My SWMBO recently saw an allergist, who confirmed what we already knew -- she's allergic to dogs and cats, just like I am. He recommended a HEPA air purifier for our bedroom in addition to the central air cleaner our house already has. Wanting to be a smart consumer, and knowing many smart consumers frequent the board, I thought I'd ask for recommendations here.

Amazon's best sellers are a few Honeywell models, but they get so-so reviews compared to some other lesser known brands. The best resource I've found so far is this site, and in particular, this Top 10 page which seems to give a good summary of the product landscape.

My takeaway is that, like many other product categories, you seem to get what you pay for, until you get to the higher end, at which point the benefits of spending more become less clear. I'm sure one of those "premium" models from IQAir, BlueAir, or Austin Air would be fantastic -- but I'd really need some more info before I could shell out nearly $800 to purify one room.

So, I'm finding myself drawn to the next tier of manufacturers like Rabbit Air and NeoAir.

I think my leading candidate right now is this one:

Rabbit Air 421A for $329

It seems like it would be powerful enough to clean our ~200 sq. ft. bedroom. The 582A is a more powerful version of the same basic design for $70 more. The Rabbit Air SPA-780A, for $549, is a newer model from the same manufacturer, and seems to have some extra bells and whistles that I'm not sure are worth it.

Does anyone have an air purifier they're particularly pleased with? Are those top-of-the-line models leaps and bounds above the others? I know this is a bit of a niche product but I thought someone else may have been through this before.

Do you actually have cats or dogs?

Do you have carpets, rugs, runners or any upholstered furniture?

You'll probably see the most benefit by getting rid of whatever carpeted surfaces you can, and diligently vacuuming those you can't (frequently with a good vacuum). You might also consider a good vacuum of any blankets, or similar in the bedroom, as well as the mattress itself.

I don't have any personal-use experience with any stand-alone air filters or purifiers, but be wary of what you're buying and of the reviews you're reading. I know that some of the filters a friend used to sell for a few hundred were sourced from China for something like $20-40 landed - they were nothing special or great really (info from him), but his customers did give really good reviews.

One dog, two cats. Can't believe I forgot to mention that.



Wall-to-wall carpet in most rooms and hallways.



Yeah, I've moved the Roomba up to our bedroom and have it cleaning 3x a week to supplement our normal cyclonic vacuum. We hadn't been vacuuming the blankets or mattress consistently, but are doing so now. I think we'll still have to end up getting an air cleaner, simply because the cats shed and create dander faster than we could ever hope to clean it off of all the surfaces in the house.

Wait, what?

My point about the carpets is that they'll trap dander until disturbed - only then can some of it become airborne for the air cleaner to do its thing. An air purification system is more effective if there's less opportunity for the allergens to be trapped and periodically released.

I suppose you've also already considered whole-house purification, right? It's a lot more costly obviously. We have an HRV that was included with the house which helps a lot - thought I do have to clean its filter more often.

And while I did suggest getting rid of carpet where possible, I didn't mention anything about getting rid of pets - I assumed if you had them, it wasn't an option. My wife is allergic to both cats and dogs - we have two dogs. She's gotten so used to them that they no longer really bother her. But other dogs do, especially those with really coarse hair, like German Shepherds.

What's confusing? We're both allergic to them, but we love pets.

*Fails to find an emoticon for "confused by your confusion"*

I think I know where Tony's coming from. Most (other) people I know who are allergic to cats and dogs don't have cats or dogs. And the simplest (and least costly financially) solution is to not have the pets.

But pets are awesome, so fsck the allergies.

I understand the desire for pets even when you're allergic.

My confusion was that you're looking for the best way to filter the allergen out of the air, when the real solution is to remove the source of the allergen completely.

I understand, though, that you're looking for the best reduction of allergen, given the constraint that you can't simply get rid of your beloved pets.

I just don't see how an air purifier is going to help much. It's like running a vacuum cleaner around the house with no bag attached. Unless you remove the source, you're just shuffling the undesired particles around in the room.

Allergy to cats isn't an all-or-nothing thing; I know someone who's allergic to basically all cats other than her own, and actually I seem to be horribly allergic to the cat at the pub The Empress even though I've never been allergic to any others.

Also, installing air filtration systems because you're allergic to cats and dogs would surely be implausibly overcautious if there weren't actually any cats or dogs in the house...

Peter

Agreed. One of our seriously-allergic housemates, who happens to adore cats, regularly visits (in fact, will be visiting tonight) the house of our band's cellist, who is a cat breeder.

However she has to take antihistamines before going, and use an inhaler afterwards. As much as we all love cats and want cats, we can't see getting a cat for our own house because it would put her through too much.

Though you could have already guessed that wasn't an option, given that Tony has already been living in the house with pets even though he has allergies. Anyway, I do agree with Bruno's last statement

I can't possibly say whether it works or not, but we have a purifier from Costco. Sadly, I have no idea what the brand is, but it's this 2.5' tall black thing with some sort of UV light that I'm sure does nothing. Like I said, I have no idea if it does anything, but the air does seem a little better on our second floor where we have it than it did before we got it.

Yup, nuke the carpets, not the animals!

There's a reason our home has only two tiny throw rugs, and vast expanses of open hardwood flooring!

It's waaay easier to clean, too. We bought a steam mop last month and it's great. Between that and regular vacuuming, our two cats don't irritate allergies.

Same situation, how I deal (sans drugs):

Hard wood floors.

Allerpet.

The furminator.

A couple of Rabbit Air filters.

And a cleaning lady to come through to dust and vacuum a few times a week.

You might want to consider leather sofas and chairs as well.