[Xeo]

So I decided to get some kind of air freshener for my dorm room. Small, cramped space tends to make the room musty, especially during the winter when the window stays closed.

I remember seeing an informercial for the Ionic Breeze and how it came along with the free gift of a small one for smaller spaces. I thought it would be much better than an air freshener that just puts perfumes out in the air.

A few days ago, I ordered one off eBay and I'm waiting for it. I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has had one of these or something like it and if it works.

[MaxPower2k3]

my mom got one of the original ones. the first one broke. the replacement worked for a while (i think until it was out of warranty) and then started making an electrical zapping noise, so she stopped using it. Again, this was the very first model, so i'm sure the new ones are better.

[TailsToo]

Mine works pretty well. It seems to pick up a lot of dust!

[CMYKid]

the zapping usually just means that you need to clean the collecter element inside. we have like three of those here in our orifice...

[Xeo]

Originally posted by CMYKid:
we have like three of those here in our orifice...

That must hurt.

[waffffffle]

I bought one about a year ago from the sharper image outlet store online. I think it was about $140. I think its works moderately well. It certainly picks up a lot of dust. The nice advantage of the ionic breeze over other kinds of filters is that with the other kinds you have to replace the filter, but with the ionic breeze you just have to wipe off the metal blades. It makes keeping it up and running a lot easier. It's also a lot quieter than the fan filters, although the ionic breeze can make noise at times (usually that means you need to clean it).

I wouldn't say that it works miracles but I noticed that for all of last year my dorm room smelled considerably better than the three previous years, and therefore it was worth the investment. However sometimes it smells like static electricity (I don't know how else to describe that smell but it's like what you smell when you wear socks, rub your feet on the carpet and touch the door knob). I don't mind that smell at all so it works for me.

[higuy83]

My roommate and I have one in our apartment and it works extremely well. We have the bigger, GP model, but the underlying technology is the same in all of the models. Food smells from cooking dinner are gone within hours, and when one of us gets sick the other doesn't (thanks to the germicidial protection.)

I really recommend it.

-Brian

[alligator]

I happen to work for one of the largest air cleaner manufacturers in the world. We sell many different types. One piece of advice - the engineers here have all deemed this type of air cleaner about a 1 out of 10. If you really want clean air, try a different type of cleaner, regardless of where you purchase it or who makes it. Apparently the device is all for show - it appears to be working, so consumers keep buying it. It doesn't filter much, and there are much better, more efficient cleaners on the market.

[awaspaas]

Any standard HEPA filter will do a better job than the ionic breeze. It's an electrostatic precipitator, so it produces superoxide anions (O2-) which become attracted to dust particles. The air then passes between positively charged metal plates, which attract the now negatively charged dust particles. It's a better idea than just a standard "air ionizer" which causes dust particles to drop to the floor or stick to walls, but still nowhere near the effectiveness of any HEPA filter at clearing particulates. Consumer Reports did tests with cigarette smoke and food smells and allergens and the electrostatic precipitator had some effect, but compared to any HEPA filter, barely made a dent in the particles.

[voyageur]

Also, the ionic breeze produces ozone, which is bad for your lungs.

[Luca Rescigno]

I see it as being a lot like a "bug zapper." You get the immediate and satisfying effect of seeing the bugs get zapped (or with the Ionic Breeze, you see the dust collect on the blades), and you think it's working great. But I've heard from numerous places that they don't really do anything. The reason they're so quiet is because they move very little air. That means they're not really doing much good.

I think Consumer Reports did a review of air purifiers once. Look into it maybe, they did review the Ionic Breeze and it did poorly.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by alligator:
I happen to work for one of the largest air cleaner manufacturers in the world. We sell many different types. One piece of advice - the engineers here have all deemed this type of air cleaner about a 1 out of 10. If you really want clean air, try a different type of cleaner, regardless of where you purchase it or who makes it. Apparently the device is all for show - it appears to be working, so consumers keep buying it. It doesn't filter much, and there are much better, more efficient cleaners on the market.

Any suggestions?

[CMYKid]

Originally posted by Xeo:
That must hurt.

yes, it does, but we drink so it helps a bit.

anyway, like the otha' guy said, a HEPA filter (properly maintained, you should see some of the ones I've pulled out of some of my girlfriends home systems, with $hit GROWING in them) is definitely far superior, but since we can't really access the roof unit here to put in a good filter we use these. Xeo, there are actually a lot of good self-contained, freestanding HEPA room air filters tho. We just had these already and hell, _I_ didnt pay for em. Plus, we already have like 10 cpu's crankin out the noise and those room-units are pretty loud...

