Let's talk space heaters and air purifiers.

[Saartje]

On heaters, is there a good-quality, safe one? What do I need to look for? The nursery is the coolest room in our apartment, and DH and Ican neither one sleep at night if things are too warm, so we need DS's room to be a bit warmer than the rest of the house.

We're also concerned about the local air quality, or lack thereof. The asthma rate among children raised in this neighbourhood is frightening! So we'd really like an air purifier, but I have no idea what features I should check out, or what price I should expect to pay.

I'm sure I'll need to research elsewhere, but I know you folks can tell me what to start by looking for. :)

[ginalc]

Hi,

I don't know about a heater, but I can suggest an air filter. Our pediatric allerigist gave me an article written in Consumer Reports that rated all air filters. Furnace filters should be changed monthly according to the article and "3M Filtrete Ultra Allergen 1250 Reduction Filter" got super ratings for disposable filters.

The only other filters worthy of consideration (according to their studies) were ones that attach and are professionally installed directly to the home furnace unit. The Aprilaire 5000 got really good ratings.

Just today I called our heating/cooling company to schedule a "fall check-up" and asked about the Aprilaire unit. They informed me that they don't stock any other brand but they need to inspect the heater to see if it's possible to hook the unit up at all. They also said that if it will work, they can install it the same day. And they don't install one until they get the customer's verbal (???) agreement to clean the unit as recommended. They said that if not properly cleaned, the unit doesn't function or provide the desired results. Apparently they've had complaints in the past after people didn't understand the need to clean properly and were unhappy with the purchase.

We have a similar problem with the baby's room being much cooler than the other bedrooms. We keep our home between 60 and 65 degrees at night in the winter and at times it seems even cooler. Instead of a heater we bought a unit (kind of looks like a small fan) which sits directly over the register and pulls air out of the system and guides (forces) it into the room. We keep it running year round and it really helps with the temperature in the bedroom. On the coldest nights we keep the bedroom doors open as well.

Even though consumer reports rates these units poorly, I'll add that I have had a "room filter" running in my oldest DD's room since she was 4 (she's 14 now). It was made by Sear's and it has a filter that you remove and wash with soap and water. I generally clean the filter once a month and I'm AMAZED at the amount of fine dust that I wash away with each cleaning. She suffered from allergy-induced asthma before I bought the filter and used to cough all night long. Today I can't even remember the last time she needed an inhaler or medicine. Perhaps she's grown out of it, but I am convinced the room air filter did more for her than medicine ever did.

Something else to consider is a very good vaccuum with a HEPA filter. I found that by vaccuuming daily with the best vaccuum I could afford, the fine dust in our home decreased by volumes. Decreasing the # of knick-knacks and horizontal surfaces also reduces the amount of dust.

HTH,

gina, mom to 3