My Search for the Best Clean Air Purifier – Why I Selected Blueair

With so many clean air purifiers on the market, it’s hard to determine which one is the best for your home. Every manufacturer claims that their units are the best, that they use the best technology, or that their competitors’ units simply don’t work. With so many competing claims circulating, how can the consumer make a truly informed decision?

That’s the question I had a few months ago when I searched for the best clean air purifier for my home. Eventually I settled on Blueair because of their high ratings, innovative technology, advanced features, third-party accreditation, and their solid company record.

In an attempt to help other people make the most of their clean air purifier investment and achieve the best results, I wrote this article to explain how I arrived at my decision.

One thing I realized right away was that no single air purification technology was the best. Air purifiers can use a variety of technologies to purify indoor air, including High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, ionizing purifiers, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, just to name a few.

Since I had allergies, I knew HEPA air filters were highly recommended to remove pollen and other allergens from the air. In order to receive the HEPA designation, an air purifier must filter out 99.97 percent of all particles larger than 0.3 microns. One of the reasons I settled on a Blueair air purifier was because it actually went beyond the minimum HEPA requirements. Their air purifiers remove particles as small as 0.1 microns from the air, allowing them to filter out even more pet dander, pollen, mold, and dust.

However, Blue air units do not exclusively rely on HEPA filters to purify indoor air. Most of their units combine multiple filtration methods, including ionization, electrostatic, and carbon filters. The optional SmokeStop filter provides an extra level of protection against tobacco or other smoke and undesirable odors such as those from volatile organic compounds (from paint, plastics, etc.). Since each filtration method extracts air particles a bit differently, Blueair purifiers are equipped with some of the most comprehensive filtration systems on the market, making them a logical choice for allergy-sufferers.

From a design perspective, Blueair purifiers’ features put them several steps ahead of their competition. For instance, despite all the heavy-duty technology required to filter your air, Blueair units are actually quite unimposing, both on an sound and aesthetic level. These machines not only feature a sleek, Swedish design that blends easily into any room, they really are whisper silent. And since each unit is engineered to purify particular sized rooms, you can easily pick a unit that is the right size for your needs (no more/no less).

In terms of convenience, Blueair purifiers are equipped with multiple speed settings for added flexibility. Some units adjust manually while other models come with a handy remote control. Some models even make speed adjustments for you based on your air quality at any moment.

The two things that really sealed the deal for me were Blue air’s third party endorsements by AHAM, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (the CADR rating) and the Energy Star rating by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s hard to find reliable third-party endorsements for air purifiers.

CADR (clean air delivery rate) is a rating system developed to rate air purifiers on how successfully they remove indoor air pollutants. The Blueair units have consistently received the highest CADR ratings possible, thus making them some of the most effective air purifiers on the market.

Blueair purifiers also receive high marks regarding energy consumption. Their units are Energy Star approved, making them a solid choice for individuals look to cut down on their home energy usage.

It reassured me that Blue air offered a solid warranty on all their units. Every unit automatically has a 1-year warranty. But registering your purifier extends the warranty to 5 years. Registering for the automatic filter shipping program extends your 5-year warranty to a full lifetime warranty. Such a strong warranty program gave me piece of mind that if anything did go wrong with my unit, Blueair would fix/replace it at their own expense. This is the best warranty program I was able to find.

In the end, I selected Blueair air purifiers because of their superior filtration technology and the many features offered, their solid company reputation, the third party endorsements and the warranty. A plus was that they even look great. Anyone looking to make the most out of their clean air purifier investment would be well-advised to also keep the above considerations in mind.

What HEPA Means for Clean Air Purifiers?

If you’re looking for a new clean air purifier for your home, chances are you’ve come across the term HEPA. HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air and refers to an air filter that uses a mat of arranged fibres to filter out harmful air pollutants. The HEPA designation is applied very carefully to air filters. A filter must attain certain efficiency standards in order to receive the HEPA designation.This article explains how HEPA filters work and how to select clean air purifiers that use HEPA filtration methods.