Half good filter, half placebo. Justabout equals a whole, eh?

[Lancer409]

question: how does the ORECK air purifier stack up. it uses a grid like the sharper image one, but it's also fan driven, which moves a hell of a lot of air faster than the ionic breeze. i've been looking for one and i dont want a big noisy guy. the oreck is a good size, and seems to move heaps more air (i mean ... exponentially more air) if i'm using that word right... i've seen commercials showing how much more air it filters etc. what's your take guys .. i want to pick up one of those because i'm not sold on the ionic breeze idea (i think it doesnt move enough air) my room is very dusty and i figure this would help immensely.

anyone have one or can tell us if it works well? Thanks in advance. (Xeo, good luck, if you dont like it, just Ebay it =P)

[Xeo]

Originally posted by Lancer409:
(i mean ... exponentially more air) if i'm using that word right...

I don't think you are. If it has a fan, then it is probably just blowing a fixed amount of more air. Exponentially implies there is some way for the amount of air to change, say by time, and that as time goes, the amount of air moved per second rises at an exponential rate. But as I don't see there is any way to calculate a rate of change, I think it is static over time and therefore moves a fixed amount of air more. Could be several times more air, but still fixed. And I'm tired so explaining it isn't going well.

(Xeo, good luck, if you dont like it, just Ebay it =P)

Like I said, it's one of the little ones, so it wasn't that much. And I got it off of eBay in the first place for half price ($17.95 i think) plus shipping. It's actually from The Sharper Image. They have an eBay account. The checkout system even went through sharperimage.com. It's a refurbished one which is why they are selling them for cheaper.

So if it doesn't work, I'm not out that much. And I can always try to eBay it to get some money back. I'm kind of afraid of the ions and ozone and whatnot so I hope it doesn't give me any problems.

I'll resurrect this thread in a few months if I think about it and let you know how it's going.

[MilkmanDan]

You could always try cleaning your room, as opposed to letting an air filter try and filter all the trash that accumulates.

Or buy one from a local store, where you can also buy replacement filters, which you'll need.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

Originally posted by Xeo:
I'm kind of afraid of the ions and ozone and whatnot so I hope it doesn't give me any problems.

people smoke crack

i don't think ions and ozone is going to have any effect on your health

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Originally posted by voyageur:
Also, the ionic breeze produces ozone, which is bad for your lungs.

Not enough to create health problems.

[voyageur]

Originally posted by GoGoReggieXPowars:
Not enough to create health problems.

Not necessarily true. I recently read a report in the Berkeley Health Newsletter that some of these ionizers do emit enough ozone to be a health issue. I don't know about this particular model, but ozone is not something you want in your lungs.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

I ask my doctor if it would help at all with allergies and he said no.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by GoGoReggieXPowars:
Not enough to create health problems.

I read a review from a guy who said he woke up every day with headaches. That wouldn't be cool.

[TikTokk]

A standard HEPA Air cleaner/filter (bought at a department store) did wonders for my brother-in-laws allergies.

[spiky_dog]

consumer reports reviewed air cleaners, and their review had a sidebar about these "ionic breeze" type cleaners. the verdict was that they don't work since the airflow through them is negligible. i'm sure you could buy the back issue if you called them.

[searches a bit]

ok, found it: http://www.consumerreports.org/main/...=1097023563286

THIS YEAR'S ADDED TESTS AND RESULTS

Long-term air cleaning. We tested the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze and the Honeywell Environizer against two high-scoring air cleaners, the Friedrich electrostatic precipitator and the Whirlpool HEPA filter.

[...]

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Ionic Breeze and the Environizer are quiet but ineffective. A comparable product, the Hoover SilentAir 4000, performed poorly in our standard test; we chose not to put it through any extended trials. Considering how slowly these three products worked, our advice is to avoid all three. There are much better choices.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

This came out yesterday, rather shocking. I was planing on getting one till I read this:

Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Air Purifier May Cause Lung Damage
http://www.bookofjoe.com/2005/04/behindthemedspe_5.html

[zerostar]

I threw mine away after I noticed every time I fired it up for a few days I would have worse asthma and more trouble breathing. I am currently in the market for a new air purifier.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally posted by zerostar:
I threw mine away after I noticed every time I fired it up for a few days I would have worse asthma and more trouble breathing. I am currently in the market for a new air purifier.

