Air Filters

[nofearengineer]

I have seen numerous air filters on this forum, and everybody seems to like the way they work.
Examples:
Hamilton Beach (decent non-HEPA)
Honeywell True HEPA (like the name says, a true HEPA)
Rabbit Air (Cadillac of air filters)
Up until now, my home computer has been my defacto air filter.

I have often thought to myself, a PC must have insulted Gandalf in a former life. His dust was terrible. A bit ironic that he was scared witless by my feather duster. I’m pretty sure my family thought I dusted every 5 years or so. Powder-based birds are messy! (But I love them anyway.)
So one more thing to add to my project list before getting a new bird: an air filter (or two).
I don’t have any allergies to parrot dander, so I’m pretty sure a full-on HEPA filter isn’t necessary. But it would be awful nice not to have to dust the TV and back of the couch every day.
Maybe I’ll try out an inexpensive one like the Hamilton-Beach. Any comments, suggestions, or other air filters you’ve had good experiences with?

 

[Bobby34231]

Many folks buy filters for themselves, however they are also very benificial for the birds as well, while in the wild birds are not subjected to concentrated amounts of dust and dander, in the confines of the home is another story, I see many questions of people asking about their birds sneezing and wondering if their bird may be sick, many times its caused by the the fine paticles from the bird themselves, many have claimed that they got a hepa filter and the sneezing has all but stopped, it also makes clean up around the house alot easier :09:, many swear by the rabbits but they are expensive, many have said the went to the lesser expensive, non HEPA type and said they didn't work or died a few months after use, the only thing I suggest is to stay away from Ionizing type filters, thay can actually cause respiratory problems in humans and birds alike, I've also heard that they can cause blood not to clot, not good for us, but even worse for our fids with the limited amount of blood they posess, don't know if any of that helps, just a few observations

 

[Spiritbird]

At first I purchased a Hamilton and all it really did was make noise. The less expensive ones get you on filter replacement. They are sometimes difficult to find and you need to change filter fairly frequently. Now that I have a Rabbit I clean it once per month and only change filters once a year. The filter packet with 7 filters in it cost $75. My rabbit was $500 and well worth the expense. That being said if you want the less expensive ones there are lots around to be had.

 

[nofearengineer]

Spiritbird, are you saying that for $75, you get 7 years worth of filters? (one change per year)

If so, that doesn't sound as bad, especially if the filter is quiet.

 

[Chaos_1.0]

I have a Hunter QuietFlo and a Rabbit air. I bought the rabbit air right before I left for college and in the couple of days I had it, it did a great job. The problem I have with the Hunter is that the carbon filter is also the prefilter. So it fills up quickly and then you have to buy a new one for $25. They say that you should buy a new one every 3 months but I figure it should have been once a month. That adds up really, really fast. The Rabbit air was expensive but in the long run it will be cheaper and it has a much better filter set up. A washable prefilter is in the front. Then there is a medium filter, a custom filter, hepa filter, and last is the carbon filter. It also has the air particle sensing technology were if it gets dustier then the filter turns on higher.

That's my 2 cents.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I think mine are Hamilton Beach - but they are HEPA filters.

They've never seemed noisy to me. I've heard (or not) quieter fans, but they're only quieter as they are not moving as much air!

 

[Spiritbird]

Let me be more clear. You change the filters on a Rabbit once per year. There are a total of 7 filters in the machine doing the job. Each filter has a particular job and they do look different. When I set the machine up the only thing I had to do was to put in the filters which was not diffiecult at all.

 

[nofearengineer]

Ahhh, okay, SB. I see. A set of 7 filters, changed yearly. Still, $75 is a pittance for cutting down on the dust.

Is the rabbit one quiet? (I don't want the parrot's first "words" to be the sound of a jet engine. )

 

[Spiritbird]

Is the Rabbit quiet? It excells at being quiet. It can be set for different modes of operation. I use the one for pollen and also automatic. It has a sensor on the auto setting so it runs in silent mode when it is dark. The pollen mode is the loudest and it is not even loud. I would not have a noisy machine. That was part of the reason I ditched the old one. There are different models also. Of course the more you spend the more you get. If you log onto the web site they will send you a brochure.

 

[nofearengineer]

SB, I just looked at the 700, and wow.

AT $459, it is a bit expensive, but does seem like more of an investment than an expense. The features are just insane. I will probably try to find room in the budget for that one as the 780 would probably be overkill. My whole house is only 1400 sq. ft. The living room and adjoining kitchen are probably only about 600 sq. ft.

 

[Spiritbird]

The number of mine is 780 as best as I can tell. You will not be sorry.