Just in time to help you manage your symptoms through a pretty trying pollen season, a leading consumer reporting magazine has released its 2012 list of top consumer-rated air purifiers. Four of Sylvane’s bestselling models round out the top 5, with impressive ratings in allergen removal and noise level.  If you’re in the market for a room air purifier, be sure to check out these picks as you shop. Best Buy – Whirlpool Whispure 510 Air Purifier Receiving the highest ratings out of 33 tested air purifiers, the Whirlpool Whispure 510 Air Purifier continues its streak as a Best Buy and best bang for your buck. Equipped with a true HEPA filter and a light carbon filter, the Whirlpool 510 received Excellent and Very Good ratings for allergen, pollen, and smoke removal on its highest and lowest speeds, respectively. As noise level goes, at 40 decibels on its lowest speed, the 510 is just about as quiet as gentle falling rain—great for the overnight hours when you need a soothing sound to lull you to sleep.

The Whirlpool Whispure 510 is designed to remove dust, allergens, and other particles from rooms up to 500 square feet. Best Buy – Hunter PermaLife 30547 Air Purfier Also not a stranger to high ratings, the Hunter PermaLife 30547 Air Purifier garnered Excellent and Very Good marks when tested to remove allergens, pollen, and smoke odors. With a permanent HEPA-like particle filter, a carbon pre-filter, and an onboard ionizer, the Hunter 30547 Air Cleaner removes 99.5% of dust and allergen impurities from your space. Its permanent PermaLife particle filter conserves your budget when it comes to purchasing replacement filters. Just vacuum the filter periodically to remove dust and particle build-up, no need to replace. Added features like a programmable timer, remote control, and an LCD control panel give you more convenience when operating. The Hunter PermaLife 30547 is designed to remove allergens and impurities from spaces up to 510 square feet. Recommended Buys – Blueair 503 and Blueair 650E Air Purifiers

Known for making eco-friendly and eye-catching air purifiers, Blueair received top filtration scores for its Blueair 503 Air Purifier and Blueair 650E Air Purifier. Both models are designed to remove allergens, dust, and smoke using a 3-stage particle filter while heavier smoke removal is possible when you add the optional Smokestop filter. Along with super-efficient filtration, lots of convenient features, and modern housing, the 503 and 650E air purifiers are Energy Star-qualified and built with eco-friendly components. high efficiency air purifierThis helps them operate 40% more efficiently than conventional air cleaners and can save you up to $25 each year on your electric bills. simple air coil cleanerBoth receiving Excellent ratings for noise level on their lowest speeds—32 decibels, as quiet as a whisper!—the Blueair 503 and 650E models purify and control allergens in large rooms and spaces.air vent cleaning long island

Need help choosing an air purifier? Check out our article 5 Things to Consider When Buying an Air Purifier for tips on how to choose. IQAir® HealthPro® Plus Air Purifier Buy a Used "IQAir® HealthPro® Plus Air Purifier" and save 22% off the $899.00 list price. 16 x 15 x 28 inches #40,209 in Home and Kitchen (See Top 100 in Home and Kitchen) #52 in Home & Kitchen > Heating, Cooling & Air Quality > Air Purifiers > HEPA Air Purifiers Quiet and makes the large room smell and feel so fresh and clean. Product is performing as advertised. had terrible smell for at least 2 months. cant tell the difference if my air quality is better I think this is a good air cleaner. THE PROBLEM IS they don't share how much it costs to replace the filters! Over $200 each time they are replaced! The unit costs $1,000. I use this every day and notice excellent results. This definitely has been a game changer for my allergies! I was vey happy after receiving this purchase.

However, the manufacture provides 5 additional years of warranty after product registration. I bought 2 of these over 5 years ago. they still work incredibly. I am allergic to dogs (to pretty much everything). Oransi Max HEPA Large Room Air Purifier for Asthma, Mold, Dust and AllergiesDetailsOransi Replacement Pre, Hepa and Carbon Filter Pack for Max FREE Shipping. Buy "Oransi Max HEPA Large Room Air Purifier for Asthma...” from Amazon Open-Box & Used and save 25% off the $499.00 list price. 20 x 11 x 25.5 inches 22.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) #66,954 in Home and Kitchen (See Top 100 in Home and Kitchen) #70 in Home & Kitchen > Heating, Cooling & Air Quality > Air Purifiers > HEPA Air Purifiers AeraMax 300/DX95 Air Purifier with Large Room Allergy and Asthma 4-Stage Purification The air quality in my house has greatly improved and I am even sleeping better!!!! We've had the unit for about a month now and are well pleased.

I can only hope this is working after the money I spent. I bought it because it has a carbon filter which is supposed to take care of the smell of cigarette smoke, and I live in an... The product was nice and quite up until a few weeks ago! It is getting very loud:(. What is the warranty on this? Very quiet when in Silent mode. Can really move some air in Turbo mode when needed. This air purifier I use in my bedroom works wonderful. It is quiet and has an auto mode that allows it to detect when the air quality is poor and turns itself up.Moms a heavey smoker, and this purifier cleaned the air more than ever expected. Can't tell that it helps our dust problem. In my seven years here in China, one of my most annoying chores has been researching air purifiers for my house — and maintaining them. It’s just exhausting to research brands, figure out what rooms need which — and of course calculate what’s the best value. It’s also an endlessly annoying hassle to keep searching for the cheapest replacement filters, which are far more expensive here than in the USA.

