IQAir HealthPro Air Purifier
by IQAir
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List Price: Our Price: $849.00 You Save: $50.00 (6%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $650.00 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of IQAir HealthPro Air Purifier
Customer Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this air purifier after reading several rave reviews all over the web. After much consideration (mostly due to the price) and research, I decided to purchase one for my apartment. I was not disappointed. Delivery was prompt and the product arrived in perfect condition, it was packed very well and came with great documentation. I also noticed when unpacking the unit how well built and solid it is.
This air purifier works great and I immediately noticed a difference in air quality, so much so that I have even been sleeping better. My apartment is prone to exhaust fumes and I also have a couple of pets, so dander was a concern to me. Based on how much better I have been feeling lately, I would say that the IQ HealthPro is doing it's job.
My only minor gripe would be when the purifier is in on any setting over 3, it is fairly noisy. Just be mindful of placement and you will have no worries.
Customer Review: Great for Pet Allergies
Summary: 5 Stars
The IQAir HealthPro is highly effective at eliminating all sorts of airborn allergens, and particularly cat dander. I've owned and operated one for 18 months now, and to-date I am very pleased with it's performance. When I was shopping around for an air purifier, I quickly learned that only purifiers with a "HEPA" filter will be effective at eliminating Pet Dander. Because of that, I focused in on the IQAir line and the Blueair line of single-room purifiers. The Blueair comes with a lower sticker price, but I opted to instead go with the IQAir for a number of reasons:
1) The IQAir Healthpro, at it's highest setting, was able to pull in and filter more air at a faster rate than a "large" BlueAir model. My house has a very open floor plan, so this was useful to me.
2) The IQAir has a "prefilter" that helps filter out larger pollutants before they reach the HEPA filter. The BlueAir does not. As a result, the IQAir's HEPA filter is rated to last something like 1.5-3 years, but the BlueAir was considerably less (going from memory, I believe it was like 6 months). HEPA filters are considerably more expensive to replace than prefilters, so their should be financial savings in paying to replace less-expensive IQAir prefilters more often and HEPA filters less often.
3) I came across a study that showed that the IQ Air is sealed tightly enough and was confirmed via testing that there was zero leakage through the system. In other words, all air that is sucked in is filtered. The BlueAir tested also did quite well, but not 100% well. Many cheap $99 target brands did misearbly.
When your IQAir comes in the mail, you will receive a hand-written performance checklist of how your individual unit tested prior to shipment. It will say what the baseline value is in order to pass, and then someone will have hand-written in how your unit performed in testing. IQAir is thorough, and they take this stuff seriously. This isn't a toy, designed to give the owner "peace of mind". This device will take allergens out before you breath them in.
After 18 months of ownership, I can't speak to the effectiveness of a BlueAir, but I can say I'm very pleased with the performance of this system. I am allergic to pet dander, and have lived with a cat for 18 months now (it was the motivation for my purchasing of this unit, as I have always been very allergic to cats, so in order to bring one into my home I new I needed help) with relatively no problems because of this air purifier. It does what it claims to do. Also, I want to mention that changing out old filters for new ones is a breeze with this system. Green-yellow-red indicator lights let you know that it's time to buy a replacement filter well before the filter becomes ineffective, which is also nice.
Also, I want to take a moment and address the negative reviews shown for this product. I believe they are misplaced. The "odor" that they are complaining about was most likely caused by the "V5-Cell" 2nd stage filter found in the IQAir HealthPro Plus model. This V5-Cell is designed to remove harmful chemicals and odors from the air for those that are sensitive to such things, but the website does claim that it may give off an odor of it's own that some may notice. I have no experience with this, as I have an IQAir HealthPro, not a HealthPro Plus, and have never opted to add the optional V5-Cell to my HealthPro unit. I just wanted to point out that I don't believe the model being reviewed here actually gives off the odor that some are claiming, and that they probably should have instead reviewed the "HealthPro Plus" item. You shouldn't experience any odor problems with this, unless of course you choose to add the optional V5-Cell at a later date. As far as I'm concerned, it's nice to have that option, but I'm not *sensitive* to those kind chemicals, and adding the cell reduces the IQAir's intake rate, so I've always opted to simply use the prefilter and HEPA filter for my allergy needs.
