Alive Air’s multi-stage air
purifier’s use advanced filtration technologies that not only fights
pollution and odors, but actually trap and destroy bacteria, viruses and
other airborne germs. Obviously, this reduces the risk of you and your
family contracting diseases associated with these harmful airborne
microorganisms.
MORE Q and A
Q; What type of pollutants do Alive Air’s air purifiers work on?
Because Alive Air
uses advanced multi-stage air purification technologies including washable
prefilters, HEPA filters, activated carbon, ultraviolet light, negative
ions, titanium dioxide germicidal sanitizers and optional (on-off) ozone
generation, we’re able to filter or destroy a whole range of harmful
airborne particles that old fashioned single-stage, or even 2-, 3- or
4-stage air purifiers, just can’t match. Alive Air’s state-of-the art air
filtrations systems effectively trap or destroy: dust, pollen, pet dander,
tobacco smoke, air pollutants, chemical and toilet odors as well as
bacteria, viruses, germs, mold and more…
Q Why should I buy a portable air purifier instead of a central, in-duct
air purifier?
The most obvious advantages
are in terms of price. Central, induct systems can cost several thousand
dollars to purchase and hundreds more to have professionally installed and
maintained. Alive Air, on the other hand, offers state-of-the-art,
multi-stage portable systems starting at less than $200 and require no
professional installation. Frankly, in many cases, it would be cheaper to
install a portable system in every room of your house than to install a
single central in-duct system.
Besides these cost
considerations, however, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that
portable air purifiers may be more effective than central purification
units. This is primarily because walls and other home and workplace
obstructions often reduce in-duct air purifier effectiveness from room to
room. Moreover, it’s almost impossible to find in-duct systems that use
multiple filtration technology that can trap the variety of airborne
pollutants, odors, and germs that portable Alive Air systems combat.
Lastly, central systems would
have to be on 24 hours a day 7 days per week to add continuous
purification to the air. So, the energy cost alone with a central duct
system would prove prohibitive for the average consumer. Alive Air,
portable air purification systems however are so energy efficient that you
could put one in every room of your house and still use less power than a
single centralized system.
Do Alive Air’s air purifiers use a lot of electrical consumption?
Not at all, unlike,
many of our competitor’s air purifiers that have exorbitant power needs
which can cost you hundreds of dollars per year in electrical costs, Alive Air’s energy efficient systems operate on only 40 to 65 watts of
power. That’s less than the average light bulb and cost you only a few
dollars per month even if run continuously 24-hours a day.
Why is the
price of Alive Air’s air purifiers so much less than Oreck®,
Ionic Breeze®
and other brands?
A: When you purchase an
Alive Air air purifier you are buying direct from our warehouse. We engineer and work closely with our
manufacturing partners to sell direct to you, the consumer, cutting out
the middleman and expensive marketing campaigns. Rest assured, your
satisfaction is our goal and we will continue to build in the best value
with the latest state-of-the-art technologies to protect the health and
well being of your family because we’re using the exact same air
purification technologies to protect our own.
In which room(s) should I place an air purifier?
Generally, air
purifiers should be placed in the room(s) you spend the most time in. As
such, living rooms and dens are a common choice and, given that we spend
approximately eight hours a day sleeping, the bedroom is another very
common choice. However, this may vary significantly depending on your own
special circumstances. For example, if you have pets, you may want to
place the air purifier in the pet’s sleeping or play area to reduce pet
dander; if you have young children, you may choose to place it in the
nursery; or if you have smokers in your household, you may choose to place
your air purifier in the area in which they most frequently smoke. And,
obviously, if you’re buying a system for the office, you’ll generally want
it in your own personal work area. Moreover, given the portability and
relatively low cost of Alive Air’s systems, you can always move the system
from room to room as circumstances warrant and/or buy multiple systems for
different rooms or one for home and another for the office.
Where in the room should I position my air purifier?
In whatever room you
choose to place your air filter, there are certain placement rules you
should observe to maximize performance: a) Try to locate it near a high
traffic area, vent, fan or all of which increase air circulation which
improves system efficiency; b) For normal size rooms, placing the unit at
least 4” inches from the wall in a corner is generally fine but, for
larger rooms, your system will perform better near the center of the room
and even if you’re placing it against the wall it’s better if it’s placed
in the middle of the wall than in a corner; c) Be certain that intake and
exhaust vents aren’t obstructed by furniture or other household objects;
and d) If you frequently use your air purifier’s negative ion or ozone
generation features, it’s better to position the unit higher off the
ground, e.g., on a shelf, since both ozone and negative ion particles are
heavier than air and tend to float downward.
Are ozone generating air purifiers really safe?
Ozone is simply a
naturally occurring form of oxygen in the Earth’s stratosphere that
shields us from harmful ultraviolet radiation. In the proper
concentration, ozone is both safe and extremely effective in killing
bacteria, viruses and other harmful airborne microbes. It is also a very
efficient at eliminating cigarette smoke and odors. And, while the FDA and
OSHA both warn that ozone concentrations higher than 0.05 ppm (parts per
million) may be unsafe, Alive Air’s Air Purifiers maintain a very healthy
ozone production level of 0.04 ppm which is high enough to effectively
fight disease and odor but still a full 20% below the FDA and OSHA
recommended maximums. In addition, as an additional safety feature, all
Ultra-Pure air purifiers with ozone generation offer an on/off ozone
setting. So the choice is yours… use it, don’t use it or uses it only when
you really need it, for example to fight sudden strong odors or cigarette
smoke.
