Sharper Image Ionic Breeze and Oreck XL Air Purifier Tests Results

Due to recent controversy surrounding these two air purifiers, we decided to investigate. Following are results from several tests to verify information about the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Professional and the Oreck XL air cleaners.

Comparing Our Tests

Consumer Reports conducted a controlled testing of home air cleaners in a sealed test room with precisely measured amounts of dust and smoke injected into the chamber. Air purifiers are then evaluated on how well they remove dust and smoke particles from the air at set time intervals running at both high and low speeds.

For testing from CleanAirAdvice.com we tested home air purifiers in a home environment, with closed doors and windows and ventilation turned off, but with other variables present, like natural air currents and objects in the room. We believe that this type of testing better simulates normal use. The air cleaners were measured for particle removal within 10 feet of the air purifier and in the center of a 320-square-foot room. Each air cleaner was tested on high speed.

Clean Air Advice measured the air quality prior to running the test, then again 5 minutes after 2 hours of operation. The BlueAir 501 purifier captured the most particles in its collection filters in a single pass—that means that the air coming out of the BlueAir was cleaner than with any other air purifier.

Consumer Reports uses a different approach, measuring particles in the test chamber before and after each air purifier is turned on for the same amount of time. Home air cleaners are tested on both high and low speeds. Because Consumer Reports measures total allergens in the chamber's air, the advantage is given to air purifiers that best reduce allergens in the entire room after a given time. This testing technique can penalize some air purifiers that don't process as much air on low speed as on high speed, like the BlueAir 501.

Despite the differences in testing techniques and particle measurements, both are valid methods of measuring the effectiveness of air purifiers.

Ionic Breeze and Oreck XL Test Results

Although testing varies, and not all air purifiers are tested by each organization, Consumer Reports and CleanAirAdvice.com agree about two models—the Ionic Breeze made by The Sharper Image and the Oreck XL.

Consumer Reports gave the Ionic Breeze a rating of "Poor". Consumer Reports stated that the Ionic Breeze removed very few particles from the air. The Sharper Image complained about the testing method used by Consumer Reports, so the organization tested the Ionic Breeze a second time (after the testing method was reviewed and validated by an independent expert) and got the same result. In total Consumer Reports tested the Ionic Breeze four times, the most recent October 2005 report. All of the Ionic Breeze air purifiers have consistently achieved the same poor results according to Consumer Reports.

At CleanAirAdvice.com, we also give the Ionic Breeze a rating of "poor." The Ionic Breeze was the worst performing unit we tested, in that it only removed 31% of the particles returning from unit and 16% in the 15' x 15' room.

Like the Ionic Breeze, the Oreck XL also did a poor job removing pollutants from the air. Tests showed the Oreck XL air cleaner to only remove 34% of airborne particles in the 15' x 15' room, and 46% returning from the unit.

On a very closely related side note, both the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze and the Oreck XL air purifiers are ionizing air cleaners. Ionizing air cleaners can produce ozone which can be extremely harmful to your health. One study revealed that running the air purifier at the top setting produced an ozone presence in the room that was the same as a stage one smog alert which means that people are advised to avoid the outdoors. Even a medium setting on the purifier produced levels of ozone above the California state standard. Of bigger concern is that ionizing (only) air purifiers are particularly targeted at people with asthma and other respiratory problems, but the ozone generated can make symptoms worse by damaging cell linings in nasal passages and lungs. High ozone levels can cause symptoms such as pain when breathing deeply, coughing and chest tightness. These purifiers' claims to remove bacteria, mold and chemical contaminants and thus may benefit asthmatics are misleading.

Summary

The Sharper Image Professional Ionic Breeze and Oreck XL could be harmful to your health and may do little to improve air quality. If you are using an ionizing air cleaner, make sure that it is more than 10 feet from your bed at night. There are many HEPA air purifiers that do a fine job and move considerably more air—thus cleaning a much larger area. There are some combination HEPA and ionizing air cleaners that also do an excellent job and do not rely heavily enough on ionizing particulate air matter to be detrimental to your health. Consider one of the following models on our list of the top 5 performing air cleaners:

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