I'm sure we all remember the ads for the original Ionic Breeze air purifier. They could be found not only on TV, but also at Radio Shack and, if you could find one, retail stores owned by The Sharper Image. Then, poof, they disappeared, and so did The Sharper Image themselves. If you do some Googling, you'll find that people in general feel that The Sharper Image made lots of false claims about the their product. However, looking at reviews made by people who actually purchased the product, you'll hear all sorts of good stuff. So, let's compare the claims made by the ranting masses and media to what actually happened with the Ionic Breeze purifier.
Ionic Breeze Air Purifiers Do Not Clean The Air As Well As HEPA Purifiers
True, the first ionic purifier was not as effective as a True HEPA purifier, but no one ever said it was. In fact, The Sharper Image never made direct comparisons with HEPA purifiers except in terms of maintenance. Consumer Reports says that the Ionic Breeze silent air purifier only cleaned 30% of the pollution that passed through the machine. Consider that all of the air in the room will pass through the machine multiple times. If you clean 30% of something multiple times, you eventually end up close to, though not quite 100%. So, basically, an ionic purifier is slower than a HEPA machine at the same job. It's also cheaper to buy, run, and maintain, so it's a trade-off. Also consider that these comparisons were made against True HEPA air purifiers, not HEPA-type machines. HEPA-type air purifiers don't have any particular standard to adhere to, and True HEPA machines are extremely expensive.
It's Been Said That The Ionic Breeze Pollutes The Air
This comes from the idea that ionic air purifiers produce a dangerous amount of ozone when doing their job. This simply is not true. The confusion comes from ozone generators, which work in a fashion somewhat similar to ionic purifiers, but produce far more ozone. In fact, Consumer Reports even said that the Ionic Breeze purifier produces under 50ppb of ozone, which meets HEPA guidelines. For what it's worth, the original Ionic Breeze passed every HEPA guideline, except for efficiency.
The Sharper Image Filed For Bankruptcy Because Ionic Breeze Purifiers Sucked
Although it wasn't sales figures that caused it directly, The Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy in 2008. As their once great, if finicky reputation had totally been trashed, and they were publicly traded, the prices of their stocks dropped to nothing almost overnight. True, the company had lots of debt, but they still claimed to have better than million equity, without including cash on hand. This didn't convince their investors, though.
How Are Newer Ionic Air Purifiers Different?
As the technology is quite simple and effective, there really isn't much room for improvement, even in the newest ionic purifiers. The more fans you add, the faster and better it cleans the air, but even without fans, ionic breeze air purifiers eventually do the job. And although you may have a hard time finding the original Ionic Breeze, there are newer versions with The Sharper Image name on them (they got bought and resurrected), and also the Ionic Pro air purifier which is pretty similar to the original.
