Anyone using/install an Air Scrubber Plus?

[zuren]

I have another post in this forum about radiant heating. The reason for that post is that the forced air heat in our home is problematic for my wife. She suffers from allergies and is fairly sensitive to smells, the winter months with forced air and closed windows is pretty brutal. We also had one of the worst cold/flu seasons in our home that we have ever had.

So we have a HVAC tech. out to do maintenance on the furnace and we mentioned some of these issues. He mentions something called an Air Scrubber and leaves us with a brochure:

http://airscrubberplus.com/

It make a lot of promises, so in our current world of false news and alternative facts, I start digging around on the internet trying to learn more about the company, the technology, reviews, etc. to help me arrive at a well informed decision. This thing is not inexpensive ($895 installed) so I want to make sure it is legit and not snake oil.

Reviews
All the "unbiased" reviews are by HVAC contractors.....who sell the unit. This is hardly unbiased. One of the reviews cites that Activtek Environmental is the manufacturer of the unit, but I think that is wrong.

Third party reviews/studies
I have not found a review by someone who does not also sell the unit. Supposedly there were studies conducted at Kansas State Univ. and Univ. of Cincinnati, but I cannot find these studies.

Similar products
The address for the Air Scrubber Plus is a PO Box somewhere in South Carolina. I looked into Activtek Enviro. and it claims to be headquartered in Dallas, TX with manufacturing in Bristol, VA, so this does not match up with a review that claimed the Air Scrubber is made by Activtek. On the Activetek website, they do not have an "Air Scrubber Plus"; they have the Induct 2000...that looks EXACTLY the same. Then I looked up the manufacturing location in VA and I get another name - Aerus (former Electrolux company). I look into Aerus and the claim they are headquartered in Dallas, TX, with manufacturing in Bristol, VA. Their line of air purifiers is "Beyond by Aerus"; the Sanctuary model looks EXACTLY the same as the Air Scrubber Plus and the Induct 2000.

So I'm trying to figure out what is going on here. I don't think that ActivTek or Air Scrubber makes anything. I think that Aerus makes the unit, then licenses it out to whoever is willing to buy in, and ActivTek may be the air purifier division of Aerus.

Does any of this make sense? Does this happen in the HVAC world - someone develops something then licenses it out? I'm feeling very "iffy" about it. It took me a lot of work to figure all of this out and the promises seem too good to be true, so I'm hoping someone has some experience:

http://airscrubberplus.com/

https://www.activtek.net/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerus
http://www.beyondbyaerus.com/Site/

Thanks!

 

[WorthFlorida]

I never heard of this. Any item that is designed for NASA is paid for with tax dollars. Therefore, unless it is national security, the patents are own by NASA (the US citizens) and then licensed out. What the space station needs is a better way to extend air quality and not necessarily filter pollen and dust. The part that kills mold spores and airborne viruses is the UV light, any UV light and there are many models sold that can be mounted inside the air handler. Google search them, some are very easy to install yourself.

When my son was 2 years old he developed a hacking cough all night long. The skin under his eyes was purple and the doctor stated that is was allergies. The doctor recommended an electronic air filter. I had one installed before the furnace on the return side of it. The best there is is made by Honeywell. https://yourhome.honeywell.com/en/products/air-cleaners/f300-electronic-air-cleaner. After the install and during the heating season you must run the fan 24/7 so the air is filtered and the electric bill hardly went up.

The duct work at the furnace must be reworked since this is is inline with the return. After the first week of use, I removed the metal filter grates and the two filter cells. They pull straight out of the unit. You place then in the bath tub and wash with hot water and a little detergent. Allow them to soak for about a half hour and lightly rub them with a small sponge so not to break the very thin wires. The filter is a high voltage grid with positive and negative charges. This acts like static electricity and the anything in the air is attracted to the metal plates. For the first month or I had to clean the filter every week and the water was as black as printers ink. My son mostly stopped the hack coughing and the dust in the house was almost none (on the furniture). Another big help is to add a humidifier. It doesn't have to be furnace mounted. Floor models that can handle the whole house can be bought.

Lastly, not sure if they're many in Michigan but there are companies that clean duct work. If your home is more than 10 years old and if any previous owner had pets, the duct work is dirty.

The four steps are electronic air cleaner, add a humidifier, UV light and duct cleaning.

When I worked at Sears we sold hundreds of table top electronic air cleaners for a single room use. Even in Florida many people had allergies. Whenone was returned i would look at it and it was just full of dust, animal hair, etc. So these had to go into the trash. But when HEPA filters began hitting the market many where sold in favor for there size and good marketing. Honeywell was also a seller. The electronic table tops that were made in China kinda disappeared.

If your wife needs some immediate relief...A few years ago my wife was having problems and at Walmart I purchased a Therapure Air cleaner. It 's a hepa filter, a carbon filter for odors and UV light in one package. It's about 30 inches high and only about 6 inches in diameter. It did work and for years I ran it 24/7 in the bedroom in low speed and hardly made any noise. About every six months I would clean the HEPA filter with compressed air and very fine dust would come out of it. After three years I ordered a replacement HEPA filter directly form Therapure. A side note on it is a ceiling fan in the bedroom would be on all night long and it was on for nearly 27 years owning the home. Immediately after I started to use the Therapure, the amount of dust that would collect on the fan blades went down considerably. My wife even noticed it.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Therapure-Air-Purifier-TPP230H/42613756#read-more

 

[Sponsor]

 

[james101]

Sorry for the late comment. I'm just new here in the forum and was browsing through some topics. Yes, we had an air scrubber in our home and works perfectly great. My kid had asthma, so my friend suggested that we should have it as an addition to our HVAC system. It really removes any air contaminants in your home. Here's a link for detailed information about air scrubbers. You might want to check them out.

 

[Fitter30]

Their owned by electrolux vacuum. Google their address.