Austin Air – Air Purifier Buying Guide
Owning a quality air purifier has never been more important for good health. The tight seals that make your home comfortable and energy efficient also make the indoor air more polluted. The air inside your home is five to ten times dirtier than the air outside, and Americans spend 90% of their lives indoors. An Austin air purifier with a HEPA filter can remove 99.97% of allergens and particles down to 0.3 microns.
Shopping for the right air purifier can be confusing and frustrating. Some air purifiers on the market today actually pollute the air with harmful levels of ozone, a powerful lung irritant that can be especially dangerous to asthma sufferers. Others can simply confuse you with the sheer number of options, sizes, and prices available. Comparing all of these options can be overwhelming. Austin has simplified your search by offering only two standard sizes, a few color options, and a few filter choices.
Austin Air air purifiers help allergy sufferers by removing allergens in a room specific environment. We strongly recommend starting in the bedroom since people tend to spend more time in this room than any other in their house. Particles that are lighter than air include pollen, mold spores, animal dander and dust. These allergens and more can effectively be filtered from the air in your home by using an Austin air purifier.
Factors to Consider When Buying an Austin Air Purifier
Coverage Area – Make sure the square footage listed for the air purifier is about the same or slightly greater than the square footage of the room where you intend to use it. For Austin models, the larger size is rated for 500 square feet and the junior is rated for 250 square feet. This is based on 6 Air Changes per Hour.
Air Changes per Hour (ACH) – This number, also known as the ACH rating, tells us how frequently the air purifier can exchange all the air in a room. For example, if the purifier has a ACH rating of 6 for a 20' x 20' room, then it is capable of exchanging all of the air in that room 6 times every hour. If you have allergies or asthma, you want an ACH rating of at least 4 and preferably 6 or 8.
Price – Austin air purifiers are moderately priced compared to some other air purifier brand names. The most expensive is the Austin Bedroom machine, but this air purifier offers 5 levels of filtration. This is a little more filtration than the other units.
Filter Replacements – There are two filters in the Austin air purifier. The first filter is a non-woven polyester pre-filter. This filter can be removed and cleaned, but it should probably be replaced every year. The main filter with the HEPA filter is rated to last 3-5 years depending on your environment.
Noise Level – On the highest setting, your Austin air purifier will sound like a window fan on a medium setting. The decibel level is not very high—65 decibels on high and 50 decibels on low setting. However, on the lowest setting, most people do not have any trouble sleeping with these in their bedroom. You probably need to run this on high when you are not in the room or when you are not at home.
Energy Usage – Like all appliances, different air purifiers use different amounts of energy for operation. Unlike most appliances, air purifiers should run continuously, so you'll want to consider your utility bill before buying an air purifier. On high setting, your Austin uses 115 watts. (For comparison sake, a typical lamp uses about 60 watts, while a typical computer uses about 365 watts).
Air Pollution – Some air purifiers pollute the air with ozone, a powerful lung irritant that is especially dangerous for asthmatics, children, and the elderly. Austin developed these air purifiers with your health and safety in mind. The metal frame does not produce or off gas any chemicals or odors and features a baked on enamel finish. The unit itself does not pollute the air and does not produce any ozone.
Extra Features – These are the bells and whistles. They can make your air purifier a lot easier to use. On the other hand, can also significantly increase the price of an air purifier that isn't really all that much better than the next one. Austin air purifiers do not have bells and whistles. These units are manually controlled. They are so simple to use that they are ready to start right out of the box! All you have to do is take it out, plug it in, and turn it on.
Warranty – An Austin air purifier comes with a 5-year warranty and a 5-year pro-rated warranty on the filter.