Indoor Air Filters For Winter— HEPA or Ionic Purifier?

[Mike N]

With winter approaching, sitting on the patio up north is less appealing for pipe smoking. I do have an indoor study and crack the exterior door and also leave the door to the wood burner open to draft pipe smoke.

But I’d like to add a plug in room air filter (under $200). According to one source, HEPA air purifiers are designed to circulate air in the room and remove contaminants by trapping them in filters. Unlike ionic purifiers, HEPA purifiers always use a fan – it's not possible for a product to work without one. Ionic air purifiers are usually fanless, therefore silent.

Any recommendations of name brands and type? Thanks in advance.

 

[fireground_piper]

I use a Bissell MyAir purifier in a room that roughly 100sq feet which is its max rating. It works ok. I run it always on low, then click it to high when I smoke a pipe. There is a noticeable difference with/without and I change the filter every 6 weeks on a schedule. I could probably go longer but a filter is only as efficient as it is clean.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

I am no expert but after investigation I went with a HEPA filter using a smoke prefilter. HEPA filters out small particles such as smoke.

Agree with @fireground_piper about changing filters often if being used.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

There’s a bunch of threads so you might do some searching as well. Under $200 will get you a smaller HEPA type - how well it works? It will be better than nothing, IMO. If your goal is to “process” the smoke right away it will do that to a point and be beneficial. If you want your room to be fresh as a daisy like nobody smokes in it, won’t happen.

 

[Green Hill Hermit]

With winter approaching, sitting on the patio up north is less appealing for pipe smoking. I do have an indoor study and crack the exterior door and also leave the door to the wood burner open to draft pipe smoke.

But I’d like to add a plug in room air filter (under $200). According to one source, HEPA air purifiers are designed to circulate air in the room and remove contaminants by trapping them in filters. Unlike ionic purifiers, HEPA purifiers always use a fan – it's not possible for a product to work without one. Ionic air purifiers are usually fanless, therefore silent.

Any recommendations of name brands and type? Thanks in advance.

I run a WINEX air purifier with charcoal screen, HEPA filter and ionic purifier and it takes care of my finished basement in no time and not even on the highest setting. Very quiet and the replacement filters are reasonable on Amazon. I smoke inside and within 15 minutes the air is neutral. Run with the addition of my Berger lampe you can't even tell someone is smoking. Hope this gives you a brand that has been field tested true!

 

[Green Hill Hermit]

For size reference, not tiny .

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Every time this topic comes up, I give my RabbitAir a rec.

I usually crack a window and have a fan on anyways, but since adding the RabbitAir it's definitely improved the overall air quality in the room during and post smoking.

I have the smaller model and it works well for my ~300 sq ft smoking room, they have a bigger, wall-mounted option too that I've always lusted after.

 

[MRW]

With winter approaching, sitting on the patio up north is less appealing for pipe smoking. I do have an indoor study and crack the exterior door and also leave the door to the wood burner open to draft pipe smoke.

But I’d like to add a plug in room air filter (under $200). According to one source, HEPA air purifiers are designed to circulate air in the room and remove contaminants by trapping them in filters. Unlike ionic purifiers, HEPA purifiers always use a fan – it's not possible for a product to work without one. Ionic air purifiers are usually fanless, therefore silent.

Any recommendations of name brands and type? Thanks in advance.

I know you stated you wanted something under $200, but as the saying goes, "You get what you pay for". I love my A3 unit. 6-Stage Hepa system. Might ask Santa for one?

