With winter over and spring descending on the country, it's time to clean the home as well suffer from allergies, dust, and other pollutants from outside. Luckily, the folks at AirFree sent us their new Iris 3000 Air Purifier to help sanitize the air and destroy some of those particles that make you sick like pollens and dust mites. They sent it to us a few weeks ago and we've been testing it out since then, here's what we learned during our review.
When it comes to removing "stuff" from the air, there are two main ways to do it - filter the particles out, or "deactivate" them by destroying the bad stuff floating around. Unfortunately, most devices don't do both and it's a challenge to show the effectiveness of a purifier without having a filter to clean and point to all the bad stuff removed. However, the logic behind AirFree's Iris 3000 is sound and while only circumstantial, I feel like it improved the air quality in our home. This is based on things like fewer days waking up with crusty eyes, headaches, a general sense of exhaustion felt while in-doors.
Our San Diego loft is a very challenging environment and realistically we probably need a filter as well since we have the windows open and the air quality in San Diego is generally pretty dusty. However, it also has a lot of pollen and mold this time of year. That's why I was excited to see what the AirFree Iris 3000 offers. While this air purifier isn't going to be able to clean all of the air in our home, we placed it in the bedroom which has been closed off by curtains to make a more confined space.
Instead of filtering air particles, it "cooks" the air and destroys contaminants including: mold, dust mites, fungi, bacteria, viruses, pollens, pet dander, tobacco, airborne microorganism, and other organic allergens. It also reduces ozone. While it will not remove inorganic particles from the air the way a filter does, it also doesn't require you to change them, it is silent, and by destroying these allergens it is actually better than simply filtering. When your filter is full, the other devices won't continue to work as effectively. However, with the Iris 3000, it does more than just knock it out of the air ... it destroys them. This means that they are no longer able to bother your immune system. Where as when you clean a filter, some of those particles end up going back in the air.
The AirFree Iris 3000 works in rooms that are at least 330 cubic feet and must have access to circulating air. When placed properly in a room, it can purify an area of approximately 650 square feet.
As the air passes through the Iris 3000, the device heats the air to approximately 400ºF and that causes the organic particles to disintegrate into carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. This leaves a microscopic amount of ash in the unit, but not enough to require cleaning.
Aesthetically, I was impressed with the look of the Iris 3000. It has a chic black look that is relatively discrete when the nightlight is off. Unfortunately it is pretty susceptible to fingerprints - so if you have kids, make sure to put in in a place where they can't reach such as on top of a high shelf. It's also a challenge for taking photos of, so I apologize that I'm not able to show actual images from inside my loft.
Ultimately, if you are looking for a way to clean the air in your home, without making it smell like ozone from some other purifiers and without needing to clean or replace filters then this is a good solution to try.
You can learn more on AirFree's website, or buy the Iris 3000 air purifier from Amazon.