How HEPA Filters Work

Although clean air purifiers use a variety of filtration methods, HEPA filters are considered some of the best. This is because HEPA air filters must filter out 99.97 percent of all particles larger than 0.3 microns. Some HEPA air filters are able to filter out even smaller particles, such as the  Blueair series of clean air purifiers, which are able remove particles as small as 0.1 microns from the air.

HEPA filters are composed of a mat of randomly arranged fibers (usually fiberglass) that trap airborne pollutants when they pass through. Some of the most common pollutants traped are pollen, dust, pet dander and mold, thus making these filters particularly helpful for allergy sufferers. However, as these particles can be harmful when breathed in on a regular basis, HEPA air filters are also used by health-conscious individuals who want to breathe cleaner air.

Selecting the Best HEPA Clean Air Purifiers

Although HEPA air filters are an effective way to purify indoor air, their air purification capacity is limited when used by themselves. For instance, some of the smallest air pollutants (such as viruses and bacteria) can frequently get through a HEPA air filter. In response to these concerns, companies such as Blue air developed air purifiers that use multiple-filtration technologies.

Many  Blue air units pass air through a 3-stage progressive filter to ensure they remove virtually every pollutant, including viruses and bacteria. Once air enters the unit, it passes through an ion chamber, which charges airborne particles and traps them in filters. Blue air’s optional SmokeStop Filters also provide an extra defence against odors from cigarette smoke or volatile organic compounds (for example, chemicals from paint and plastic, and chemically-produced fragrances).

Selecting air purifiers that use HEPA filters in addition to other filtration methods will ensure you get the most out of your clean air purifier investment and maximize the amount of clean air in your home.

Avoid Clean Air Purifiers that Produce Ozone!

Using a clean air purifier is an effective way to alleviate allergies and reduce the number of air pollutants in your home. Unfortunately, not all clean air purifiers are created equal, and if you’re not careful you may end up buying a unit that emits ozone—a harmful molecule linked to health complications and faster aging.

This article explains why ozone is harmful and how to select a clean air purifier that does not emit this damaging molecule. While some companies design air purifiers that do not emit ozone such as Blueair, many purifiers do, which is why it is important to research before you buy a new air purifier.

What is Ozone?

Ozone is a naturally occurring molecule that performs a positive role in the atmosphere by regulating the Earth’s temperature. However, closer to the ground, ozone can be found in emissions from cars, factories, and chemical plants and can have considerable health consequences when breathed in on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, many clean air purifiers on the market emit ozone as a part of the air purification process. You can smell the ozone associated with these purifiers. Because ozone is an inherently unstable molecule, with its extra oxygen atom (ozone is O₃) and extra electron, it can bond to pollutants in the air. Some manufacturers claim ozone can neutralize air pollutants and act as a type of air filter.

While this may be true to some extent, the fact that ozone can also bond to atoms in our body that we need makes it harmful, which can counteract any beneficial filtering properties these units may have.

Health Consequences Associated with Ozone Inhalation

Many studies have shown negative health consequences associated with long-term exposure to ozone. Since ozone is unstable, it bonds to organic material in your body thus causing considerable health complications.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a strict limit on ozone in the air and generated a list of some of the complications that can arise due to prolonged exposure to ozone, including:

·         coughing

·         sore throat

·         chest pain, heart attack

·         shortness of breath, asthma, pulmonary problems

·         inflammation of the lungs

·         faster aging

Ozone can also exacerbate underlying health conditions such as asthma and reduce the body’s ability to fight off respiratory infections. Furthermore, the EPA warns that lung damage from ozone inhalation can occur even if symptoms are not immediately apparent. As a result, it is important to reduce one’s exposure to ozone as much as possible.

In light of this information, you should  research carefully when buying an air purifier to ensure you are not buying one that emits ozone. It’s also advisable to choose an air purifier from a company that has received ratings from third-parties such as the EPA or the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

Finding a Safer Air Purifier

Blueair, for example, is a Swedish manufacturer of air purifiers that is conscious of the health implications of ozone inhalation, and does not create air purifiers that emit ozone. Blue air has received endorsements from the EPA (through its Energy Star program) and the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers so you can be assured of the validity of its claims.

