Allergy Consumer Review Issue #60

Do You Get What You Pay For?
GREAT VALUE PRODUCTS AND WHY SOME PRODUCTS COST MORE THAN OTHERS.

Air Purifiers: Looking for a bargain in Air Purifiers is a challenge. Nobody in their right mind wants to sacrifice quality in the name of price. As one woman put it to me “I want a 5- star air purifier for a 3-star price”. For a complete explanation of different air purifier technologies refer to a previous article on the subject “All you wanted to know about air purifiers but were afraid to ask.”

Here is what is happening with the air purifier market. Air purifiers have been taken up by the “Big Box” companies and low-cost ones are now manufactured in China. Many of them are pretty worthless in terms of performance and can be found oversold by all sorts of disreputable companies. A surprising exception is the Hamilton Beach series, which we tested and found to be very efficient, and reasonably quiet The only drawback as they only do small spaces and cannot cope with odors and gases in an effective manner. But apart from that, they are an excellent deal and are now on sale starting at $99.95.

Most of the very high-performance air purifiers are manufactured by European or by smaller specialty manufacturers. The quality is often superb but the cost of manufacturing is higher. The IQAir series is a case in point, offering superb efficiency and cleaning power second to none, but you pay for the privilege. If you need both allergen and odor and gas control, I often tell people that the Austin Air beginning at $299 is an honest workhorse even if it is completely devoid of all the whistles and bells I prefer to see on a air purifier, like easy changing filters and replacement alerts. Later in this newsletter we review the new Blueair 301, an AllergyBuyersClub.com exclusive, and a very cost effective choice for a quiet air cleaner in a small (12x12) bedroom at $349.95. The Electrolux air cleaner (shown right) at $499.95 is also quiet and offers a good amount of efficient cleaning and low cost maintenance.

Dehumidifiers: The industry dirty little secret about low-cost dehumidifiers is that they break down soon as you look at them. I sat down with one US manufacturer the other day and he was telling us which of their machines were still made in the USA as opposed to Asia and admitted that the Asian ones reduced manufacturing costs but did not improve quality. I found this news somewhat dispiriting. So far we have had the best luck with Comfort-aire dehumidifiers beginning at $319.95 and yes they come from China but the return rate for defects last year was incredibly low, although the low temp models are loud. Since they have changed factories this year, I am holding my breath that the new factory will be as reliable. So bargain pickings here are pretty slim until you pay for either an Ebac (starting at $674) or the Santa Fe dehumidifiers ($1149.95 and up). Both Ebac and Santa Fe offer dehumidifiers that last for years and years and do a superior job and are quieter to boot.

Humidifiers: When all is said and done, I am starting to get convinced that the cheapest is also the best. This would be the Hamilton Beach, a brand of humidifiers ($69.95 -shown right) we rarely see returned to us. On the other hand, some of the Hunter humidifiers this year seem to be much noisier than I ever remembered and I am wondering whether they have a new source in Asia that is not producing the same quality as before. This is only a hunch and certainly not confirmed by Hunter. So the inexpensive Hamilton Beach is certainly simple to maintain, and on “quiet mode” my husband is happy to have it in our bedroom and it hugely reduces his snoring.

Shower Filters: Our new Aquasana shower filters at $67.99 are the best deal here as we found the exact same shower filter under a different label on a competitor’s site for nearly 3 times the price. This shower head filter has a huge amount of filter media which makes it inelegant to look at but my husband who tests out shower filters in our house voted it a winner.

Steam Cleaners: Here the clear winner for value for money is the WhiteWing vapor steamer which offers a lot of functionality for the price of $449.95. Another way of putting it, is this steam cleaner suits most of the people most of the time. This is to say that most people use steam cleaners intermittently and for short burst type of tasks such as when my husband lovingly cleans his golf clubs or I get inspired to clean some neglected nook and cranny in my house. The “clean freaks” are better off with the more expensive models such as the Ladybug, which will clean for hours on end without interruption and to a cleaning maven’s high standards (prices start at $1049.95).

Vacuum Cleaners: This is a tough call as to which are the best values since one has to balance both functionality and durability, and the latter is often not visible until years later. Most people tell us that they are fed up with their vacuum cleaner breaking down every two years and needing to replace it. Overall, if I had to pick a brand that offers incredible durability and a feature packed hepa vacuum, I would opt for any of the SEBO vacuums as they are mid priced starting at $429. I would also buy one now before the inevitable price increase I smell on the horizon. For a true bargain, the Electrolux Harmony canister vacuum for homes with carpets at $298 is tough to beat. What’s more, we have sold it for a couple of years now and we never see them sent back here so I am reasonably confident about the quality. The new Electrolux Oxygen for bare floors at $399.99 is worth mentioning because it is the first Electrolux vacuum cleaners out at this kind of price range and our staff are really quite entranced with it. Will it hold up over time? Well, the jury is still out on that one. And if you are on the other end of the Spectrum and just want the “very best money can buy,” then you would opt for the Miele Velvet vacuum priced at $1249.

Bedding: Our selection of bedding is vast but here is where quality can catch up with you pretty fast. For instance, in pillows the Primaloft are inexpensive starting at $74.95 for a set of two and are soft when you first purchase them but be prepared to dump them after 18 months when they compress and turn lumpy. We have 3-month old and 18-month old Primaloft pillows on our bed and the difference between them is astonishing. On the other hand, the more expensive Hypodown pillows beginning at $104.95 are like the Energizer Bunny and keep going and going. The same caveats apply to the Primaloft comforters starting at $119.95 but you can prolong their lives by always using a duvet cover but they only have a fraction of the warmth of a down comforter. The best kept secret value for the money in comforters is the Euphoria wool comforters beginning at $325, which are amazingly light in weight while providing breathability and warmth, and the silk comforters, the Imperial Delight and Ming Dynasty, which are cloud light and completely luxurious for summer months (prices begin at $200 for these silk comforters).

I have been trying out bargain brands of high thread count sheets recently (a tough job but someone has to do it!) in an effort to find something really well priced to offer our customers. Here is what I have found. Inexpensive sheet sets skimp on sizing, so if you have a mattress pad, a deeper mattress or a pillow larger than child’s size, the sheets do not fit. The Diva 400 thread count 100% cotton sateen sheets are fairly priced (starting at $99.95) and are amply oversized to fit deep mattresses.

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