Posted on 04/05/2005 10:06:49 AM PDT by DaveLoneRanger
Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze fails to clean the air, magazine says
SAN FRANCISCO - Consumer Reports magazine is taking renewed aim at a popular air purifier made by The Sharper Image two months after it fended off a libel lawsuit filed by the machine’s retailer.
The magazine reports in its latest issue hitting newsstands Tuesday that Sharper Image’s Ionic Breeze Quadra Silent Air Purifier and four other similar machines fail to significantly clean the air — but also release potentially unhealthy levels of ozone.
The article is being published two months after San Francisco-based Sharper Image agreed to pay the magazine’s publisher, Consumers Union, $525,000 in legal costs after a judge dismissed its libel suit. The failed lawsuit alleged that earlier magazine articles highly critical of the Ionic Breeze’s ability to reduce airborne particles were false and malicious.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
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Anybody with a background in science knows those are a sham. Filters are the ONLY thing that cleans air. HEPA to be precise.
The ads are incessant..You'd think the only TWO products manufactured in the whole world are the Sharper Image air cleaners and the Orek vacuums..hmmmm?..is there a link?
We have two Oreck air purifiers and they seem to work quite well.
I was fooled into buying the Radio Shack version of this and what a waste of money. The fan blades get dirty. That means the dirt is getting past the 'filter'. Now I just use it as a noise maker to block out sounds from outside while I'm sleeping. The RS model has a fan after the 'electrodes'.
Hmmm...I wonder what the crud was that I cleaned off the electrostatic precipitators on nuclear submarines? Must'a been homeopathic tar or somptin'. And HEPAs work - at about 1 inch H2O differential pressure.
Do the lungs of screaming liberals filter the air?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
I KNEW it!
1/2 million in fees. Looser paid.
iiiiinteresting.
Odd how they are able to keep selling it if it is such a fraud.
1" W.C. is no big deal. Needs to be designed-for, but is pretty much a non-issue.
The "Ironic Breeze". :-)
orecks suck
I have a background in science. I own the ionic breeze. It does clean the air, although you have to take a sponge to the plates twice a week and not twice a month. I can see the crap the filter picks up on the sponge.
I have not measured the ozone output and there may be a case there for getting rid of the ionic breeze, but the thing does clean the air.
Well, those filters raise the cost of their products many times through filter replacement costs. (LOL, from the Sharper Image add)
Melanie Morgan (KSFO SF)is in one of the radio adds for sharper image, I wonder what she will do with this info. As far as electronic filtering, as I recall a Cotrell precipitator will remove the particulate matter from the air, but it uses high voltage and the constant arcing does create a lot of ozone. I thought these devices were quiet, do they make arcing sounds?
Just shows how stupid most people are that 2 MILLION have been sold!
1- It really does move some air. Some, but not nearly as much as a fan. It's very quiet.
2- You can SMELL the ozone pouring out of the thing. I couldn't stand to have it blow in my face.
3- The price is ridiculous.
I'm not sure what kind of crazy technology was on your sub. But, I can assure you the avg homeowner won't be able to afford it. HEPA filters are not cheap either. An avg(12inx18in) is ~$65. And they need to be replace at least once a yr. From my studies, it is the only thing available to the avg Joe that works well.
We bought one of the small ones on eBay (MUCH CHEAPER) not so much for an air cleaner than a deodorizer in the room where the cat boxes are. I'm not sure I've ever been so pleased with a product. It does an absolutley fantastic job of killing the odors in that room.
I've got one of these filters, and it seems to work fine. I've got it near the intake for the home's AC/heater system. I have the clean the blades every couple of weeks because they're so coated with black gunk. I'm thinking it's better having that black gunk on the blades rather than in the air.
I live in a pretty clean non-smoking home.
I've heard the warnings about high levels of ozone, but mine is in a pretty open place, and the ozone gets distributed around the house (by being near the home's air system intake).
Is there really a danger? I honestly don't know if it's more harmful than helpful. But like I said, it seem to work fine. Anyone know?
She's an actress... I saw her on a TV show one time and couldn't place her for about 2 minutes, and then it hit me... "Oh, the Sharper Image commercials!"
I will add that the bathroom ionic breeze (a 59 dollar value) is a joke. It's collection plates are about 1/1000 the area of the full size model. And the car ionic breeze is absurd. It's collection plate is about 1/100 the size of the bathroom model.
