Question:
am interested in hearing from people who have allergy-free air filters
in their home. i just put mine in. the company says i should see a
difference in 72 hours. have they helped any of you with allergies?
Answer:
"Allergy free" is not a clearly defined term, and it is probably abused
somewhat by different manufactuers. The actual performance that you are
looking for is what size particles are trapped by the filter system.
As a long term allergy sufferer, I have found that the electronic units
probably go the furthest in making the air seem more breathable, but my
problems are usually kind of seasonal. When I would have a bad allergy attack
would be when I would really notice a difference. I would turn the fan on all
the time to try and get 100% of the benefit of the filter, and I recognized
faster relief than being in a different environment. Another important factor
that will affect this is how clean the air ducts are.
You may also want to check out the opinion at alt.support.sinusitus (sp?)
There are many opinions on this isue there.
That could be about any filter. Usually they are heavy plastic or metal
washable
filters that claim to use electrostatic principles to charge & attract
particles.
I am really leery of that type - we've seen problems where they restrict
air flow way too much. Couple cases where they impeded heating & cooling
the home.
Anything that restricts air costs you more. A standard 50 cent hardware store variety filter is worthless. I
recommend
the good pleated filters. $5 on the low end to $13 on the high end - the
3M. Even
Consumer Reports liked them and compared them favorably to the
electronic
air cleaners that can be installed in the system.