Customer Review: HIGHLY SATISFIED - WORTH THE PRICE
Summary: 5 Stars
After 1 month of use, this unit earns my highest recommendation. I researched air purifiers for about a week before buying two IQAir units, one with the odor filter (Pro-Plus), and one without (Pro) to help with allergies and asthma symptoms that my family suffers from. Both of them work absolutely perfectly, with significant symptom relief within the first week of use. The packaging was very secure, with each unit contained in double boxes similar to what you find with high-end stereo equipment, including thick styrofoam inserts for cushioning. The unpacked units were sparkling new and clean, with an inspection page that detailed the performance at each of the five individual speeds. The manual was nicely organized and easy to comprehend.
These are sturdy units that are somewhat heavy, but come with a convenient handle recessed on the top, as well as caster wheels to roll the unit if you need to move it periodically. The manual recommends clearance of at least 12 inches on all sides for optimal performance, so keep this in mind for placement in your room. It is noisy at the highest setting, but works very effectively at quieter settings 2 or 3 in my 13' x 16' room. I also use an IQAir unit in a 20 x 20 room, and it cleans the air very well at setting 3. My son noticed so much improvement in his allergies and breathing after just two days of use, that when I moved the unit to another room for a night, he begged me to return it to his bedroom. We went on vacation for a few days, and he said that he could not wait to get back home because he missed the IQAir purifier.
If you are comparing the units with and without the odor filter, even the one without the odor filter leaves the air smelling fresh and clean. In fact, for the first week, the one with the odor filter had a bit of a peculiar smell to it, which might have been coming from the odor filter itself. Unless you have a really significant odor problem, you can save the extra $100 that you pay for the "Pro-Plus" over the "Pro" model. The units look identical from the outside, and you can order a retrofit assembly from the IQAir if you later want to convert your "Pro" to "Pro Plus." Each unit has a remote that is slightly larger than a credit card, which is very convenient if I want to change the setting after I get into bed.
In summary, these IQAirs are well worth the price, which isn't as much as it seems after you factor in the yearly filter replacement cost, which is lower than most other brands. I wish that I had discovered IQAir years ago, before wasting my money on other air purifiers. I am so impressed that I am about to order a third IQAir to use in my office. I have previously owned the following air purifiers, none of which came anywhere close to my IQAir units: Oreck XL Air8D, Oreck XL 4000, Holmes (various sizes), Honeywell (the largest big round one), Sharper Image (Ionic Breeze). I hated cleaning the Oreck units, which were overpriced, and their replacement filters were also very expensive on a yearly basis. The Orecks also left a lot of dust all around them. The motor burned out on my large Oreck unit just after the two year warranty expired. The Honeywell filter was also very expensive, and the unit was extremely noisy. The Holmes units were ok for very small rooms, but had to be on the noisiest high setting to notice any air cleaning, had flimsy construction, and required frequent filter changes. The Sharper Image units were basically useless, as they did not improve the air quality or our allergy symptoms; they went back to the store after three weeks.
Customer Review: It makes a difference
Summary: 5 Stars
My siblings went together and bought this unit for our parents five months ago. Dad's cancer, an aggressive type of lymphoma returned unexpectedly with a vengence. Because his spleen was removed five years ago he has a very low immune system. We were concerned about infections setting in - especially thru the flu season and chemotherapy period. He has survived the flu season without even a cold! My mother put the unit in the bedroom and left it on continuously. One day she decided it was not needed on warm sunny days. After only one night she was miserable with a stuffy nose, raspy throat and headache. She just laughed as she thanked us again for the air purifier and said that she didn't "KNOW" wheter or not it was helping Dad, but that it sure did make a difference for her.Customer Review: It smells
Summary: 1 Stars
It had a light odor in the beginning. I thought the smell would gradually disappear over time. But strangely, it is the opposite. The smell gets stronger over time. Now I cough a little when I enter my daughter's room, where the IQair Healthpro stays. It does remove a lot of other smells. So I think it is a weird device-- it is like it transfer different smells in the room into its own smell and then release it into the air. I am very confused by its function. I sniffed around the unit when it is on and found the smell is released from the window where the supposedly clean, filtered air comes out. It releases its own smell non-stop once it is on. We don't know what to do with it yet because it does remove lots of unpleasant smells in the room, as I mentioned earlier. But I am getting worried because I cough when I enter my daughter's room. She has some chemical sensitivity. I don't know how she will react to the smell after exposed to it for a long period of time. I decided to give it one star because I think other air purifiers may do a similar job of cleaning air but without re-pollute it.