"They wouldn't put it on TV if it wasn't true!" - Anonymous
I'm not saying that it doesn't collect crud, just about 5% of what a HEPA filter cleans. But, the cost of filter replacements is significant. Go to the study of Consumer Report for the full study. It is quite interesting. It costs just 5 bucks for a month. Well worth it.
They work by electrostatic preciptation instead of filters. I don't know if they're as effective as other air filters, but they are certainly quieter. Less air moves through them than if they had a fan, but you can feel a mild air current moving through.
I got one about four or five years ago, and it seems to work. I say that because black crud builds up on the collection plates and has to be cleaned off. Also, a lot less dust seems to settle on the windowsills and furniture. There's nowhere that crud can be coming from but the air, so obviously the gadget succeeds in cleaning the air at least somewhat. I got it because I can't stand the sound of a fan running in the room.
I too would be interested in knowing if it truly pumps out "too much" ozone, or under what conditions (e.g., a small enclosed space) it can be dangerous.
P.T. Barnum ..."..sucker born every minute."???
A friend had one of the ozone generating purifiers he loaned me for a try out.
My wife and I both 'sense' coming thunderstorms, we get restless and (sometimes) even irritable before one.
It took a couple of days to figure out why we got that way before a storm, somehow we pick up on the increased ozone level (not just lightning anymore).
The purifier went back with a "thanks, but no thanks", and we could relax again.
Now there's a personal Ionic Breeze, like a pager that you hang around your neck, so you can take that eau de ozone with you wherever you go.
LOL
Yes, they do. Pretty well, actually.
Found her in the IMDb.
Carolyn Hennesy: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0377321/
She's even got a website: http://www.carolynhennesy.com/
I've heard this before, see their tv ads all the time, shame if the things don't work, and I'd also heard about a health hazard.
Most likely farts, BO, amine, diesel fuel, galley lard...you know, the usual stuff :)
I do not have a background in science. I was trained as a musician. But I can't see how these devices can possibly electrostatically charge a large enough area to clean much out of the air. Perhaps if you had one places every square yard of carpet space or so. That might get a tad expensive. Besides, I already have a pretty good air filter set up. It's called mucous and nasal hairs. Seems to filter out a pretty good portion of airborne poluutants, and it was free.
I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. A lot of people have approached me to develop one of these gizmos, but I have always refused because breathing ozone is not a good idea. It is a marvelous chemical when used properly.
The OSHA 8 hour exposure limit is 80 ppb, the human nose can detect ozone at around 40 ppb. In an aqueous phase ozone is a spectacular water treatment chemical, but if it is to be used in air purification, that system must include a method for catalytically decomposing ozone before it is released into the ambient air. One good gas phase use of ozone is the removal of mercaptans from processes that generate these malodorous compounds. But you cannot approach the design of such a system by cavalierly exposing people, some of whom already have respritory problems, to elevated ambient ozone concentrations.
If you are curious, see my profile and follow the provided link to learn more.
Did anybody bother to quantify this statement, and if so, why isn't it reported? < /rhetorical question > Ah, science reporters. And you'd think the ozone production problem would be a *feature* - after all, ozone kills germs and eliminates odors.
As for the scientific basis for this type of filter being a sham, what nonsense. If it doesn't "work" then the problem is scalability, not the underlying principle. Static electricity is simple enough even for someone without a scientific background.
The person who uses one as a deodorizer probably is using it in one of the few useful ways, as an air deodorizer. Ozone attacks and destroys all sorts of organic molecules. I think I saw a version of this product made for shoes actually.
Bingo! You get the same dirt on any surface exposed to passing air.... Sure made a lot of money though...
Mike
I've got two factory refurbished ones (new is just too expensive!). Pretty happy with them, the air in the room "feels" cleaner and there is an enormous amount of gunk that needs cleaning from the machine every ten days or so. It does something, but I'm willing to listen regarding effectiveness.
Remember the Ronco Record Vacuum?
I would never have bought one but I got one as a gift.
A weak fan, no vacuum, some fibers that couldn't catch the first particle.
They do emit ozone, albeit weakly. I'm not sure of the ozone concentration (I've never measured it from one of these things) but my guess is that it is on the order of 10 ppm, far above the OSHA standard for 8 hour exposure.
Yes, but its also a lung irritant, air polutant and carcinogen. If low-level ozone is a feature, then you should really love running rush-hour marathons in Houston.
http://www.lehigh.edu/~kaf3/envt/HowanElectrostaticPrecipitatorWorks.htm
Works well enough for fly ash...
Carolyn's a good friend of mine. She also happens to be the daughter of the late, highly regarded Hollywood production designer Dale Hennesy.
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