All Blue air purifiers are ionizing air purifiers and none of them produce ozone. Not only do they contain ionizers, but the higher end models employ three filters—electrostatic, carbon and HEPA-grade filter technologies. When you decide to install Blueair’s optional SmokeStop filter in the Blue air units, you can filter out unwanted odors as well (something ionizing air purifiers are unable to do).

Blueair air purifiers are comprehensive air purification units which remove indoor air pollutants and allergens without emitting harmful ozone.

When selecting a new purifier for your home, it is important to consider both how well it filters the air and whether or not it emits ozone. To maximize your air quality, you would be well-advised to find a company like Blueair which has been reviewed by third-party rating agencies.

Pressure Cookers for Canning do Double Duty

Those of us determined to live a healthy, truly natural life find it rewarding to grow our own fruits and vegetables to ensure we can enjoy fresh, organic, non GMO food (not genetically modified), picked when it’s ripe when the vitamins and minerals are most plentiful. We are becoming sadly disillusioned with grocery store produce that is typically picked too early in anticipation of transport. The end result to the consumer not only is disappointing to the taste buds—it’s unhealthful!

But whether you grow your own produce, obtain it at a farmers’ market, co-op, or perhaps through a local CSA membership (community supported agriculture), it’s a great idea—and it’s quite easy—to buy extra and preserve the flavor and the nutritional value by using pressure cookers for canning! This way you can enjoy the perfectly ripe harvest long into the year and never waste produce or other foods if you’re not ready when they are!

Pressure cookers for canning are cost efficient and handy because they do double duty. You can use them to prepare healthier meals in literally a fifth of the time it takes using regular cookware, and you can use them to can fresh or prepared foods (including meats) to be consumed later. Fagor pressure cookers are a proven option and they are highly rated by users.

Canning may sound intimidating if you haven’t done it before, but don’t let that keep you from trying this valuable method of providing better food for you and your family. It’s truly simple, quick, and quite rewarding. Canned foods make great personal gifts, too!

To can food in a pressure cooker, simply ladle it into glass canning jars, place your new, two-piece canning lids on and heat the jars in your pressure cooker, in water, to a temperature that destroys harmful microorganisms (240^º F). Air is driven from the jars while they heat, and a vacuum seal forms as the jars cool. To ensure safe results, just carefully follow the instructions and time the heating process according to directions. When finished, the seals continue to keep air out of the jars, preserving your fresh, healthy food.

Fagor offers a dishwasher safe, 10-quart pressure cooker and canning set, or if you already have Fagor pressure cookers, you can get their separate, 8-piece canning kit which includes a 116-page, step-by-step canning cookbook with great recipes. Using Fagor pressure cookers, you can prepare up to four, one-quart jars at a time of your favorite recipes, such as vegetables, fruits, soups, chili, sauces, meats, baby food and more!

Other advantages of Fagor pressure cookers are that they are made out of high quality 18/10 gauge stainless steel, and they do not contain Teflon or other non-stick surfaces that add harmful non-biodegradable chemicals to your body, its organs and the environment. They provide a truly healthy, ultra fast way to cook your meals so you can eat healthy at home far more often! Vitamins and minerals in foods are preserved better with pressure cookers.

What Clean Air Purifiers Do for Your Health and Your Home

Most people think of air pollution as something that occurs outside. However, our homes often host millions of microscopic particles such as pollen, dust, mold, bacteria and viruses that negatively impact indoor air quality and contribute to respiratory illnesses.

We spend an average of 90% of our time indoors, so it’s smart to reduce our exposure to harmful indoor air pollutants.

Improve Your Indoor Air Quality with a Clean Air Purifier

One of the ways experts recommend to improve our indoor air quality is by using a clean air purifier.

This device takes in air from the environment, removes air pollutants, and emits air that is virtually pollutant-free. For instance, the Blueair 503 air purifier takes in air from its sides, filters it through an ion chamber, and then emits purified air through the top, exchanging the air in your room five times each hour.

By placing a clean air purifier in your home or workplace, you will reduce the number of pollutants you breathe on a regular basis. For someone suffering from allergies, this can be a real life-saver, as it means less sneezing, less congestion, and a more pleasant indoor experience. For others, it helps to maintain your health.

