The GoVacuum Blog

The Olympic Games represent an international tradition where the spirit of competition and sport supersedes borders and promotes unity among nations. The 2008 Olympics have been a topic of intense discussion for citizens around the world because of the decision of the International Olympic Committee to host the games in Beijing. Many have questioned the Committee’s decision to host the games in China’s capital city due to a variety of factors, including concerns over human rights and the environment.

As a company who has a keen interest in air quality, the GoVacuum team was interested to hear that IQAir, our leading brand of air purifiers, was supporting the U.S. Olympic team by providing them with high quality air purifiers to be put in the athlete’s housing accommodations and training facilities. Considering the high level of pollution in Beijing (see graph below), the air purifiers will be a true gift for the American athletes. Having met the President of IQAir, Frank Hammes, personally, I am not at all surprised of his commitment and generosity towards improving the air quality of athletes at such an important event.

My only question, however, is how come, as an international company, IQAir didn’t make a broader effort to improve the air quality of the entire event by housing air purifiers in all the major stadiums and event grounds for the Olympics?

Air Pollution in Beijing Graph (Source: BBC News)

I’m posting the IQAir Press Release that GoVacuum received earlier today for your viewing pleasure.

“IQAir Press Release

IQAir North America, Inc. is a member of the Swiss-based IQAir Group which has over 45 years experience in the design and manufacturing of ultra-high efficiency air purification systems. IQAir offers clean air solutions for a wide range of applications, from commercial air cleaning systems for hospitals and other critical environments to products for homes, offices, and hotels. IQAir is the American Lung Association’s exclusive educational partner from the air purifier industry. IQAir products have earned the Best Buy recommendations of Consumers Digest, Consumers Guide, Reviewboard Magazine, Consumer Search, as well as the top recommendation of the prestigious German government product testing organization, Stiftung Warentest.”

With the incidence of asthma increasing a lot of people are worried about the quality of the air inside their home.

Air pollutants are everywhere now either drifting in from outside the home or coming from within. External pollutants range from natural pollens to man made pollutants such as vehicle fumes or pesticides. Internal pollutants include dust mites, fumes from heating or cooking and even low level fumes from chemicals used to preserve and protect new furniture and clothing.

Removing these pollutants from the home is sometimes difficult, particularly when there are weather extremes. Having a wide open home with doors and windows open can help; they can however aggravate problems if pollen is one of the allergens.

Buying an air filter may be one of the options to consider. These units are capable of removing almost all of the air pollutants in the home depending on the type of filter purchased. HEPA filters will remove as much as 99.97% of airborne pollutants at 0.3 microns or larger.

Air filters can sit in a corner and do their job quietly and efficiently with many capable of cleaning all the air in a room once every 10 minutes. This is generally sufficient to remove all airborne pollutants leaving the air clean and fresh for most people suffering from air borne allergens.

GoVacuum.com has a series of articles that go further in to the subject of Indoor Air Quality and Air Purifying Buying Guide. These articles should answer most of your questions. If you do have more questions then contact us for more information. We have a wide variety of air purifiers on sale so check out our range at GoVacuum.com.

With so many irritants in the air these days air purifiers are becoming more popular and with that popularity has a come a increase in their complexity and their ability to remove toxins.

Where should you place an Air Purifier?

Placement is not as important as ensuring you get the right size unit for the size of the room.

How often should you replace the air filter?

This will depend on the model you buy and how frequently you use it. Follow the manufacturers guide. As a general rule, change the pre-filter about every three months. HEPA filter every 3 to 5 years and the carbon filter every two years.

How hard is it to change filter?

Changing filters is a fairly easy task. Again, just check the instructions that come with your air purifier. It is generally a matter of pulling out the old filter and popping in a new one.

Where can I get air purifier filters?

Go back to the place you purchased the air purifier from. They should have the right filter for your unit. If you cannot find the right filter, talk to GoVacuum.com - our experts should be able to tell you which filter is right for your unit and where to purchase them from. You never know, we may well have them in stock.

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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In the latest issue of Wired Magazine, Scott Taves went on a search for the cleanest clean he could attain (he sounds as anal as me). He tested a slew of air cleaners and found his favorite to be the IQAir Healthpro Plus (also my favorite!). It’s not the prettiest or the fanciest, but damn if it doesn’t get the job done right. As he mentioned, it was used in hospitals in Hong Kong during the SARS outbreak, and effectively squashes any hypochondriac tendencies (at least while you’re sitting in the comfort of your own so-fresh-and-so-pure home). Yay. Now, if I could just squish my procrastination tendencies and get some damn work done.

We just got our shipment of Blueair AirPods in, and I’m way more excited than I should be about something as boring as an air purifier. They’re way cute and they’ve even managed to coax out a girly squeal or two. They make me want to decorate and clean at the same time. Anyway, they’re useful too (of course) — they make breathing in an otherwise stale and musty environment (I work in the warehouse, where all the vacuums are) more pleasant, and I bet they’ll make sleeping easier too. I’ll take it home and let you know. They’re kinda like smoothies — supposedly healthy and good for me, but fun! Also, I was happy to discover (as you may be) that it’s the filters themselves that are the decorated part — those waves and paisley-designs and stuff are what you replace every 4 months. So, if you get bored of the blue wave, you’re not married to it. Dump it and move on to another scheme. Maybe Blueair will come out with some new designs as well, to keep up with the times?

Cheesy photos below. Humans provided for scale.