Anyone have experience with air purifiers - basement

[pete6032]

So I'm currently living in the basement of my house and believe it or not it has that generic stale basement smell. (It's not humid in the basement at all, I've measured humidity around 20-30%). I can't open the windows because its too cold outside, and there is really no air moving around. Can I get an air purifier to make the air smell a little less stale? Any recommendations?

I should add the house has central air and the basement has been remodeled in the last few years so its very modern.

 

[IkebotXP]

Grab a nice hepa filter. I have had great luck with mine.

 

[BikeJunkie]

I should add the house has central air and the basement has been remodeled in the last few years so its very modern.

Just out of curiosity, does the basement not have return ducts? We finished our basement a couple years ago, and the idiot contractors didn't plan for HVAC at all, so I had to have them rip a bunch of crap up and put in air/return vents to avoid that "stale air" problem.

Anyway, to answer your question, yes it will help as long as you buy a purifier that's rated for the size of the room. Don't skimp. You need one powerful enough to move all of the air and cycle it. When I worked out of my basement at my last house, I got one that could cycle the entire room in 10 minutes, and this made a HUGE difference. After having it on for an hour, it was like there was never a problem. Fresh air, at last :wub:

One key thing to look for is to make sure it's easy to get replacement filters. They last a good time, but you'd be surprised how difficult they can be to find. In fact, if you can find replacements for the model you like, I'd recommend stocking up on them now so you're not stuck down the road. I seem to recall getting around 6 - 9 months out of my filters. Just a rough guess.

 

[echo4747]

I've tried several "cheap" ($79-$129) with only slight improvement . I broke down and got a Friedrich C90A (around $400 something at the time) and this unit does what your looking for. It has a washable prefilter and washable electrostatic filter and eventually the unit pays for itself by not having to constanly purhase filter elements. Once in a while you will hear the electrostatic filter zap a particle it draws in. sounds like a mosquito flying into a bug zapper

 

[Tiamat]

You need an adequate size HEPA purifier. Probably cost $500-1000 depending on options. Check out allergy and asthma forums to find out the best current models. Some purifiers are very noisy so beware...

 

[Nintendesert]

Just install a whole house fan upstairs, open a window and run it for a few minutes to get all that stale air out of there. $250 from Lowe's or Home Depot and it's also useful in the summer.

 

[OCGuy]

Olds is probably the resident authority on this subject.

 

[Imp]

I'd ventilate...

If you go the air purifier route, watch out for ozone producing devices. Read up on them if you're going to get a machine that uses it.

 

[mikeford]

Put some paper bags with cat litter (not used) around the room and change them from time to time, should clear up the smells.

 

[WinXP]

If you want a good one, I recommend these.
http://www.amaircare.com/Product-3000.shtml
They do not sell my model anymore I have a 4000 but still can buy the filters. You can smoke up the house from the kitchen an in 15 minutes you never even know someone has cooked. I have had mine for 10 years an if this one goes bad I will buy another. The 4000 was made to clean the air for doctors offices an it works. We use to smoke an you could not even tell someone had smoked in the house. Do not smoke anymore but friends do an 5 minutes after they leave you can't smell that they smoked here. It is that good a filter. It was a little costly but worth ever cent now. We have a cat in the house an there are no smells from the cat. My neighbor has cats an you can smell them in her house. This is a awesome filter.