Maximize Your Health Benefits with a Clean Air Purifier

Not all air purifiers are created equal and it is important to recognize how some of the most highly recommended air purifiers work.Blueair is a company that stands out in providing innovative, top-quality clean air purifiers. Blueair purifiers are independently rated by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (through its Energy Star program) as the most efficient on the market in terms of reducing indoor air pollutants down to the smallest particles (0.1 micron) while using less energy in the process.

Blue air employs a 3-stage progressive filter that removes virtually all air pollutants, including allergens, mold spores, dust, pet dander, pollen, bacteria, and viruses. While many air purifiers deploy only one filtration method and are unable to filter out gases, Blueair units provide the option of using a SmokeStop carbon filter that absorbs odors, smoke and harmful gases in addition to the other particles. This is something to consider when selecting an air purifier for your home.

You should also be aware that a number of clean air purifiers emit ozone—an air pollutant linked to generating free radicals and leading to asthma attacks, respiratory illness and rapid aging. Blue air purifiers, on the other hand, actually reduce ozone, thus making them a safe choice for individuals wary about ozone issues.

If you’re looking to achieve the cleanest possible air in your home, you will want to ensure that whatever air purifier you use deploys more than one filtration method and that it does not emit harmful ozone pollutants.

Use Pressure Cookers for Canning and Preserving as Well as Cooking Foods!

If you’ve seen the information on the Internet that claims pressure cookers should not be used to can foods, you need to know that this information stems from a misinterpretation of the USDA’s well-respected Complete Guide to Home Canning. Having read the guide carefully myself, it’s easy to see how the misinterpretation occurred.

Don’t let this misunderstanding keep you from taking advantage of an efficient, lower cost way of preserving foods properly without purchasing a piece of equipment that can be used for only one purpose—canning. You can use pressure cookers for canning to prepare a wide variety of gourmet foods in addition to preserving foods. They are a favourite versatile kitchen helper. A good pressure cooker makes anyone a gourmet cook, allowing the preparation of entire nutritious meals in as little as 30 to 45 minutes.

To correct the misunderstanding, the USDA guide does not advise us to avoid pressure cookers for canning. Page 1-10 of the guide, under the heading Equipment and Methods Not Recommended, clearly states:

“Steam canners are not recommended because processing times for use with current models have not been adequately researched. Because steam canners do not heat foods in the same manner as boiling-water canners, their use with boiling-water process times may result in spoilage.”

We are advised not to use steam canners. Steam canning is not the same as canning with a pressure cooker. Steam canners cook with steam, and pressure cookers cook with pressure, as their names clearly imply. A quick Internet search reveals photos which clearly distinguish steam canners from pressure cookers.

You Need Pressure Cookers to Safely Can Low Acid Foods

To further clarify the misunderstanding, there are two types of food requiring two types of canning processes. The boiling water method is for high acid foods having no risk of botulism (botulism bacteria cannot live in an acid environment). The pressure cooking method is used for low acid foods that do carry the risk of botulism. Pressure cooking also destroys salmonella and staphylococcus.

The misinterpreted quote is referring to the boiling-water process used for canning high acid foods (with a pH of 4.6 or lower), not to the pressure method of canning. The USDA states that these foods,

“Include all fruits except figs; most tomatoes; fermented and pickled vegetables; relishes; and jams, jellies, and marmalades. Acid foods may be processed in boiling water.”

The acid in these foods is sufficient to prevent the growth of botulism bacteria, so they do not require pressure for processing. Again, the USDA is stating that steam canners are not recommended for preserving these high acid foods—boiling-water canners must be used.

The paragraph which has been misinterpreted as saying pressure cookers should not be used for canning, is not even referring to the method of canning that requires pressure cookers—to preserve lower acid foods (with a pH higher than 4.6). The USDA guide states:

“Vegetables, some tomatoes, figs, all meats, fish, seafoods, and some dairy foods are low acid. To control all risks of botulism, jars of these foods must be (1) heat processed in a pressure canner, or (2) acidified to a pH of 4.6 or lower before processing in boiling water.”

