Sharper Image Ionic Breeze GP SI730 Air Purifier

Pros: cleans the air pretty well, helps some allergies, silent, no filters
Cons: expensive, use carefully

When we were married my wife's two small dogs, one is a Pekingese and the other about the same size, came with her. Turned out that I am somewhat allergic to them. My eyes would burn and lungs would get congested. On December 30th we purchased the ...

Pros: Silent, Eliminates Odors, Nice Looking Design
Cons: Possibly Harmful to your Health, Ineffective wrt Dust, Expensive

I don't write many reviews, because I don't really have the time and I'm not usually passionate about a particular product. However, after trying this air purifier and being disappointed, I decided to do some investigating on the subject of air ...

Pros: Quiet, does as advertised, low maintenance
Cons: High initial cost

Like you I had seen the commercials for the Ionic Breeze and thought "yeah, right". I work on a cruise ship and thus I have to take over the cabin from the departing person. When I first moved in I noticed a very strong smell of cigarettes and B.O. ...

Pros: Odor elimination, noiseless, takes 2 minutes to clean
Cons: A bit on the ugly side, but nobody makes a "cool" filter.

A little background to understand how much I appreciate this little honey of an air cleaner. I moved to Cleveland 4 years ago and found the best apartment anyone has heard of. 3,000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms and 3 extra closets with ...

Pros: Looks great, no filter, quiet and great warranty
Cons: Expensive, need to keep it on all the time, some hate the smell

I've owned various versions of ionic breeze. From the original, then upgraded to quadra, then to gp, and the other to gp professional. You've read many things about this thing and as my ex-fiance owned a cat and I had really bad allergies I can tell ...

Pros: Errr... It does nearly nothing at a low operating cost.
Cons: It can't actually clean much air.

The "Ionic Breeze" line of products cannot, by design, actually work. Understanding why is actually quite simple. For the purposes of this review, we will compare two air purifiers. The Ionic Breeze, and a standard HEPA media filter with a plain, ...

Pros: Will make your friends know you have money to blow and possibly make them envious.
Cons: Quite noisy at times. Does not perform as advertised. Ozone odor quite overpowering. WAY overpriced.

When I first started my part-time job at The Sharper Image, I was very excited about the opportunity to purchase their items, namely the Ionic Breeze, at a substantial discount. Within the first 2 weeks of my employment I purchased the Ionic Breeze GP. ...

Pros: masks odors with ozone (good if you like to smell bleach all day)
Cons: Very expensive giant air refreshener with a bug light

My husband and I watched all of the infomercials about the Ionic Breeze and mostly just laughed and said that it could never work. Then one day my husband said why don't we give it a chance and he ordered two Ionic Breezes, the fancy ones that have ...

Pros: Silent, no replacement filters, energy efficient, easy and cheap to maintain, and it works.
Cons: Way overpriced but can be bought for under $200. I still have to dust!

I bought 2 of these on-line refurbished 4 months ago for about $175 each including shipping. I was surprised to receive 2 units that were completely indistinguishable from new. This truly has been a "best buy" for me. I sure am glad I didn't settle and ...

Pros: Blissfully silent! Effective at scrubbing allergens from the air. Easy cleaning. No filters to buy.
Cons: So far none that I can think of.

I've had my Ionic Breeze GP for about a week now and it has made a tremendous difference in my allergies. My allergies are to pollens, especially ragweed, plus dust and animal dander. Though I have no pets and use a filtered window screen, I generally ...

Pros: Quiet, unobtrusive, highly effective in killing germs. An absolute must for pet owners!
Cons: The initial cost was quite a setback ($900 for both units including warranty).

I would have never considered buying this purifier if it were not for my fiancee who had developed an allergy to our four rabbits. They have full run of the apartment and the central air is always full of rabbit hair and other irritants. We bought ...

Pros: Effective at reducing allergens Silent operation No filters to maintain
Cons: High initial cost Bulky appearance

I've been using the Ionic Breeze GP for about 5 weeks now. The unit is in my bedroom and it collects a surprising amount of dust and allergens. I can happily report that my allergies are much better since installing the IB. And this during a spring with ...

Pros: Silent, works as advertised, good customer service
Cons: Durability problems, initially expensive

Introduction All Sharper Image Ionic Breeze products function in the same way: Air is drawn into the unit by electrostatic charge, dust particles are attracted to charged metal plates and stay inside the unit, and cleaner air comes out on the ...

Pros: It absolutely works as advertised!
Cons: Can be noisy when it needs cleaning.

Just purchased my Ionic Breeze GP from their reconditioned online store which means I got the identical unit for half the price and STILL has the full 5-year warrantee. The unit looked brand new and although I'm a heavy smoker, it seemed to clear the air ...

