Affordable ultraviolet air purification for small spaces.
I used to get these from Lowes until they stopped carrying them in store.  Luckily, you can get them direct from the manufacturer through Amazon now.  They are perfect for small spaces such as apartments, offices, classrooms etc.  My wife uses one in her grade school classroom and we have two at home in our two bedroom apartment.  They take up zero floor space so that makes them better than most air purifiers right there.  You do want to avoid putting anything directly in front of it though, as you want good air flow going to it.  You can swivel the plug-in so that it can be plugged in upright as shown in the pictures or upside down.  It works equally well in either position and its handy for when there is something above the plug-in preventing you from plugging it in right side up. Also, if you have plug-ins that are getting worn out and heavier things won't stay plugged into them, I've found that plugging it in upside down helps it say plugged in better.<br /><br />It does make a bit of noise due to the impeller fan inside the unit. This noise is very quiet when you first get it, but gets louder and more high pitched when the unit is about to quit working.  But, usually, you can make it work again by buying just the inside bulb from the manufacturer's website and replacing that part.  You can tell when it is about to go out also by the light on the front. It is usually blue but sometimes turns orange when it needs a new bulb.  The bulbs last for 12 months to two years, sometimes even three depending on how much you keep it plugged in and on how dirty your air is.  The unit uses about 6 watts per hour so it's pretty energy efficient.<br /><br />It seems to really help, especially with airborne mold.  I've had farmers lung or lung infections before I started using air purifiers like this so I tend to be rather sensitive to mold.  Now that I'm using these, I've noticed that I have far less trouble with mold in my lungs.  It also helps get rid of that musty smell that some places have (which is due to mold).  My wife's classroom used to smell musty and she and the kids would have the sniffles often, even when they didn't have the flu but not anymore now that she's got one of these in her room.<br /><br />As for odor reduction, I can't say that it really does a lot.  It kind of depends on how strong the odor is and whether the thing that is producing the odor is still present after a while.  If something makes a strong odor but is then removed, it does seem to make the smell go away sooner.  If the item that is making the odor stays in the room, these things can't keep up with it.  It doesn't release any smells of its own, so it won't mask the bad odor with anything like an air freshener does.  If you do use air fresheners though, I recommend keeping the air freshener and this Germ Guardian as far apart as you can because I'd imagine that making the Germ Guardian try to clean the particles of air freshener chemical out of the air will wear the Germ Guardian out faster.<br /><br />The best part is that it uses blue light technology to kill mold and germs with ultraviolet light rather than ozone production.  Air purifiers that use ozone production actually wind up contributing to indoor air pollution and can make you just as sick as the stuff you are trying to clean out of the air.  I've tried ozone producing air purifiers in the past, and they gave me terrible headaches.  I don't have that problem with the Germ Guardian.<br /><br />If you notice in a lot of restaurants and hospitals, this UV light technology is used there as well.  With the Germ Guardian, the fan draws air towards the bottom of the unit, flows it past the UV light and back out the top of the unit. Though it makes the unit make a little noise, it's better than the passive UV filters since it processes the air in the room more efficiently and takes less time to clean the air column in the room.  If you use it in conjunction with a fan (either on the ceiling or floor) it can work even faster, especially if it is a floor fan and you can blow the room's air towards the unit.  This is especially helpful in rooms that are approaching the upper limit of the unit's capacity which I think is something like 50 - 70 square feet.
Rating: 5 stars