 

[sunnysmokes]

There was a thread awhile ago where someone compared all the air purifiers and found the Airpura T700 to work the best. Not cheap, though

 

[sunnysmokes]

There was a thread awhile ago where someone compared all the air purifiers and found the Airpura T700 to work the best. Not cheap, though

Air Purifiers Tested :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion

There are lots of threads that pop up asking for air purifier and/or indoor smoking recommendations, some of which I lurked on before ordering units for my own home and smoking room/lounge. This led me down a path of buying multiple units, lots of buyers remorse or overblown expectations, and...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have three HEPA air purifiers in my metalsmithing studio, and they do not remove any odors. When I first go in there, it still smells like wonderful pipesmoke, acids, and wax, ha ha. I just hate when I have to replace filters for all three. They usually come to about $400 three times a year to replace them. And, my studio is 20' x 40'.

I just use them to remove particulates that I create cutting stones and casting. They don't do anything for smells.

 

[sardonicus87]

I don't know if ionic purifiers will do anything for smells either. I also know many ionic air purifies produce ozone, which is not good for you. I'm not saying ionic air purifiers are unsafe mind you, I don't know how much ozone they typically produce or what a safe level is.

But, I also don't know how effective they are. A quick Google search of "how do ionic air purifiers work" shows some troubling things pretty high up in the results (linked below).

One thing I keep reading is that while an ionic purifier will pull tobacco smoke out of the air, it will not remove odor. I'm not sure if your goal is just to remove the smoke or to also prevent odor.

And for what it's worth, you can get relatively inexpensive HEPA purifiers that are pretty quiet. We got one on Amazon pretty cheap that's really quiet made by Germguardian (we didn't get it for smoking inside though).

• https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-qual...rs act by charging,particles back to the unit.
• Dangers of Ionic Air Purifiers & Cleaners | AchooAllergy - https://www.achooallergy.com/blog/learning/ionic-air-cleaners/#:~:text=Not%20only%20do%20ionic%20air,other%20pollutants%20from%20the%20air.

 

[Mike N]

So, I ended up buying two of these Sharks at $180 each at the local WalMart. When I plugged one in and let it run for an hour in my study it read 99%. Then I lit up a pipe across the room and it almost immediately went to 73% blinking red. I put the pipe outside and within 10 minutes it read 91%. It runs quietly and has a massive filter. We will see if it makes a difference.

(tap on photo to enlarge)

 

[ak2000]

I run this one at the office and it does a really good job.

Turonic PH950 - Air Purifier And Humidifier Combo, Large Room Air Cleaner For Home - up to 4200 Sq Ft, 8-Stage Purification w/True Hepa 13 Filter, UV Light & Ionizer, Smart Auto Mode, Wi-Fi control Amazon.com - https://a.co/d/5VjTUnV

 

[bullet08]

I just don't smoke inside no matter what. Invest in outdoor furnace/campfire instead.

 

[Mike N]

I just don't smoke inside no matter what. Invest in outdoor furnace/campfire instead.

Not sure how this post contributes at all to the thread. But not surprised by it.

By the way, I do have a massive outdoor stone fireplace and all the outdoor furniture you would expect. That was not the issue or inquiry presented. Please try to be helpful and save the sarcasm for your own threads. Thanks.

 

[bullet08]

Not sure how this post contributes at all to the thread. But not surprised by it.

By the way, I do have a massive outdoor stone fireplace and all the outdoor furniture you would expect. That was not the issue or inquiry presented. Please try to be helpful and save the sarcasm for your own threads. Thanks.

Fully noted.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Not sure how this post contributes at all to the thread. But not surprised by it.

By the way, I do have a massive outdoor stone fireplace and all the outdoor furniture you would expect. That was not the issue or inquiry presented. Please try to be helpful and save the sarcasm for your own threads. Thanks.

LOL, lighten up - didn't seem sarcastic, just expressing his opinion, no reason to get fussy.

 

[bullet08]

LOL, lighten up - didn't seem sarcastic, just expressing his opinion, no reason to get fussy.

He hasn't seen my sarcasm yet. But if he doesn't want it, so be it. Less key strokes for me.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

He hasn't seen my sarcasm yet. But if he doesn't want it, so be it. Less key strokes for me.

Which means you have a "filter"! So on topic!