You tossed a $500 machine?

[awaspaas]

Oops, DP.

[awaspaas]

Originally posted by Socially Awkward Solo:
This came out yesterday, rather shocking. I was planing on getting one till I read this:

Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Air Purifier May Cause Lung Damage
http://www.bookofjoe.com/2005/04/behindthemedspe_5.html

His little tirade on the webpage sounds an awful lot like the one I posted a few months ago: http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...ze#post2427937

[wdlove]

My wife and I have considered purchasing the Ionic Breeze, But never did.

We had something similar before, the ozone smells like chlorine and can be annoying.

Consumer reports has an article on them in this months issue. They recommend readers against the purchase of an Ionic Breeze.

[ghporter]

I found that replacing the air conditioner filter weekly (even if it didn't look like it was used at all) and vacuuming regularly with a good vacuum helped immensely. I bought a Dyson "Animal" vac-best appliance purchase I've EVER made-and it made a huge difference. Its design keeps it from losing suction as it fills up, so you can get a lot of crap out of the carpet that would just stay there with a conventional vacuum.

This is On topic, because the thing comes with 2 HEPA filters, so the air that comes out of it is CLEAN.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

You should really get rid of any carpet to begin with, I have hardwood and it is 10x better for my allergies and asthma.

[ghporter]

Originally posted by Socially Awkward Solo:
You should really get rid of any carpet to begin with, I have hardwood and it is 10x better for my allergies and asthma.

I agree, but there are a couple of issues to deal with. First, the carpet came with the house and it would have cost somewhere around $8,000 to do anything else. And we have big dogs, so hardwood would be cardboard after a while. We're looking at ceramic tile (being sort of in the Southwest it fits the decor pretty well), but that's still a ways down the budget road.

[xi_hyperon]

Originally posted by ghporter:
I found that replacing the air conditioner filter weekly (even if it didn't look like it was used at all) and vacuuming regularly with a good vacuum helped immensely. I bought a Dyson "Animal" vac-best appliance purchase I've EVER made-and it made a huge difference. Its design keeps it from losing suction as it fills up, so you can get a lot of crap out of the carpet that would just stay there with a conventional vacuum.

This is On topic, because the thing comes with 2 HEPA filters, so the air that comes out of it is CLEAN.

I'm currently looking to replace my vacuum, so am really glad you happened to post this. I had not heard of this brand before, and it looks like what I need. The price is a bit steep, but from reading subsequent reviews, it sounds like everyone is very satisfied with it.

[flabasha]

I'm surprised no one has written more about this...

THE IONIC BREEZE IS A SCAM.

Here's the story. Consumer Reports did a test of the Ionic Breeze and other air purifiers like it - and they gave them the lowest rating possible. As in, they don't work AT ALL. So The Sharper Image (freaking out because the Ionic Breeze accounts for half their sales) protested, saying "they didn't test it for long enough. It really starts working after an hour!" So Consumer Reports said "Okay, we'll test it for NINETEEN hours." And after nineteen hours in a room filled with cigarette smoke, the test revealed that the Ionic Breeze removed 1/7 of ONE cigarette's smoke.

I believe the quote was 'The Ionic Breeze works no better at cleaning a room than gravity. Inasmuch as a table is an 'air purifier' by collecting dust, so is the Ionic Breeze an air purifier."'

Furious, the Sharper Image became the third company to ever SUE Consumer Reports. And just a few weeks ago the ruling came in... not only was Consumer Reports found to be in the right, but SHARPER IMAGE HAD TO PAY Consumer Reports a half million bucks!

But the intrigue continues... In this week's issue of Consumer Reports, they investigate the "non-profit health foundations" that lend their seals of approval to the Ionic Breeze... and find they are all PAID by Sharper Image.

Sharper Image is going down for this. Their stock has hit a 52 week low, and the class action suit can't be far behind...

Hilarious...

[awaspaas]

Originally posted by flabasha:
Sharper Image is going down for this. Their stock has hit a 52 week low, and the class action suit can't be far behind...

http://www.imakenews.com/pureaircont...e000247312.cfm

It's from a year ago - I wonder where it's at...

[BoomStick]

I have three of them and they all work great.

