IQAir College Graduate!
While at the annual Vacuum Dealer Trade Association (VDTA) last month, I was lucky enough to attend the IQAir College. This is an 8 hour intensive seminar on air cleaners and air purification in general. The course was limited to only authorized independent retailers of IQAir; a breath of fresh air for us independent dealers who are increasingly witnessing manufacturers making the transition to selling to Big Box stores. Even more impressive was the fact that the session was led by Frank Hammes, the President of IQAir , who was able to bring his expertise to the table and give each of us a glimpse of what is involved in making the world’s best air cleaners.
For me the session was extremely educational, even if it did leave me with the lingering fear that the air I breathe on a daily basis is so contaminated with harmful micro-particles that holding my breath indefinitely might be a better alternative. But seeing as how I would be limited in my ability to blog about Vacuums and Air Cleaners with the latter alternative, I’ve decided to simply buy an IQAir HealthPro Plus air cleaner instead.
I’m not the kind of person who is easily sold on a product simply because the company purports that their product performs x% better than their competitors. Mainly because I’ve taken some statistics classes before and the only thing that I learned was that all statistics can be manipulated to achieve whatever goal is desired. What impressed me about IQAir’s approach to comparisons was how direct they were about them. Over the course of the session, Frank set up various competitor’s air cleaners and directly compared them with the IQAir HealthPro Plus , their most popular product offering. In these comparisons Frank tested the two most important things when considering purchasing an air cleaner: airflow and particle emission.
Using an expensive laser particle scanner, Frank put all air cleaners up to the test, even his own. He also used a weird contraption that looked like an over-sized trash can that was placed over the air cleaners to measure the airflow output of the machine. This was an interesting exercise because the results from this test were significantly different from what the air cleaner product descriptions proclaimed as actual air flow. It was explained that this is because many air cleaner descriptions describe the airflow of the product BEFORE it hits the air filter. What a sham! Of course air flow will decrease after the air filter, that’s what its supposed to do!
Anyways, while the results varied across the board, one thing was consistent: IQAir seemed to be the best choice. Some machines would have higher air flow than the IQAir HealthPro Plus and some would reach 0% in particle emission but not one machine achieved both.
For those who are interested, you can watch a video demonstration of the IQAir HealthPro Plus check it out below:
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For those who are extremely serious about the air quality in their homes, IQAir unveiled to us a product that helps purify all the air that circulates throughout your entire house. The IQAir Perfect 16 whole-house air cleaning system attaches to your central heating and air condition unit and filters the air as it is circulated around your house. I found two things to be very impressive about this unit. First, the results of this unit can be seen within just an hour after installation (using a laser particle scanner). Second, the Perfect 16 machine is powerful enough to purify all the air your home approximately 125 times a day.
You can check out the video below to see the other features of the IQAir Perfect 16 machine , as featured on the TV show “Extreme Makeover-Home Edition.”
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