Ionic Breeze Quadra vs. SPACEGARD 2200

[fixandfly]

Hello to all:

With allergy season right around the corner. I have several customers the have a few Ionic Breeze Quadra’s in there homes. What is the general recommendation on a whole house setup IE. UV light vs.SPACEGARD 2200 vs.??? For allergies mole reduction etc.

Thanks

[kwdean]

Consumer's Reports gave the Ionic Breeze a thumbs down. They determined it did very little to clean the air.

[Milk man]

Ionic Breeze equals a EAC without the airflow of a blower.

I think Aire-Bear or Spaceguard is best.

[Special Ed]

What a con the Ionic Breeze is! I would go with the Spaceguard 2200.

[blacksheep]

GO WITH THE SPACE GUARD AND SPRAY WITH PAM ,THEN LEAVE THE FAN IN THE ON POSITION AND WATCH THE IAQ IMPROVE

[fixandfly]

Thanks for the feedback.

Jeff

[AllTemp]

Originally posted by fixandfly
Thanks for the feedback.

Jeff

Saw the same psot in residential forum.

Iconic Breese by Sharper Images http://www.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=ionic+breeze&Search=Searchis the Informercial equilivant of the IGIA http://store1.yimg.com/I/igiaonline_1835_82146

[tonys]

I wonder if Ionic Breeze can produce certified test data (CADR value) in accordance with AHAM standards?
...wouldn't count on it.

[teddy bear]

Icy on the Cake

Consumer Reports Criticizes Air Purifier

By PAUL ELIAS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Consumer Reports magazine is taking renewed aim at a popular air purifier made by The Sharper Image two months after it fended off a libel lawsuit filed by the machine's retailer.

The magazine reports in its latest issue hitting newsstands Tuesday that Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze Quadra Silent Air Purifier and four other similar machines fail to significantly clean the air - but also release potentially unhealthy levels of ozone.

The article is being published two months after San Francisco-based Sharper Image agreed to pay the magazine's publisher, Consumers Union, $525,000 in legal costs after a judge dismissed its libel suit. The failed lawsuit alleged that earlier magazine articles highly critical of the Ionic Breeze's ability to reduce airborne particles were false and malicious.

Company lawyer E. Robert Wallach said Sharper Image was evaluating how to respond to the article, which advised against buying the machines. More than 2 million of the $350 units have been sold.

``It is astonishing that Consumers Union would continue its misguided efforts to attack the judgment and experience of millions of Americans who are satisfied with the performance of the Ionic Breeze products,'' Wallach said in a statement.


In a statement of its own, Consumer Reports said the magazine's latest article is accurate and that the nonprofit organization had called on federal regulators to look at the advertising claims being made by sellers of the five air purifiers it examined.


``All of these 'not recommended' products did a poor job in our tests of removing dust, smoke and pollen from the air,'' the statement said. ``In addition, all five of these products failed in Consumer Reports' labs the standard industry test for ozone generation.''


Consumers Union is based in Yonkers, N.Y.

04/04/05 20:35

© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

[diddlywhoot]

use your google and search for merv 12 or merv 14 filters. if you can handle the pressure drops, go as high a merv as you can. fit a 4-6" pleated filter, larger the filter the lower the pressure loss.

pls bear in mind you can buy a merv 11 3m filter right in wal-mart. (that will not make the pro's happy)

check the pressure drop of the size you want. do not buy anything from folk that have 3 teir distribution.

mfg to distributor to the dealer to you. too many folk trying to share in your sweat.

lots of good filter mfg sell right off the net with quality products.

its all about the merv and pressure drop. easy to figure out.

post your type of airhandler and i will look up specs.

[i b cool]

I service an environmental room where they test products like the ionic breeze and uv lights, the temp humidity and air changes can be set to many different combinations to simulate real world situations, and yes the ionic breeze is a big money waste according to the research.

[dash]

Originally posted by diddlywhoot
use your google and search for merv 12 or merv 14 filters. if you can handle the pressure drops, go as high a merv as you can. fit a 4-6" pleated filter, larger the filter the lower the pressure loss.

pls bear in mind you can buy a merv 11 3m filter right in wal-mart. (that will not make the pro's happy)

check the pressure drop of the size you want. do not buy anything from folk that have 3 teir distribution.

mfg to distributor to the dealer to you. too many folk trying to share in your sweat.

lots of good filter mfg sell right off the net with quality products.

its all about the merv and pressure drop. easy to figure out.

post your type of airhandler and i will look up specs.

