I have always said that with microorganisms like dust mites or mold, you need to “fry ’em or freeze them.” Our vapor steam cleaners such as the Ladybug are wonderful at killing mold or dust mites embedded in materials such as your mattress or upholstery.
Now along comes AirFree, an air sterilizer which uses heat to kill dust mites, viruses and mold.
As with steam cleaning, the “kill factor” occurs at very high temperatures. With AirFree, the temperature at its ceramic core is about 200 degrees to 260F. Simply warming the microorganisms at lower temperatures only fosters their rapid growth. The kill temperature is essential. Unlike many new technologies submitted to us for review, AirFree comes with a veritable sack-load of impressive independent lab reports.
Since AirFree is fanless, it is silent and it also relies on natural air convection in a room to operate. Therefore the spore reduction, as in the case of mold does not happen overnight. But for the patient, spore reduction seems to be consistently achieved to about the 85% level after about 3 to 4 weeks in a 12’x12′ room. In case this kill rate does not ring your chimes, it should. I would remind you that one of the misconceptions about HEPA filters is they capture 99.97% of all particles WHICH HIT THE HEPA FILTER. This is not the same as the % reduction of the particle or spore count in the room. The beauty of the AirFree method is since you are KILLING mold spores, viruses and the like you are also discouraging regrowth of new colonies, so you are remediating not merely controlling.
What’s more, this impressive result is achieved without the use of ozone, which is used in so many ionizer combination machines. The “heat/fry them” principal is completely natural, no chemicals, no toxic side effects. It is ridiculously easy to maintain. No filters at all, just a gentle wipe down of the outside of the machine. One downside, while the machine is warranted for 12 months and if it breaks down you get a new one, the life expectancy of these machines is about 3 years. Finally, they will break down and you throw them away and buy a new one. Not a bad trade off for the usual annual cost of about $100 for replacing HEPA filters.
This technology is NOT effective for removal of pollen or other non microorganism particulates which are not “alive”. Its effectiveness is clear but I have to warn you that most people will need to buy multiple units of this air purifier/sterilizer to cover their required amount of space.
So, this is one of those few products which gets my “rave review”. You will love this product if you have sinus problems and wish to control the fungi in your environment (a known cause of sinus problems), if you are fighting mold anywhere in your home or office, want a germ or bacteria free environment, and are allergic to dust mites.
In one of our tests, we put out bread and cheese in our testing room. After 30 days it was stale and rock hard but no visible mold. We are continuing to run some interesting tests with it and will report results to you.
AirFree sterilizers coupled with dehumidifiers now make a formidable team in your fight against mold spores.