Reading this guide carefully yourself will help you understand that it is safe, and in fact is recommended to use pressure cookers for canning.

Pressure Cooker Specifications from the National Center for Home Food Preservation

As you can see, the website that steers us away from using pressure cookers for canning, is inaccurate in saying, “Even though some manufacturers advertise their brand of pressure cooker as acceptable for use as a pressure canner, canning experts don't agree.”

Pressure cookers specifically recommended for canning that come with an 8-piece canning set (including a canning and a pressure cooker recipe book), are Fagor pressure cookers. Fagor 10-quart pressure cookers hold up to four 1-quart jars on the rack provided for canning. This size meets the exact specifications set forth by the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), another respected authority on home canning.

Fagor pressure cookers are one of the three types of pressure canners specified by the USDA and the NCHFP. Fagor pressure cookers are weighted-gauge pressure canners capable of cooking at 10 or 15 PSI (pounds per square inch) as required for pressure canning.

Fagor, in business since 1954, the fifth largest appliance manufacturer in Europe, the leading appliance manufacturer in France and Spain, has more than 12,000 employees in 17 countries. Their products are available in 100 countries. Fagor America opened in 1992 and is known for re-introducing pressure cooking to the U.S. with their high quality stainless steel pressure cookers.

Fagor values the health of their customers and emphasizes specific requirements for canning with pressure cookers. All recipes in the canning recipe books supplied with the Fagor Pressure Cookers have been carefully tested for use with their 10-quart pressure cooker. Fagor cautions consumers to always follow the directions and timing in the pressure cooker recipe book provided with their canning set carefully, just like one would follow any of the canning charts supplied by the USDA, the NCHFP or the Ball Blue Book.

Fagor also specifies that no matter how you can your food, you should always carefully inspect the jars prior to consuming the food to be doubly safe. They recommend the Ball Blue Book of Preserving and the USDA’s Complete Guide to Home Canning for the most reliable information. They advise that recipe books written prior to 1989, the year the USDA updated their guidelines, should not be used.

When to Preserve Foods Using Pressure Cookers for Canning and When to Freeze

If you garden, you’re familiar with the mix of elation and dread that comes when the garden blooms into an enormous medley of ripe fruits and veggies. The elation comes from seeing the garden flourish. The dread comes when you realize you have no idea what to do with this huge surplus!

Don’t worry–canning and freezing are two tried and true methods to preserve food to enjoy your plentiful harvest year-round. The question becomes, ‘should I freeze or can?’ Here are some things to consider when deciding:

Safety First—While both methods are safe when performed properly, canning and freezing present different challenges to consider. Low-acidic foods like meats, dairy and certain vegetables can develop harmful bacteria when canned, making it important to follow canning directions to the T. Fortunately, using pressure cookers for canning, like Fagor pressure cookers with their tested recipes, eliminates this risk.

Freezing comes with safety considerations. First, food should always be kept at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Power outages or frequently opening a freezer door compromises the food. If these possibilities exist, using pressure cookers for canning may be a better alternative.

Frozen food has an expiration date that can be as short as 1 month to as long as 1 year, depending on the type of food. To be safe, you should be aware of these dates, mark them on the packages, and honor them.

All canned foods should be consumed within 12 months after canning in order to be safe, and just as with frozen foods, the date should be clearly marked and followed.

Practical Considerations—It’s wise to consider what is most practical for you, as well as the way you plan to use the food.  

Freezing can require little time initially, but remember, the food must be thawed when you need it. Food frozen without thought can be disappointing when you want a good meal. If you follow best practices when you freeze to ensure optimal flavor and texture, freezing can take as much time as canning. For instance, blanching vegetables in advance of freezing preserves their color, texture, taste and nutritional value by stopping them from forming enzymes. Blanching also cleans dirt and organisms and improves the color.

In terms of resources, make sure you have ample freezer space and factor in the electricity costs of keeping food frozen, especially if you need to purchase an extra freezer.  

Using pressure cookers for canning can be more labor intensive, but on the upside, the food is ready to eat when you are, and the flavor is often much better. Some love the canning process, so the preparation may not be a drawback.