Pros: Collects dirt from air, kills viruses and germs with UV light, relatively quiet usually
Cons: Initially Expensive for new units, Can be loud when too much dirt collected inside

Well, this year I spent quite a bit of money buying air purifiers to help relieve my allergies. I've tried Hunter HEPA unit but the expense of constantly buying new HEPA filters every 1 to 3 months became extremely expensive in a short period of time. ...

Pros: Quiet. Space efficient. Kills germs and bacteria. Easy maintenance. Economical in the long run.
Cons: Must clean immediately if burning candles. Or turn it off while candles are lit.

I think it works great. No fans making noise or any kind of electrical buzzing. You can really see all the dirt and dust it collects in just a week. I also noticed that the dust that doesn't pass through the air cleaner simply drops straight down. ...

Pros: Quiet operation, sleek design, color choices, no cost to operate.
Cons: expensive (at first), may (or may not) create unhealthy ozone

PLEASE NOTE: I have changed my mind about this product. Yes, it has worked well for me. I see the "gunk" collected on the collection grid and love the fact that it's not in my lungs. BUT, recently, I have read articles about the unhealthful ...

Pros: Silent (most of the time), no filters, cheap to operate
Cons: Produces ozone as a byproduct, noisey in humid atmosphere, problems with power supply

I've owned several incarnations of the ionic breeze units produced by the Sharper Image. Their earlier versions of this product, while functional, were not made of sturdy enough stuff to survive constant daily use. This, their latest model, seems to ...

Pros: Takes care of litter box odors (3 boxes) like nothing else tried before or since.
Cons: Refurbished units have repeatedly quit at 13 months.

I love the way the a working ionic breeze helps reduce litter box odor in our basement. If I can smell something, it generally means the unit has shut off for cleaning. A day after cleaning, all smells well again.

Unfortunately, I'm now going on my 3rd refurbished unit. They keep quitting after 13 months of use. This time, though, supplier wanted to send me a store credit for HALF the purchase price b/c they didn't have another refurbished unit in stock to replace it with. I suggested a new unit, much less expensive than my own was. No, got to replace a refurbished unit with a refurbished unit, I was told.

After 24 minutes, they found a refurbished unit they could send to replace the died unit.

They can't argue my 5 year warranty -- still got 2 years left. Guess that's why you now have to purchase the extended warranty.

Pros: Quiet in operation. No filters to replace.
Cons: Ineffective, potentially harmful, unreliable, overpriced.

Anyone considering buying one of the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze air purifiers -- or any of their competitors -- should check out what Consumers Union has to say about these.

Not only is the unit ineffective at cleaning the air, but it emits a high level of ozone that can actually be UNhealthy for you. (Apparently ozone in the upper atmosphere blocking the UV rays is a good thing; ozone in the air you breathe has been related to increased mortality rates and it contributes to asthma, breathing, and allergy problems.)

I had an Ionic Breeze -- this was long before the CU findings -- and it conked out after about a year of use. This didn't surprise me, as I have found Sharper Image products generally to be poorly made and fairly unreliable.

If you're in need of an air filter, look for one of CU's recommended HEPA or ULPA models. Yes, their fans make noise and you have to replace the filters once a year, but they work as advertised and are reliable as well...

Pros: It's silent and running cost is low.
Cons: Expensive and hardly works compared to real purifiers. Also broke in less than a year.

The air current is too weak to filter out a good amount of dust. I'm sure that it does filter out some pollutants but for the price, you can definitely find something better. I had mine for a year before it broke and I only had to clean it every 2-3 months because it never collected any dirt. Also I think the ozone it produces is bad for you. I read this report from the EPA, they conducted a scientific research on ozone cleaning the air.
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html#how%20is%20ozone%20harmful
Basically it says that there isn't an amount of ozone that can clean the air and NOT be harmful to you.
The only reason I think the Ionic Breeze is so expensive is because they need to pay for the airtime of their commercials which play on every channel 2 or 3 times a night for the last 5 years.
So don't buy it, buy a real air purifier with a HEPA filter.
I'm stating the truth, no BS.

Pros: Looks cool
Cons: As good as magic beans

Says it removes smoke from the room. My husband held his cigarette a foot away from the machine and it didn't do anything. It was on high power. Overnight, all it does is mask the odor with a "wet sheet metal" smell. Save your money and buy some glade. The amount of "particles" it collects is the same amount you dust every week.

Pros: Quiet. Seems to clean air. Makes a great paperweight.
Cons: Coats walls and small mammals with soot. House smells like an electrical storm.

My Ionic Breeze is now gone with the wind and in my dumpster. Perhaps I didn't read the manual correctly, but I had no idea that putting the thing too close to a wall (mine was two feet away) would cause its surface to become ionized and leave it looking like someone had built a campfire next to it. The soot is blacker than Indigo ink and impossible to remove. The result? I've just had my living room completely repainted and I can now qualify for the Ionic Breeze Shot Put finals in the summer Olympics.

