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Did you know that HEPA air cleaners got their start during World War Two.Strangely enough, the original HEPA filter was designed in the 1940s and was used in the Manhattan Project to prevent the spread of airborne radioactive contaminants. Just think, one of the most closely guarded secrets of World War Two brought the world’s allergy sufferers relief and an allergen free lifestyle. HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air. The HEPA filter used in air cleaners is still the most reliable filter available, and will greatly improve the indoor air quality of almost any space. A true HEPA air cleaner is good for filtering out 99.7% of all particulates 0.3 microns and greater in size. If HEPA filtration was more than good enough to filter out the radioactive dust particles floating in the air in the labs, you know a quality HEPA air cleaner will do a great job on pollen, dust, dust mites, mold spores and grasses. Over the decades HEPA air cleaners and filters have evolved to satisfy the higher and higher demands for better air quality in various high technology industries, such as electronic micro-circuitry, pharmaceutical processing, hospitals, laboratories and homes. There are plenty of HEPA air cleaners on the market. Each manufacture tells you their cleaner is the best, the most efficient, most reliable and the greatest thing since sliced bread. They try to get you to focus on things like their CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate). They want you to buy their machine. The truth is there are quite a few very good hepa air cleaners available for you to choose from and some that are junk. The big box stores like Wal-Mart, Sears, Kmart, Lowes and specialty stores like National Allergy and Allergy Be Gone carry brands like Honeywell, Hunter, Holmes and Kenmore just to mention a few of their air cleaners. These air cleaners are typically designed for smaller spaces, lighter because they are made of plastic, smaller so they can be placed in tight spaces and finding replacement filters is easy because they are sold in so many stores. In most cases they only offer 2 levels of filtration, basic filtration. The down side is the manufactures change designs often resulting filters being obsolete in a few years. Prices range from $99 to $250. Made in the U.S. and imported. If your looking for an air cleaner that is effective, low maintenance and built to last, the HEPA air cleaners made by Austin Air, AirPura and AllerAir are good choices. These machines have 3 speed motors, activated carbon/HEPA filters, all steel construction, 5 year warranty and the design of the air cleaners rarely change keeping replacement filter costs low. While effective they do look like air cleaners, nice looking air cleaners. You can't stick these on a shelf but any air cleaner you can does not do much anyway. These HEPA air cleaners are sold mainly by stores that focus on the allergy and asthma sufferers, stores like National Allergy Supply, the Allergy Store and Achoo Allergy. Prices range from $299 to $999. Made in the U.S. or Canada For those looking for high performance and specialized air cleaners then you should look at IQair, AirPura and AllerAir. These HEPA air cleaners are sold in stores that know the importance of clean air. They combine HEPA with special carbon beds, UV and photc-catalytic oxidation. Several of these are used in clean-rooms, labs, hospitals and areas that require specialized filtration due to chemicals and other hazardous material. These air cleaners can be purchased from retailers like Achoo Allergy, Allergy Store, National Allergy Supply, Allergy Buyers Club and in some cases at your better local vacuum cleaner stores. I do not know of any big box stores that carry these brands air cleaners. Prices range from $499 to $1,499. Made in the U.S., Canada and Switzerland There are also manufactures that make some nice air cleaners that incorporate several different technologies into their units. An example of this is BlueAir and Healthway. They are good units with one of the drawbacks being their cleaning process creates small amounts of ozone which can irritate some allergy and asthma suffers. That was one of the issuses with Sharper Image's air purifiers. Bottom line is figure out what you want the air cleaner to clean, dust, animal dander, dust mites, save some money and get a general purpose air cleaner. If chemicals, odors and VOCs are the problem, look at units designed for chemicals. Somebody smokes then aan air cleaner for tobacco smoke is what you need. Now figure out how big of an area you are dealing with, then do your research. Just type in "hepa air cleaner" into Google and you will see thousands of sites selling air cleaners. Stick with proven brands from companies that have been around. Nothing worse that buying a filter and not being able to get replacement filters. We have highlighted just few, these companies have been around for a good while, make quality filters and specialize in helping people with allergies, asthma and MCS. If you visit their sites you will see what I mean. Also, please remember buying a HEPA air cleaner that is too small to do the job is really a waste of money. This site has been developed to give you information on various HEPA air cleaners to help you decide which one is best for you. We will continue to research and evaluate air cleaner models. Please note that we do not discuss filters that claim to be "HEPA-type", "HEPA-like", or "99% HEPA" because the filtration is not HEPA and therefore should be avoided when looking for a true HEPA air cleaner. New Feature....Price Comparisons by Manufacture
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