at my camp that I use to eat smoke / paint fumes, and it does a damn good job but BOY does it get dirty quick. I have a pre filter on the one that I have to clean often.

The higher the hepa rating the better but dont go insane here. It's half marketing hype.

 

[EbS-P]

Once you wash them they are garbage as a filter..

Thats interesting the one i have in one of the bedroom's looks 100% identical to that one but its not a alen. Its the only one in the house.

One came with a washable hepa filter. I’m sure my washing the not washable ones is not great but true hepa filtration is not my goal.

 

[hockeypuck]

I just tape a 20 x 20" Hvac filter to the back of my box fans that I use to circulate the air from the wood stove to the colder part of the house. 3 or 4 dollars, change every 2 months or so.

 

[stoveliker]

Radon does not give symptoms. Until the cancer arrives.

 

[zrock]

What i find interesting is Honeywell units are available in every store and advertised as #1 doctor recommended but never shop up on any review / test site in the top 10

 

[DonTee]

I like the blueair units mentioned above. They have a fabric pre-filter. With all the pets I have, a pre-filter sounds like a good idea.

I would absolutely do a box fan with HVAC filters if I could get away with it. It probably doesn’t get talked about as much on this forum, but on another forum I’m on (vintage stereo forum) they talk about something called WAF (wife acceptance factor). It’s like if you buy a huge pair of speakers, they have low WAF. Where as some tiny bookshelf speakers have high WAF.

My point is, the box fan and Hvac filter has very low WAF

 

[DonTee]

I looked at Lowe’s today and they had some Filtrete branded units. I recognize them as a filter manufacturer, but haven’t heard of their air purifiers before.

The Winix from Home Depot don’t seem bad.

 

[DonTee]

Are there any other air purifiers out there that have a pre filter besides the Blueair? I’m thinking with all the stuff floating around in my house that might be a good thing to have. Just the Great Pyrenees fur alone fills up the vacuum pretty quick.

 

[GrumpyDad]

I like the blueair units mentioned above. They have a fabric pre-filter. With all the pets I have, a pre-filter sounds like a good idea.

I would absolutely do a box fan with HVAC filters if I could get away with it. It probably doesn’t get talked about as much on this forum, but on another forum I’m on (vintage stereo forum) they talk about something called WAF (wife acceptance factor). It’s like if you buy a huge pair of speakers, they have low WAF. Where as some tiny bookshelf speakers have high WAF.

My point is, the box fan and Hvac filter has very low WAF

^THIS. If you have pets, it is amazing (and alarming) how much pet hair is about. We vacuum once a week, sometimes more, and have carpeting at our house on everywhere but the kitchen, bathrooms and main hallway. I fill up the canister of a shark vacuum, 4 people - 1 dog. With random people floating in and out here and there. The air filters we have, it would be very challenging keeping them running (and expensive) without something to capture that large items that get caught in there like pet hair, and at my camp - construction dust such as insulation, sawdust etc.

 

[zrock]

Are there any other air purifiers out there that have a pre filter besides the Blueair? I’m thinking with all the stuff floating around in my house that might be a good thing to have. Just the Great Pyrenees fur alone fills up the vacuum pretty quick.

Any filter with a charcoal filer is a prefilter... Had not changed mine for 2 years and just vacuumed it out when needed and it collects a large amount of crap

 

[GrumpyDad]

How often are you supposed to change out the charcoal ones? We run our air filter only about half the time.

 

[DonTee]

Ok good to know.

My wife likes the way the Blueair purifiers look, so I think we’re going to try out one of those. If we like it we’ll probably buy at least one more. I was thinking about a Blueair 311.

 

[DonTee]

Radon does not give symptoms. Until the cancer arrives.

I read that there can be symptoms of radon exposure before cancer. I don’t know how true it is. They mentioned

Shortness of breath
Lingering cough
Chest pain
Hoarseness
Trouble swallowing

I also don’t know how long it takes for symptoms to appear, and what level of exposure is required. I do know that NYS has done radon testing by town and county. And my town has a high average level. Something over 8 pci/L.

They have radon detectors at Lowe’s/Home Depot for like 100$. Ive been thinking about getting one to see how it works.

 

[stoveliker]

Radon is all around us. In fact, you’re probably breathing it in every day, even if it’s at a low level. However, you can’t tell if you’re breathing it in at a high level. The danger in radon exposure is that you can’t see it, taste it, or smell it. And you won’t have any symptoms to alert you.

Radon gas can damage cells in your lungs, which can lead to cancer. Radon is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States, though it usually takes 5 to 25 years to develop.

Early signs and symptoms of lung cancer may include:

persistent cough
coughing up blood
wheezing
shortness of breath
hoarseness
chest pain, especially when you cough or laugh
frequent infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia
Over time, you may also experience loss of appetite, weight loss, and fatigue.

Radon Poisoning: Symptoms, Risk Factors, and More

www.healthline.com

 

[zrock]

How often are you supposed to change out the charcoal ones? We run our air filter only about half the time.

i just changed mine out after 2 years of continuous use.. i just use it at a pre filter and vacuum it out

 

[stoveliker]

I read that there can be symptoms of radon exposure before cancer. I don’t know how true it is. They mentioned

Shortness of breath
Lingering cough
Chest pain
Hoarseness
Trouble swallowing

I also don’t know how long it takes for symptoms to appear, and what level of exposure is required. I do know that NYS has done radon testing by town and county. And my town has a high average level. Something over 8 pci/L.

They have radon detectors at Lowe’s/Home Depot for like 100$. Ive been thinking about getting one to see how it works.

Those are the symptoms of cancer...