That 3M will "load up" very fast and you risk damage to the system if you aren't watching the pressure drop ,it increases rapidly.The PD of a clean 3M ,doesn't tell the whole story,there is value in using a Pro ,or in this case just getting advice,from someone who knows.IMHO

If you want to DIY ,that's okay, but get a better filter than 3M.



Diddley,

Can you tell for a Carrier,air handler,model number FA4B036,which filter it can handle,for pressure drop,say the highest marv it can handle.

[Edited by dash on 04-16-2005 at 02:42 PM]

[drk]

Why does everyone think merv is the answer! It is just a rule of thumb!!!

[i b cool]

whos merv?

[tonys]

Originally posted by drk
Why does everyone think merv is the answer! It is just a rule of thumb!!!

It's a Rating System based on actual capture efficiency measured in a lab, under various dirt-loading conditions.
...not merely a rule of thumb. There are tooooo many R-of-T in HVAC-IAQ.

[i b cool]

it was a joke.... a bad one at that

[midhvac]

The Filtrete Ultra Allergen was downgraded from MERV 12 to MERV 11 recently. I think the extra MERV was lost due to the very short lived electrostatic effect of the filter which contributes about 1 MERV.

A Spaceguard 2200 has a MERV 10 rating which is high enough to trap most allergens. It has a lower PD than the either of the Filtretes. It can last up to a year, which is quite a savings when compared to the number of Filtretes you'd go through in over that time. Most of them don't last a month during average usage. I saw one plug up in 5 days. Add that up at 18 bucks a pop over a year, not to mention the extra energy comsumption caused by the higher PD and the wear and tear on the equipment.

One of the biggest problems with 1" filters is that the existing filter setup is too small for even an unpleated filter. Then you stick in a Filtrete and you're *really* killing the airflow and the filter life.

Before you even dream of putting in a Filtrete, better check the size of the filter setup. 99 out of 100 systems I see out there won't tolerate the extra static.

Then there's the issue of what happens to the 11 MERV rating when you're running twice the velocity of air through it as it was tested at to be given the 11 MERV rating. Not to mention the integrity of the 1" frame at that velocity. What good's a high MERV filter if air can be blown around the frame? The Homo Depot True Blue pleated filters buckle like a drunk punched in the gut.

[t-rock]

General Rule: To clean the air in a room considering the air cleaning device only (not infiltration or exfiltration or ventilation), all of the air in the room has to be moved through the air filter

So, if an air cleaner is going to work well, it better be pushing air through at a decent rate.

Products without fans cannot work. Just the same, products with low-speed fans placed in large spaces will not get the job done either.

Dust will collect on the devices, just as it collects on any other piece of furniture, so when the advertisers pull out those filters and ionic pieces, it appears that some of these sub-par devices work well when they actually do nothing.

[dan sw fl]

Thumbs UP !

My Thumb works > 96% of the time

[breatheasier]

If I.A.Q. is a serious concern of yours, don't spend $300 for an air cleaner in every room of your home and have to remember to clean/change the filters every month like the kid's hamster cage. Just put a "PERMACLEAN SCT" system in your H.V.A.C. system and stop buying filters all together.
Simply go to PHASYC.COM and see for yourself. Good Luck and
thanx!

[drk]

UV ! Waste of Money!

[breatheasier]

MOST UV lights are a waste. That's because:

* They are warrented for 10 to 12 months (if at all)

* They only produce UVA or UVC

* They produce ozone

* They begin to lose efficiency from day one.

* They are about 10% effective in 50 degree airstream.

* They require heat to be effective, so they can explode
when condensation drips on their 200 degree glass.

"PERMACLEAN SCT" from Phasyc utilizes cold cathode bulbs technology with a 3 year bulb life. The bulbs are made with quartz crystal "hard glass" that produces UVA,B and C energy w/oproducing ozone.
They do not require heat to be effective, they burn at about 70 degrees, so the cold airstream is not a problem.
They are effective untill they burn out, like a regular light bulb. Cooler burning lamps mean no bulb bursting from condesation.
*Particles can elude filters, particles cannot elude light.

[tonys]

what about particles 6 inches away from the magic-light?

[breatheasier]

Sorry it took so long to get back to your question Tony.
I'm not sure what you are asking exactly, so I'll just
throw some stuff at you.
The following info. is strictly factual, no snake oil to buy!
*The "Perma-clean" UV/hydrooxide lamps may seem like magic, but they have been submitted for patent protection and the U.S. patent office doesn't usually give patent protection to "magic tricks".
*I won't get into the science of it, unless I need to, but the "Perma-clean" lamps are unusual in that they work in cold temps. and in high wind speeds(unlike the hot cathode lamps of old).
* they are made to produce UV energy in the range of 200-400 nanometers. Why not 100-200 nanometers? Because ozone is produced at about 180nm, and the "Perma-clean lamps are made with titanium-dioxide in the lamp glass to block
the production of ozone that is very corrosive to aluminum
coils and copper tubing.
I hope this info. has been helpful in answering your question. Please let me know if I can be of help with any others.







