Appliance Research: Choosing a Low Ion/Ozone Room Air Purifier
Air Filters and Purifiers for Urban Apartments:
Why use a no ozone or Ion air purifier? A fairly extensive U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report titled “Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners” delves into the details of what Ozone is, how Ozone is harmful and potential health effects of ozone.
In addition to the EPA, the California Environmental Protection Agency: Air Resources Board has recognized the potential harm ozone/ion based air purifiers and set up a certification process for indoor air cleaning devices. Two different classifications are used: Mechanical (which use physical filtration and do not generate ozone) and “Other” (devices that produce ozone concentrations of less than 0.050 parts per million)
I went with a reconditioned BlueAir 501R (refurbished) for high traffic areas and an AirFree Onix 3000 for the finished basement. For now, the table of “Finalists” is below:
| Blue Air 601/603 | Blue Air 501/503 | Honeywell Enviracaire True HEPA Air Purifier 50250 | Hunter QuietFlo 30401 | Hunter QuietFlo HEPA Air Purifier 30525 | |
| Dust CADR | >400 | 377 | 250 | 260 | 272 |
| Smoke CADR | 438 | 388 | 250 | 260 | 263 |
| Pollen CADR | >450 | 378 | 250 | 245 | 275 |
| Room Size SQ/FT | 590 | 620 | 390 | 403 | 403 |
| Meets Ozone Limits (50 ppb) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Unit Price | $600.00 | $500.00 | $200.00 | $266.00 | $260.00 |
| Filter Price | $75.00 | $75.00 | $18.00 | N/A | $50.00 |
| California Certified Air Cleaning Device | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Emits Ozone? | No | No | No | No | N/A |
| Consumer Reports rating | 46 | 45 | 45 | 44 | N/A |
| Energy Star Rated | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
The products in the list above have been narrowed down from the following lists:
EnergyStar Room Air Cleaners for Consumers
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM)
CADR
California Certified Air Cleaning Devices
* Note that the difference between the 501/503 and the 601/603 are that the 03 models have a digital display.
