Friedrich C90A Electrostatic Air Cleaner - Updated Efficiency Testing Results

Friedrich air cleaners review from testing

by Mercia Tapping, President, AllergyBuyersClub.com

I do not happen to be the biggest fan of this electrostatic air cleaner although some people rave about it. Why am I not thrilled about it? The exterior design is as old as the hills and looks like a giant Kitty litter box and it has no castors. It does discharge some "safe levels" of ozone. Be clear, I personally do not like any additional ozone around my environment if I can help it, even "safe levels". Some people, although I am not one of them, get headaches around even low levels of ozone. With these caveats in mind, I try to be fair. The Friedrich electrostatic air cleaner requires no replacement filters, it is very quiet indeed (although not silent since it does have a fan, a plus in my mind) and it wins hands down by a huge factor in efficiency over a very famous air cleaner which has a very sleek design and uses the same technology, and where the ozone smell is very noticeable.

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A well-known consumer testing publication always reports favorably on the Friedrich and the machine has a big fan club. Some people LOVE them. David, our resident tester completed some testing recently and was very pleasantly surprised at the results.

The Friedrich air cleaner efficiency ratings, (ratio of dirty to clean air coming out of the machine) for particulate removal in our testing of the unit were as follows when the plates had been just cleaned:

Air Cleaner Low Speed: 95.56%
Air Cleaner Medium Speed: 85.68%
Air Cleaner High Speed: 68.27%

Truth is that is pretty darn good. Not as good as say an IQair or Clarifier air cleaner which clock in between 92 and 100% at high speed, but certainly respectable. In other words, when the electrostatic plate inside the air cleaner is squeaky clean, it does a good job. Just remember though, the Friedrich's efficiency, as with all air cleaners of this type, degrades quite quickly with time.

However, for sheer low cost of upkeep, a quiet air cleaner, and if you are willing to wash the plates religiously to keep the efficiency level high, then the Friedrich is a good, if not plain-looking choice.

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First Published: early November 2002
Updated: April 2007

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