Are Alive Air’s air purifiers noisy?
Absolutely not!
Because of our quiet fan engineering as well as multiple filtration
technologies that don’t put all the work on the fan to begin with, all our
air purification units run quietly even when operated at high speed. 20dB is the quiet mode. perfect for sleeping. That’s quieter than your
average computer fan and only a little more than the noise a refrigerator
generates.
How often should I replace my HEPA filter?
Assuming normal indoor
environmental conditions and average usage of eight hours per day, your
HEPA filter should last about a year.
Can I clean my HEPA filter instead of replacing it?
We strongly discourage
trying to clean your system’s HEPA filter. Trying to vacuum, wash or
otherwise clean HEPA filters can damage it and reduce its effectiveness
and could void your product warranty.
How
often will I need to replace my UV light?
Under normal
circumstances, your air purifier’s UV light will generally last more than
5,000 hours. Assuming average usage of eight hours per day, your air
purifier’s UV light should last for more than a year and a half.
How often should I clean my washable pre-filters?
To maximize your units
efficiency, we recommending washing the prefilters at least once a month
or more frequently as indoor environmental conditions warrant.
Why do you feel the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) statistics for air purifiers are misleading?
The
additional technologies we incorporate are over and above the basic unit specs that make the CADR number, at best, irrelevant and, at worse, misleading.
Here’s why; CADR data can be artificially manipulated by simply adjusting
how rapidly air is circulated through a given air filtering device. While
this figure is perhaps relevant for the vast majority of filtration-only
devices that attempt to clean air using only one or two types of filters,
it’s meaningless for our 9 technologies and filtration systems
because filtration is simply a single aspect of our units. The fact is
that the CADR number tells you nothing about how well, or even “IF”, a
given competing product filters germs, bacteria, viruses and other harmful
biological agents nor does it assess how well the unit clears chemical
fumes and odors — all of which Alive Air Air Purifiers eliminate from
the air extremely effectively.
The easiest way to think of it is that, even though everyone in the
industry refers to their products as an air “purifier”, the fact is that
the overwhelming majority of competing products are simply air “filters”
that don’t use anywhere near the number of additional “purification”
technologies used by our brands, e.g., UV light, TiO2, activated charcoal,
negative ionization, etc.
The fact is that, if we did want to market just according to the CADR
numbers, we could simply beef up the fan speed, eliminate our advanced
technologies and just manufacture the same limited filtration systems as
our competitors. We don’t, and won’t do that, however, because our systems
have been designed to delicately balance optimum air flow with our other
purification technologies. For example, if we were to pull air too quickly
through the unit in order to artificially inflate our CADR numbers, the UV
technology that protects you and your family from harmful germs and
viruses that traditional air purifiers miss would work much less
effectively.
Instead of relying on the CADR numbers for our units, we suggest the
“Technical Specifications” section above which includes
figures regarding applicable room area, air flow volume and air exchange
rate. Once again, however, keep in mind that even these figures do not
paint a full picture of just how incredibly effective and Alive Air Purifier’s diverse set of technologies actually are.
We consciously chose not to be certified by the Association of Home Appliance
Manufacturers (AHAM) . I was told by our factory that our purifier was tested originally by them, but AHAM says we cannot do so. We
no longer maintain the AHAM yearly certification because they want to charge us over $10,000 a year to do so, and we’d just as soon
pass all the savings we can on to you. AHAM represents manufacturers
along with providing the CADR testing. According to the web AHAM is a Washington Lobbyist Group for large home appliance companies. From the AHAM website: “The association’s mission is serving the home appliance industry“
The U.S. Government recommends technologies used in
Surround Air purifiers.
Recommendation for
Using HEPA Air Filter and UV Light Together:
U.S. CentersFor Disease Control
( http://www.cdc.gov/ ) Recommends Air Purifier with both HEPA Filter and UV Light.
The
CDC recommends the use of germicidal ultraviolet (UV) light with simultaneous use of
HEPA air
filters, for the best combination of both capturing and destroying
microbes. Alive Air offers both HEPA filter and UV light.
Recommendations for
HEPA Air Filter
Recommended by Dept. of Homeland Security.( http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm)
HEPA air filters were
developed
by the Atomic Energy Commission during the second World War.
They were originally designed to remove radio active dust from
their plants. (HEPA
Air Filter Research)
Recommendations for
Germicidal UV Light (Ultraviolet)
Specified by U.S. Gov’t to be used in
government buildings to
control micro-organisms.
The
Centers of Disease Control (CDC) recommends UV lights
in homeless shelters to prevent the spread of disease,
particularly TB (tuberculosis).
Recommendations for
Ionizer/Negative Ion Air Purification
Found by U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
against dust and bacteria.
The U.S.D.A.
discovered the following in recent studies conducted in a
poultry house, which are notoriously polluted:
- Reduced salmonella (bacteria)
transmission between chicks by 98%. - Reduced airborne salmonella (bacteria) by
95%. - Reduced airborne dust & particles by 99% in 60
seconds.
Recommendation for
TiO2/Photocatalytic
Filter
U.S. Department of Energy found
that photocatalytic oxidation air purification destroyed VOC chemicals
at a significant rate, even at high air flow rates.
(TiO2
/ Photocatalytic Studies)
Recommendation for
Pre-Filter
The Dept. of Homeland Security
recommends using a pre-filter along with a HEPA filter,
to preserve the life of the HEPA filter.