I hated feeling helpless to rely on sales pitches from just a couple of companies, so I started to do my own home testing and posting on this blog. This summer I tested a new entry to China, the Airgle series (Chinese website here). I pitted their PM2.5 flagship model, the PurePal Clean Room Air AG900, against my steadfast friends IQAir and Blueair. Which came out on top this time? First, I needed a handheld machine to measure the pollution. This time, I borrowed a model called Chinaway from the team at Vogmask. This calculates the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration directly, in ug/m3. To convert this to the more familiar AQI, you need to use the online concentration-to-AQI calculator here, from the US EPA. Next, I borrowed the Airgle from the local vendor (started by Charlie Thomson, our local Aquasana rep). According to their website, it “features a 40 sq ft cHEPA filter with an efficiency of over 99.991%”. I then spent two weeks comparing this to my home’s five (!) machines: two IQAir Health Pro 250 models, one IQAir Health Pro 150, one Blueair 501 and a Blueair 403.

I rotated all of them through four different rooms: my kitchen, the living room, and two bedrooms. Then I recorded the PM2.5 a couple of times each day and entered all the data into a gloriously complicated and colorful Excel spreadsheet. Since I didn’t have a “test room” this time, I compared each room’s PM2.5 with the outdoor air at that same time (outside my window). 1. General protection was good with all: Wouldn’t it be wonderful to eliminate 80% of your lifetime exposure to China’s pollution, at all times? How about 90% or better when you’re sleeping, which is one third of your life? I think that’s a pretty darn good goal — and my tests showed overall efficiency of 84% using all models together, which I feel is extremely reassuring. While the outside PM2.5 averaged an unhealthy 84 ug/m3 (AQI of 166), my indoor PM2.5 was a much better 13 ug/m3 (AQI 53). Think about that — my newborn child, since he’s almost exclusively at home, has a sharply reduced exposure to China’s air pollution during his entire childhood here in China, thanks to air purifiers.

Here’s the overall efficiency for each model: As you can see, all the larger models were about equal effectiveness, getting 78-85%. The Airgle did the best, but given the homemade statistics of my sampling, it’s difficult to state if this is truly a better machine. But in either case, it worked at least as well as the other models. 2. Bedroom Results: As I’ve mentioned in previous results, you can instantly eliminate one third of your lifetime exposure to China’s pollution simply by using a good purifier in your bedroom and closing the doors while sleeping. All models were on their quieter settings, providing a nice white noise in the background which I actually like. Here are my results this time: I mostly worry about protecting my six month old son, so I am pleased that his bedroom was 90% protected at all times. Some morning readings approached 99%! But you certainly don’t need the flagship models in a small bedroom: the smaller models were perfectly fine.

3. Large room results: My open kitchen, dining room and living room are all connected, so it’s been difficult in the past to properly filter these rooms. I recently added a second IQAir 250 to join its older sister in the front, and I am very pleased that my results prove that I finally have good coverage, hitting that 80% goal for the first time in my three tests over the years. The further good news is that all combinations of the larger machines did well. The Airgle also did very well, and is much quieter than the Blueair 501 at the maximum speeds. Sometimes the PM2.5 levels shot up, especially with Chinese cooking (also candles and incense!) and cranking them all up would bring levels down. But at max settings, I’d have to give Airgle kudos for having the quietest volume at max speed. Clearly the filtering technology in the Airgle and the IQAir are superior to the Blueair, as they both have closed HEPA filters which literally filter essentially 100% of particles even smaller than PM2.5.

Both models got a very impressive PM2.5 reading of zero (100% efficiency) when I held the monitor right at their outflow of filtered air. But as my results show, it’s not just about the HEPA filter, it’s also about air flow rates and CADR results. Blueair was a solid performer in my tests even with their lower-CADR Smokestop filters — which weren’t even brand new, by the way (8 months old). But I’m sure you can argue that a better HEPA filter is preferred for China’s harsh environment, as there are plenty of other pollutants and VOCs which may be much better handled with a better filter. Actually, one could argue about a lot of variables with these machines, especially value. And the prices of both Airgle and IQAir models in China right now are super expensive, and there’s just no way I will be convinced that it’s all about taxes and shipping extras. Sure, every commercial product has premium brands, but the markups boggle the mind. The Airgle models sold in China are made in China, and they are far more expensive here than the ones in the USA — which are exported from their South Korea factory!

The Airgle AG900 in the USA is only 5,518 RMB ($900) on Amazon, a small fraction of the 17,990 RMB price here in China on their Taobao store.  I personally think there’s a lot of pure corporate greed going on in this industry, taking advantage of Chinese consumers’ fear and demand. It may be legal, but it’s not ethical, and it really irks me that the world’s most vulnerable populations, much poorer and in far more polluted cities, are forced to spend far more to protect their health. It’s no wonder everyone’s reading about an American’s testing of a DIY air purifier for 166 RMB! I also recommend that consumers check out an excellent comparison from Shanghai of two dozen models, including prices and results from PM2.5 and formaldehyde. But don’t get too bogged down on the sticker shock — in general, you do get what you pay for. And don’t forget to factor in the replacement filter costs, which can easily cost more than the original machine when stretched out over a 3-6 year window.