[Edited by breatheasier on 05-29-2005 at 08:51 AM]

[tonys]

does a patent review process have anything do to with filtration / odour reduction performance?
Do the paper pushers conducting a technical review look for anything more than the paper-trail supporting an invention (i.e. has it been done before? if so, how is the new invention unique or novel? etc. etc.)
does the U.S. patent office have IAQ specialists on the team?
I don't care about the science (or marketing literature), just two fundamental questions (this IS a HVAC application):

1) Has this product been rated under the ASHRAE 52.2 method (strict conformance to the protocol) ?
w/ test conditions - # of probes, air velocity, dust loading, hours of bulb use, etc.

2) What is the drop off in 'performance' (however you define it) as distance increases?


Magic, may be not, but some form of hocus-pocus, nevertheless.


[Edited by tonys on 05-30-2005 at 07:31 AM]

[tonys]

double post...sorry.


[Edited by tonys on 05-30-2005 at 07:30 AM]

[breatheasier]

Tony,
What's up? In regards to your questions,
ASHRAE: The "Permaclean" line's main purpose is to keep the two areas that produce 60% of a home's air contamination clean. The evap. coils and the filter face.
By replacing a typical filter with the permaclean "filter mesh" that has two "U" shaped UV lamps on the input side of it, you reduce the static pressure in water inches to .042 at 800cfm.
Since this system does not have a "filter", ASHRAE cannot test it.(Besides, even the BEST filters only claim to have a capture rate of .3 microns, and most indoor air contaminants are smaller than .3 microns).
PERFORMANCE:I know you don't care about the science, but it is hard to discuss the performance of the lamps without using some science, but I'll try. The Permaclean lamps are designed to be effective up to one meter. Beyond that, they don't do much. With the two high intensity lamps at the filter mesh, and one lamp inside the "A" coil(2 inside "M" coils) small particulates are instantly destroyed; the larger contaminants are captured on the filter mesh allowing for additional dwell time. Contaminamts on the filer mesh are quickly broken down, keeping the face of it clean.
Without refering to the science of how this all works, I will admit, it can sound a bit "hocuspocus"ish.

[tonys]

I am certainly not “passionate” about this subject, but while other HVAC products have clearly defined ratings systems and test metrics...filtration-folks tend to vary a great deal, even though a standardize method exists (with a known repeatability and variability among tests).

The reference specimen cross-section is 2ft x 2ft for an ASHRAE 52.2 test.
Can your module-of-lights fit into this section (or customized to do so) and be put through a test for fractional efficiency, under variable dust loading conditions?
If not, how else do you adhere to some standard ratings system that the common-guy can understand and compare?

(note on Pressure Drop – should be referenced to a face velocity; HVAC systems for residential applications run >> 800 cfm (up to 1,800 for large applications))

[genesis]

I have been watching this post for a while and I guess I will chime in. I looked at the permiclean site and they are useing a process called photocatalytic oxidation which has been around for about 30 years being studied by just about every University in the world. They will have a hard time patening a process. There are only about a dozen manufactors of light bulbs in North America. By putting a silcone coverage in the bulb this stops a reaction of the UVC burning the air creating Ozone Phillips has been doing this for years with there TUV line. The new standards that are coming out in IAG for filtration is If you are not useing at least a merv 10 filter you are not addressing air quality. Watch the Penn State web site their labs are the one that ASHRE take the most credence in. ASHRAE has a new paper out responding to the Syracuse University's paper testing 14 differant techonologies in air quality. Photocatalytic Oxidation shows the most promise and UV lights by them selfs even though it kills bacteria and mold they don't remove VOC's and this is what we are discovering that causes the Ill effects in the population. My PE here in the shop is doing a paper on Photo Catalytic Oxidation sometimes this summer for ASHRAE Here is a link to the paper he wrote for Engineering Systems http://www.esmagazine.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,2503,138637,00.html .
I have been building system for commercial use for about 5 years mainly for casinos,zooalogical,government and medical fields. We have been asked to enter the residential market by many people at the ASHRAE trade show this last year in Orlando and are in the process of doing so. My web site is http://www.Genesisair.com if you need some more info on this subject.

