Truly Fresh Air!
Written: Jan 06 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: efficient, reliable, easy to change filters
Cons: noisy on high, shape/size may be a consideration
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| johnr55's Full Review: Honeywell Enviracaire 13520 Air Purifier |
I'd been having problems in the past few years with my nose stopping up at night when I slept. I'd wake up with a severely dry mouth from this and it was driving me nuts. During the day I'd be fine. I'd recently inherited my first cat (I already had a Boston terrier) and was wondering about cat dander being my allergy--even though it didn't bother me during the day.
I bought this air purifier in December of '99 and it transformed my sleeping experience. No more stopped-up nose, no more dry mouth, and I found I slept much more soundly! I'm still not certain what caused my problems and really don't care now. On a few occasions I've left this appliance off at night and I can certainly notice the difference the next morning!
I ordinarily keep my bedroom door closed during the day to keep the pets out anyway. Even with central air and a ceiling fan, the room always smelled slightly stale when I'd open it up in the evening. No more. I leave the air purifier on, on 'low', during the day, and when I open the bedroom up in the evening the air smells distinctly fresher than the rest of my house.
I know these appliances have benefits people plagued with asthma and multiple allergies. I'm writing this review for people like me, who are ordinarily not bothered with any allergies. If nothing else, place one of these in your bedroom and enjoy the fresh odor your bedroom will keep. It's rather like the difference between filtered water and tap, only for air. I've used a 'white noise' machine for many years as a sleep aid. However, with this appliance on 'medium' in my bedroom, I get the same white noise benefit without running a separate machine.
It's true--if you run this machine on 'high' the ambient noise level can be distracting. However, I seldom do for my bedroom use.
Another consideration might be the size and shape of the machine. I have a large bedroom and it's no problem at all. I don't try to disguise the machine, but it's out of the way against a wall I don't walk around often. It is necessary to have a certain clearance area around the base of the machine for air circulation, but again, it hasn't been a problem for me. The air intake is all the grilles you see around the upper part of the machine; the air exhausts around the base. This is handy, as I've found, for keeping the dust level down under your bed, as it'll blow underneath! Additionally, my Boston terrier loves to lie near the unit and have the breeze blow on her in warmer weather.
Changing filters on this machine is simplicity itself. It uses a large carbon filter that looks rather like a long A/C filter, then uses smaller filters for HEPA and intermediate filtering. Of course, how often you'll have to change the filters depends on your level of dirty air. Even though Honeywell doesn't recommend it, I clean my carbon filter weekly with my Miele vacuum cleaner, and this lengthens its life exponentially with no problem. I'd recommend this for other users.
My only reservation in recommending this machine is its size and shape. I've had absolutely no problems with mine, and it's a joy. However, I bought an air purifier for one of my employees for Christmas, and bought another type because it would take up less bedroom space and blend in better. My suggestion is to visualize where you want the unit before you buy. Any of the higher-capacity units is not going to be small.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
johnr55
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Member: JohnRichard Keistler
Location: Houston, Texas area
Reviews written: 87
Trusted by: 7 members
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