I am looking for product-specific recommendations for a whole-house
air filter or cleaner. My Grandson suffers with breathing problems and
we would like to ensure his environment is as clean as is reasonable
to do. House size is approximately 2000 square feet and is Cumming,
GA.

Hello Samenannie,

The best suited air cleaner for your grandson is a HEPA filter.
According to the American Lung Association (http://www.lungusa.org/),
the high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter is the most
efficient filter for removing micron-sized particles in the air that
can be breathed deeply into the lungs. You have to understand that
2000 square feet is far too big for a HEPA filter to clean
efficiently. HEPA filters are more efficient for rooms of several
hundred square feet but are portable enough to be transferred to any
room that your grandson will occupy. In order to choose the unit that
suits his needs, you have to measure the space's square footage where
the unit will be placed. To measure the space's square footage, you
will need to multiply the room's length times the width. Below is an
example:

Length of the room: 10 ft.
Width of the room: 10 ft.
10 x 10 = 100 Square feet
This means that you have to get a unit with that can clean a maximum
area of 100 square feet or higher.

It would be wise to visit the American Lung Association website before
actually buying an air cleaner in order to know more.

American Lung Association Fact Sheet 
http://www.lungusa.org/air/aircleaners_factsheet.html

Residential Air Cleaning Devices: Types, Effectiveness and Health
Impact
http://www.lungusa.org/pub/cleaners/air_clean_toc.html


Honeywell Inc. is a known brand in air filtration technology that is
working together with the American Lung Association.
The American Lung Association and Honeywell: Working Together to
Promote Clean Indoor Air
http://www.lungusa.org/air/air_partner1.html

To know more about Honeywell air cleaners visit:
Honeywell Enviracaire Air Cleaners
This page offers more information for consumers about the product, and
help on choosing and buying the right product. You can also contact
Honeywell through this page.
http://content.honeywell.com/yourhome/eiac-air_cleaners/air_cleaner.asp

Other Honeywell products
Home Environment Division
http://www.honeywellconsumerproducts.com/HCP_Store/


Other air cleaner brands:

Aprilaire
http://www.aprilaire.com/default.asp

Bemis Air Purifier
http://www.schills-humidifier.com/bemis_air_purifiers.htm

Bioaire
http://www.bionaire.com/

Byant Air Cleaners
http://www.bryant.com/products/html/aclean_idx.asp

GENERALAire
http://www.generalfilters.com/new/air_cleaners.htm

Holmes
http://www.holmesproducts.com/

Space-Gard
http://www.hannabery.com/prod_month.shtml

Trion Air Purification Systems
http://www.trioninc.com/


You will also need to change the filter of your air cleaner. If you
can't get one from the manufacturer, here's the one-stop-shop for
quality air filters:
FiltersUSA.com
http://www.filtersusa.com/results.cfm?categoryid=1


Search strategy:
Personal knowledge plus brand name searches based from FiltersUSA.com.

I hope this helps you. Should you have any comments/questions before
rating this, please feel free to post your clarification and I'll
attend to you as soon as possible. Thanks for asking

Feilong

---

Request for Answer Clarification by samenannie-ga on 04 Dec 2002 13:23 PST

I understand HEPA filters are great, however, I am specifically
looking for a whole-house filtration unit. I am given to believe there
are units designed for this large an area and am looking for the best
unit for the size home involved. Can you look into this specific
point. If the unit cannot be HEPA then what is next best, again, for
the whole house? Thanks, I really appreciate your help.

---

Clarification of Answer by feilong-ga on 04 Dec 2002 20:53 PST

Dear Samenannie,

Thank you for your clarification. As I said earlier, 2000 square feet
is far too big for a single air cleaning unit to clean efficiently.
Here are the reasons why:

1) Your 2000 square feet house is comprised of many different sized
rooms. First, I'll assume this to be a single level home. Let's
imagine that you are using a single unit and this one is installed
right in the very middle of the house. Your grandson is inside one of
the rooms. For the unit to be effective, you would have to keep the
room occupied by the child open so that the unit can filter the air in
that room. However, this will be a bit inefficient because as you go
farther away from the unit, it's effectiveness becomes less.
Furthermore, the airflow from room to room varies according to the
size of the room, including the size of the doors, the number of open
windows, orientation of the entrance and exit points, etc.

2) This inefficiency becomes more evident if your home has a second
level and you are using a single unit. If the unit is installed on the
second floor, there is no way it can effectively clean the air from
the first level floor, and vice versa.

3) Lastly, assuming that the 2000 square feet house has no rooms at
all whatsoever but it has 2 levels, a single unit wouldn't be
effective in cleaning the other level simply because the air flow is
not the same. The unit is only more effective if your 2000 square feet
house has no rooms at all and it is has only one level.

If you really are looking for a whole house cleaner, then it must be a
system comprised of several units and not a single unit. I have
already specifically given you the best brand that is duly recognized
by the American Lung Association which I think is best suited for the
child. Perhaps you failed to notice it but the links regarding whole
house cleaners are already included in my answer and here is that
link:

http://content.honeywell.com/yourhome/eiac-air_cleaners/air_cleaner.asp

If you failed to click on the "whole house" that has an underline,
here is the exact page where it leads to:
http://content.honeywell.com/yourhome/eiac-air_cleaners/filter_sizing/wholehouse.htm

Here is another link to a whole-house cleaner.
"Honeywell's New Enviracaire Elite™ Whole-House Air Quality System"
http://content.honeywell.com/yourhome/eiac-air_cleaners/envir_elite.asp

Here's their link to help you choos the correct product:
http://content.honeywell.com/yourhome/eiac-air_cleaners/air_choose.htm

Here's their link to help you locate a dealer near you. Just click on
the "United States" map.
http://content.honeywell.com/yourhome/dealers/dealers.htm

If you want to contact Honeywell, click on the link below and follow
the screen instructions:
http://content.honeywell.com/yourhome/feedback.htm

You can also e-mail Honeywell at info@honeywell.com or call
1-800-345-6770, ext. 505.

If you want to learn more about their air filtration units, click on
the link below.
http://content.honeywell.com/yourhome/eiac-air_cleaners/mold3.htm

These are the links that will help you get the best unit for your
needs. If you still can't find what you are looking for or you are not
satisfied with the answer, please inform me know so I can let another
researcher answer your question. Thanks for making your clarification.

Feilong

---

Clarification of Answer by feilong-ga on 05 Dec 2002 11:05 PST

Thank you very much for the five-star rating and tip Samenannie. In
case you're wondering, the reason why I answered your question and why
it seems that I'm so knowledgeable about the subject that I'm right on
target is because I was an advertising and technical supervisor for a
company that deals with air and water purification for almost three
years. I knew that a HEPA filter is the best for your requirement so I
directed you to the best brand in the market. May your family live in
good health, most especially to your grandson. Again thank you very
much.

Feilong

Solid research, fast response, right on target. Thanks very much.

The spin off benefit of using filters is the house will need less
dusting as there is less dust in the air, and if you use active
filters there will be less odours too!
regards lot-ga

Another option for a high end HEPA air purifier besides the
manufacturers listed would be the Austin Air Healthmate.  It combines
the HEPA filter with a Carbon filter.  You can find them at
www.airpurifiersandfilters.com

The best whole house air purifier, air purifiers, and air cleaner on
the market is defenitely from Second Wind Air Purifiers and can be
found at http://www.BreatheMoreEasily.com for less than most othr
machines.  They have patented their technology!