If it is cleaned properly and regularly it will give no problems.


One of them is an Ionic Pro I got from WalMart for under half of the Ionic Breeze.

[Albert Pujols]

You should probably read this:

Report: Sharper Image purifiers actually make air worse

It's from engadget.com.

[sideus]

Originally posted by flabasha:
THE IONIC BREEZE IS A SCAM.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally posted by Albert Pujols:
You should probably read this:

Report: Sharper Image purifiers actually make air worse

It's from engadget.com.

Isn't that just linking to the same story I posted?

[Albert Pujols]

Originally posted by Socially Awkward Solo:
Isn't that just linking to the same story I posted?

Yeah it is, my bad.

[King Bob On The Cob]

I'm still not sure who to believe here... Except for that Consumer Reports issue, most of the stuff floating around seems to be FUD. "OMG IT MAKES OZONE THEREFORE YOURRR GOING TO GET LUNG CANCER!" even though on a hot summer day you will breath in a ton of ozone anyways. Sorry if you disagree, it's just my "this site is run by a paranoid" alarm going off. And for those of you that say that it doesn't move around any air, have you gone and put your hand in front of one? It DOES move air, just not at the same speed as a jet. Maybe put it in your house somewhere air will naturally move and you'd get alot better results.

What about those new ones that include a UV light inside them. Does that make any difference in the amount of living stuff floating around in the air?

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally posted by King Bob On The Cob:
I'm still not sure who to believe here... Except for that Consumer Reports issue, most of the stuff floating around seems to be FUD. "OMG IT MAKES OZONE THEREFORE YOURRR GOING TO GET LUNG CANCER!" even though on a hot summer day you will breath in a ton of ozone anyways. Sorry if you disagree, it's just my "this site is run by a paranoid" alarm going off. And for those of you that say that it doesn't move around any air, have you gone and put your hand in front of one? It DOES move air, just not at the same speed as a jet. Maybe put it in your house somewhere air will naturally move and you'd get alot better results.

What about those new ones that include a UV light inside them. Does that make any difference in the amount of living stuff floating around in the air?

Ozone aside other tests show it didn't get rid of ANY dust or smoke from a sealed room in 24 hours.

Any dust it does collect a fan would seem to do the same.

[d0ubled0wn]

Hmm, no one has mentioned the Venta Airwasher yet. I bought one a few months ago and it seems to work great. But I have no basis for comparison… I just needed an air purifier/humidifier and it seemed to fit the bill. A little on the pricey side however. Bought it at Bed,Bath,Beyond.

http://www.best-vacuum.com/venta-airwasher.html

[Buckaroo]

You can get the new Quadra Ionic Breeze at Fry's for only $149.

It works pretty good. I'm hapy with it.

[alligator]

Man, I hate to say it, but I told you so. Seriously, I work for a company that evaluated this unit. It performed poorly, and I've said so on every thread about this here.

Shheesh. Some people never listen.

[karudzo]

Have had 2 for over 2 years and had great success with them. Just make sure you clean it like you're supposed to.

[angelmb]

I really need some kind of device that let me get a cleaner air, I have lots of dust to remove, being asthmatic and allergic doesn't help, so far I have no carpets, curtains… to make things worse my little brother is also asthmatic and had a pneumothorax ( collapsed lung) episode recently, so anything that can damage our lungs is the last thing we really need. Since the market for this kind of devices is young and immature where I do live I would like to get some advice from those who having one know it really works.

[Velocity211]

I got one because I had allergies and everything is a lot better.

[CMYKid]

why did this come back?

anyway, its worse than a waste of your money. it's one thing to waste your money for fun, thats what booze and whores are for...it's just sad to waste your money AND think you're getting something out of it. This goes in the latter category.

[Spliff]

Originally Posted by angelmb

I really need some kind of device that let me get a cleaner air, I have lots of dust to remove, being asthmatic and allergic doesn't help, so far I have no carpets, curtains… to make things worse my little brother is also asthmatic and had a pneumothorax ( collapsed lung) episode recently, so anything that can damage our lungs is the last thing we really need. Since the market for this kind of devices is young and immature where I do live I would like to get some advice from those who having one know it really works.

You need a HEPA airfilter that's big enough to filter the space it'll be in. Measure your room and then look for a filter that can handle that volume. I've got a Bionaire for the bedroom and it works great.