Friedrich C-90B Electronic Air Purifier
by Friedrich
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Our Price: $398.00 Availability: Usually ships in 6-10 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Friedrich C-90B Electronic Air Purifier
Customer Review: Rated Highest by Consumer Reports!
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and I bought two of these 18 months ago. They both run 24/7 with the exception of several hours down-time to clean the ionizer and pre-filter (hose-off - they're too big to fit but one inoizer in the dishwasher). One sits in our bedroom, and the other on our perpetually wet and moldy enclosed patio, just outside the cat door.
It is incredible the amount of matter (blue-lint, cat hair, dun-colored mold spores) collected in the pre-filter, alone. Running as often as these do, the one on the patio needs to be cleaned every two-four weeks, while the bedroom fouls in eight days. When the prefilter fouls, it bulgestowards the ionizer and eventually pulls out of its framing.
This filter gives me, a chronic allergy sufferer, and oasis of fresh air in the room where it operates. I would rate its cleaning ability as absolutley the best I've had in 20 years of trying to find an adequate machine.
Against the Honeywells we had, this uses relatively little power. And, despite what the other reviewer stated about the carbon filter, ours still work after 18 months!
The drawbacks I've found are minor, but I'll provide them here just as an FYI.
Cleaning is not fun. Yes, one just has to pull out the prefilter and ionizer, hose them down, and let them dry. However, one MUST EXERCISE CAUTION. First, the "blades" of the ionizer are VERY SHARP, particularly on the more numerous side, and I've suffered a score of deep, paper-cut like wounds on the tip of a finger or two. Second, the ionizer is VERY FRAGILE (aluminum alloy?) and *VERY* expensive. In cleaning, I dropped one from the height of maybe 12 inches. It landed on a corner and through the ionizer out of alignment. It cost $160 to replace.
Noise is an issue. Even on low speed, the fan/airflow is audible, though regular (Hey! it's the fan that gets the circulation going and gave this the clear advantage over the Shaper Image machine that CR actively recommends against, even in the face of a (succesfully defeated) lawsuit by SI!). When a portable radiator heater we have comes on, the drain in power tends to make the fan hum. I can ingore it, but it bothers my wife, if she's awake. Honestly, by putting the radiator a safe distance ahead of the cleaner, it augments the heater by circulating the heated air. Minor rattles can occur, too, so I keep a beach towel on top of the (large, 2-cubic foot?) unit, and several weighty books. This seems to have done the trick for more than a year.
Overall, I still say this is the best one can get, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.
Customer Review: Remarkably cleaner air
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this pricey air purifier because it received the highest rating in a Consumer Reports field test. It may be expensive to purchase, but it's worth it. This model works by drawing air through a series of filters using a powerful 3-speed fan. A prefilter removes large particles/hairs, then an ionization chamber clumps the smaller particles, allowing them to be easily removed by the final stage carbon filter. This combination seems particularly effectively at removing dust, cat dander, pollen, and other odors. It also greatly reduces the odor of cigarette smoke that wafts into my apartment from a chain-smoking neighbor downstairs. The filter also proved effective at removing the odor of cat urine/feces near a litterbox.
Like all air purifiers, the big downside of using one is the energy cost and the cost of replacing the filters. Surprisingly, this unit users much less electricity than cheaper models and costs less to maintain since the filters are washable. Only the carbon filter needs to be changed every 3-6 months since it slowly loses its ability to absorb odor.
The ionization produced by the unit leaves a slight but noticable ozone smell when the unit is running. This may be irritating to some, but it actually smells pleasant to my wife and I since we know that the unit is working. The smell disappears in an hour or less after the unit's been turned off, even if it's been left on for a night.
I would highly recommend this air purifier. Since an air purifier needs to run almost constantly while one is home if "fresh" air is also coming in through an A/C or fan, it's important to pay more attention to the maintenance/electricity costs than the initial sticker shock.