Pros: looks cool, many people think it works
Cons: expensive, breaks down a lot, is noisy, doesnt clean the air.

I used to own one (ended up throwing the thing out) It broke three times during the 3 year warranty period. Each time it was replaced for no charge untill it broke again (2 months after the end of the warranty period) It's funny how they advertise it as silent, It is in fact far from it. It may seem quiet in the store because there is a lot of noise, but in a quiet room the buzzing sound is very apparent and distracting. I recently stumbled upon a comsumer reports article that rated it as one of the worst air cleaners. Suprisingly Sharper Image sued (and lost) the Consumer's Union for publishing bad reviews. The test was performed again multiple times with horrible results. Thinking back on it, I really didnt notice much difference when it was broken. One last thing, you will now see that it is reccommended by the Asthma and Allergy association. The only reason I can find for this is that Sharper Image donated almost $100,000 to them. Many doctors consider air purifiers useless as air moves around a lot.

Pros: Too many to list. The product works BETTER than we expected
Cons: None

I've watched Ionic Breeze commercials for years, but never bought one until November of 2004. I bought a reconditioned GP and used it for only 2 weeks then bought 2 more because of the results. They are unbelievable--smells like I live in a pure oxygen bubble. We only have an 1800 sf home, but have 2 in the great room, and one in the MBR. They work so well that my wife made me turn them off while preparing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners because she wanted the house to smell good when family arrived---the Ionic Breeze neutralizes any aroma, including coffee if you run them while cooking etc.

I purchased the first one after years of watching, because we had just moved to Tulsa from Calif. and our allergies were bothering us---Not any more.

Do yourself a favor and buy one. You will truly not believe the results. I take one with me when I travel for business to use in the 'perfumed' motel rooms I stay in. My wife says I look like a geek bringing it with me, but at least I breathe clean air!

Pros: None
Cons: Everything

I echo the reviews so far on the Ionic Breeze GP. This thing is expensive, and it doesn't clean very well. The fan speed is quiet - but that's because its not strong enough to be circulating the air around any sized room. The plates collect dust, but so does my furniture. As for removing odors, this product does an even worse job. I should have known - how could I have expected 3 metal plates to trap bad smells and 'filter' them out? Come on..

Pros: None noticed
Cons: Expensive and does not work as advertised

Ozone odour can be overwhelming at times. I havn't noticed any difference in air quality. Purchased in February 04. Five months later, product is making a crackling noise. Wrote to Sharper Image about it, and they offered to replace the unit.

Pros: quiet
Cons: Really doesn't work as expected. Over priced.

We have had two of these air cleaners for about two years now. We have 7 cats and 2 dogs so you know we needed it pretty badly. From our experience, it doesn't really clean the air (it still stinks in my house even with the machine going 24 hours/day), and doesn't seem to get the dust, dander, other airborne particles out of the air like our other loud air cleaners (the dust in their filters is amazing).
The product was way over priced, even with Sharper Image selling you two for one.

I don't recommend buying this machine. It was a huge waste of money in my opinion. I had such high hopes for this one. Consumer Reports wasn't impressed with this air cleaner either, by the way.

Pros: Potentially cleans air well
Cons: It can blow up if you light a candle anywhere in the house

Although I have not purchased this air purifier my neighbor has. It literally blew up after one month of using it and she cleaned it every week. The reason: you cannot use candles in your house -- not just in the room but in the house. She had black soot covering her walls and had a hard time getting her money back from Sharper Image. They said it was published in their brochure. When I asked them about it today in their store, they admitted it was a problem they discovered about a year ago and they have not improved it. So, if you're considering this product, don't light candles.

Pros: Quite.
Cons: "Ozone" smell can be overpowering at times. Seems to need more cleaning than advertised.

I have friend who is alergic to everything. I have 2 cats. In the past my friend has had reactions simply to the clothes I was wearing.

I bought the both the full size Ionic Breeze GP and a desktop size Quadra just before Christmas. When they arrived I started them running full time.

My friend was able to spend around 6 hours at my house, even falling asleep under an unwashed throw (blanket) which I am sure that cats had been in or on. He was even able to spend time sitting next to the cat tree.

So far they seem to be operating as advertised!

Pros: Does seem to clean air as claimed.
Cons: Poor quality and reliability.

I received one of the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze GP SI730 air purifiers for Christmas. The claims about cleaning the air appear to be true but I found the unit to be extremely poorly made and unreliable. The unit died after less than five days (circuit problems) -- this is not acceptable quality for a product that sells for $500. I also found their documentation and technical support to be extremely poor. The only positive is that Sharper Image seems to prefer to accept returns than to support the product. My unit will be returned for a refund...

Richard