metomeya's Full Review: Oreck Super Air 7 Air Purifier
Ya so I've been watching those commercials about Oreck's air purifier. It seems pretty cool. It has the ionic breeze technology to clean the air with metal plates, and what really caught my eye was it produces negative ions. I had been doing lots of Internet searches about negative ions, and found them to be very interesting.
In a nutshell negative ions = cleaner air, and if small enough help keep your body healthy, while positive ions = bad for your body.
I live in a desert, and that is apparnelty the prime place for positive ion winds. I can't really do anything about that(unless I want to move to the coast where negative ions are abundant), but having negative electrons produced in my house seemed like an viable alternative.
Well I was searching the Internet for the best price. I saw that the TV one was the Oreck Super Air 8 Air Purifier, and I also saw the other review on this one the (Oreck Super Air 7 Air Purifier). I knew I probably wanted the 8. Then i came to QVC.com and saw something called the Oreck Deluxe Hypo-Allergenic Air Cleaner w/ Ionizer. I thought what the heck? I looked at Oreck's website for this product but didn't find it. It looked just like the Oreck air purifier, but a lot cheaper. So I bought it (not thinking that it might be the 7 version).
So I got it in the mail, yep it was the 7 version. Dam, but for less than half the price of the 8, who cares. Okay here is the big problem, the NOISE. While the noise isn't that much, it sounds like a fan going at medium speed, even at the lowest level. Its not that bad since I do have fans running in a few places in my house. However, I really doubt i'll be able to sleep with something like this. I seemed like they could have really just allowed for another lower speed, and that would have solved the noise all together. I wonder if thats what they did with the 8 version. After all using the ionic breeze technology it should be able to move the air somewhat on its own without any kind of fans.
If it wasn't for that I probably would have given it a five. The noise is just too there.
Okay besides the noise, I do seem to smell ozone being produced, even with the negative ion generator turned off. I can only smell it up close, and a foot or two away i can't seem to notice it at all. While there is arguement whether ozone is bad for you, or not, it is definitely not good for you.
EDIT: forgot to mention ozone does kill viruses and bacteria, however, it is bad for your body.
New finding about ozone: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03311/237605.stm
More Information: http://www.negativeiongenerators.com/ozone-good_or_bad.html
Oh ya there are really only three filters (I guess two since the negative ions aren't really one). The prefilter is really nothing but a plastic cover with holes. So you have your collection plates, and charcoal filter (pretty cool looking), and thats about it.
Since the machine does seem to produce ozone, this probably means the negative ions are too large to help your body. While any sized negative ion cleans the air by attaching to dirt particles and dragging them to the ground, smaller ones can be inhaled and supposedly attach to anything that has a positive charge (ex. free radicals). The only product I've seen that claims to produce negative ions small enough to inhale, is the Elanra. http://www.negativeions.com/ but that sucker is like 500 bucks and more. Charcoal is suppose to produce negative ions with the infrared it produces naturally by breaking down water in the air into small negatively charged ions. However for this to happen an ideal amount of humidity (45% to 55%) has to be in the air. One other thing that puts negative ions in the air and the easiest to use is plants. Ones with points like needles, or come to sharp ends work the best.
In conclusion, the machine is great except for the noise, and the ozone it produces. While the noise I can live with, if I start to smell the ozone, or find out on the internet that the ozone is filling my room before it breaks down into ordinary oxygen, its going to be returned to QVC.
Finally if you're interested in negative ions (I know it seems I'm writing about that and not the Oreck), go out, there are more negative ions outside than inside, even in desert climates.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 165.00 Battery Life: N/A Noise Level: Average
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