rbinck's Full Review: Oreck Super Air 7 Air Purifier
Introduction
My wife and I are native Houstonians and have never lived anywhere else other than a couple of years we spent about half of the time in Kona, Hawaii. As the years have gone by the air quality of our area has gotten worse. Partly due to the industrial complexes in the area, but probably due to the growth of population which causes a lot more auto traffic. As we have gotten older we have noticed we have been more and more susceptible to the irritants in the air.
The need to do something about the situation was triggered by the occasion of a roof leak. We had a place behind our gutters where the rainwater could leak in to the wall and make its way into a corner of our living room. We had a curio cabinet in that corner that limited the spread of the dampness so it went unnoticed for several months. By the time the leak was noticed there was a mildew problem. The leak was repaired, but the mildew remained until the carpet was removed and replaced with tile in that area.
About the same time my wife began to have sinus problems that caused severe headaches. She also keeps our two grandchildren during the day and one of them was having sinus problems as well and the doctors could not determine what was causing the problem to persist. He suggested we change the location of where the grandchild was kept during the day, which we did by my wife going to my daughter's house for a couple of weeks. The grandchild's condition cleared up. At this point I was sure there was a problem with the air quality in our townhouse and began to look into air purifiers and get the source of the problem taken care of. While the repairs were being made we still needed to stay in the townhouse, so I felt like an air purifier would help. I had no idea just how much help they would be.
Research
I guess to be fair I would have to say the research started when I saw a commercial for a competing product on the TV. This was the Sharper Image unit that you have probably seen. I went to epinions and searched for "air purifiers" that resulted in almost 300 returns. There were all kinds of air purifiers shown from little units that looked like they were for individual workspaces like an office cubical, to units that will take care of an entire house. The final decision was made to purchase a large unit the AIR4000 and a pair of smaller units, the AIR8, for each bedroom. Turns out that there is an Oreck store just around the corner for our house.
Part of the decision was based on the fact that the Oreck unit has fans where other popular units do not. I felt like there was no way to get as much air through the unit without a fan, so I immediately eliminated the units that use fanless operation. After using the units for a couple of months, I think this has turned out to be a good decision.
What You Get
In the box along with the AIR8 unit it comes with a pre-filter, a carbon after filter, a scent cartridge and the operating manual. We bought the three units all at the same time, so the salesman at the store gave us a sort of packaged deal that included in addition to the units a couple of replacement carbon after filters and a couple of cans of Assail-A-CellŪ cleaner.
Set Up
Set up is a breeze, no pun intended for you Ionic Breeze owners, just a small amount of assembly is required. The optional carbon after filter needs snapped onto the back of the electronic cell. This is accomplished by removing the air inlet grill by unscrewing a thumbscrew on the bottom of the unit and releasing the grill by pressing the grill release on the left side of the grill. Pulling the grill toward you the grill is easily removed. Next the electronic cell is pulled out of the unit and the carbon after filter is snapped onto the outlet side of the electronic cell. There is a decal on the electronic cell that tells you exactly where the filter is to be installed. The carbon after filter is an optional filter to remove odors and does not need to be installed for the purifier to function. If you do not need the odor removal feature, then you can leave the after filter out of the unit. To install the electronic cell back into the unit the reverse procedure from the removal is used. Also if you want to use the scent cartridge, there is a drawer that comes out of the front of the unit by sliding the fragrance eject slide to the right. After the fragrance cartridge is placed into the drawer, just push the drawer back into the unit until it latches.
Operation
After plugging the unit into a wall outlet, (an extension cord is not recommended) the unit just needs to be switched on. The power switch has four positions: Off, Hi, Med, and Silent left to right. These positions relate to the fan speed. I switch the bedroom units to the High position during the day while the room is unoccupied and return it to Silent while sleeping. The Silent position is almost just that, silent. In order to hear the unit in this position I need to be right up on the unit and then it is just barely heard. Of course the best cleaning possible is obtained on the high setting, which is why I switch to the High setting during the day.
Another switch on the unit is the Ionizer on-off switch. Some people do not like the idea of ionized air so Oreck has provided this switch to allow the Ionizer to be turned off, if desired.
Results
After a couple of days of use, the results were outstanding! Not only did we feel better when we awoke, but my wife's headaches were gone and I noticed less coughing in the morning. The air in the house smelled a lot better and we are convinced it was a lot cleaner. I decided to wait until I had cleaned the units the first time to see just what would come out of the units before writing this epinion. If there was not very much dirt I would be surprised and wonder if there was a placebo effect going on here. I really doubted that as my wife started keeping the grandchild here again with no ill effects so far.
Cleaning
There is an LED on the front of the unit that is normally green while the unit is operating normally and supplying cleaned air. When the unit detects the electronic cell needs cleaning it will flash red. In the instructions they tell you to clean the cell when the LED indicates red or after a couple of months. I waited for two months and the light was still green, but I decided to clean the cell anyway.
Cleaning the electronic cell was very easy. Removing the electronic cell and taking the pre and post filters off of the unit is required. Be careful when you remove the cell as there can be quite a buildup of dirt and dust on the pre-filter. I suggest having a towel or such to keep under the cell until the cell is where you are going to clean it. I used my bathtub, but the kitchen sink is also a preferred place for cleaning. After unsnapping the pre and post filters from the cell, I used a soft paintbrush to remove all of the loose dust from the pre-filter. Next I sprayed the pre-filter and the electronic cell plates with the Assail-A-CellŪ cleaner, being sure to get the plates completely covered by spraying from both ends of the cell. After waiting about two minutes, the cell was thoroughly rinsed. This is where a water sprayer comes in handy. The same procedure was done to the pre-filter. The cell needs to be completely dry before reinserting back into the unit. Since there are wires that can be damaged inside the cell, it is not recommended that anything be inserted into the cell for cleaning.
Conclusion
I have been very pleased with the performance of the AIR8 units. I was amazed at the amount of dirt and mung that came out of the filters when they were cleaned. Also I noticed the dust buildup in the rooms where the cleaners were used to be much less. By the way, you can help the cleaners out quite a bit by dusting the room before the first use. Otherwise as you stir up dust in the room, it ends up in the air purifier. I would highly recommend these units.
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