[breatheasier]

Tony, Genesis,
Thanks for your input on this subject. I'm not a professional HVAC man, but I have been doing some homework on UV.It is my understanding that UVC energy breaks down VOC's such as formadehydes, benzenes and CO which are hydrocarbons. I'm confused when you say UV light by itself does not "remove" VOC's. Please elaborate.
In reference to Permaclean's patent protection, I don't beleive they are trying to patent photochemistry; but their cold cathode quartz lamps.
Gotta run for now, but I will read your PE's paper.Thanks for the info.

[genesis]

Let me re phrase that last statement UVGI will only brake down said contaminates and VOCs when they are trapped on the coil. They need exposure time in the UVC band width to break them down . Now in the air stream the it takes several in series in the duct work every 12 inchs to reach the exposure times it takes to kill a given hydrocarbon but it doesn't remove it out of the air stream even though it is dead and some molds have a self rejuvinateing capability like a dandiline it just drys up and spreads its spores to grow again. That is why the field I am helping develop is so grand. With photo catalysis you can reduce the exposure time and you break down the carbon based element and turn it into something benificial. I helped with a casino a few months back in Upper New York this casino is a 1300 seat bingo palace and has 300 plus slots. The smoke was litterly dripping down the walls in there with 1 in 3 smokeing. With merv 12 filtration we removerd the smoke and with photo catalysis after 800 people leave you can't even tell people were smoking. We have fresh air on demand with CO2 sensors and it very rarely calls and maitains the building at around 800ppm with a full load.

[mark beiser]

.....

[mark beiser]

Is this "Permaclean" filter something that is to be installed in conjunction with a high efficiency media air cleaner?

[breatheasier]

Mark Beiser,
The simple answer to your question is no, but the reason the answer is no, is a little more complicated. The main purpose of the Permaclean system is to keep the two biggest sources of a home's contamination clean. The evap. coils and the filter face. In doing this, The system also cleans 100% of the home's air, because 100% of the home's air runs thru your HVAC system. It's a no-brainer. What better place to put an air cleaner than a place where all of the air goes.
I don't know if you are a "techie" or if you are like me, an regular guy interested in this subject. If you are a "techie", and you really are interesed in the science behind this product, I need to send you to the source of my information, which is "PHASYC.COM". There is too much info. to type in this forum. But in short, the way the permaclean "Self-Cleaning Technology" works is:
*AT THE COILS
There will be a remote lamp installed on the input side of the coils where it is most effective, and the coils block the UV light from damaging any flex duct downstream.Clean coils mean less static presssure on your HVAC system.
*AT THE FILTER FACE
There wil be a "filter mesh" in place of the typical filter
(see website for photo). Lots of UV products have UVC. Some have UVA, Permaclean has UVA, B and C. No other product has lamps with a broadband output of 200-400nm. This broadband range coupled with the filter mesh made of titanium-diozide and naturally occuring water in the air, you get "hydration oxidation". Simply stated, this process breaks the molecular bonds of contaminants found in indoor air today, thus, resulting in a chain reation of the continual decay of organic material.
Permaclean SCT is a complete system,giving your HVAC system maximum performance, efficiency and longevity, while giving you conveinience and health.

[Edited by breatheasier on 06-08-2005 at 06:56 PM]

[mark beiser]

What does the permaclean filter do with inorganic materials?
Is there some part of it that is regularly removed for cleaning?
If it is a stand alone system that is not suposed to be cleaned regularly, It and the equipment will eventually become clogged with inorganic materials, wich are a large part of the particulates normally floating around in the air. Not all dust is organic...

You keep making statements about the evap coil and filter being the source of most of the contaminants in the system. This is simply not true, and you loose a lot of credibility by continuing to say so.

Also, while it is true that close 100% of the air in the home will eventually be recirculated through the HVAC system in a perfectly tight house, very few homes are perfectly tight. Most of the particulates that enter the home, or are generated from within the home, never make it into the HVAC system to be filtered out, they settle out of the air onto furnashings, floors and walls well before they get sucked into the return where they can be filtered.

Infiltration and exfiltration are facts of life, and any IAQ strategy that doesn't adress controlling them as the #1 priority is flawed at best.

You cannot fix what is caused by a broken building by slapping a fancy filter in a system.

I'm still curious about what kind of pressure drop the permaclean causes, and what the maximum velocity is that air can be moving through it for it to be effective in what it does.

By the way, in your example of the smoke filled place. I would bet real money that the MERV 11 filters had a whole lot more to do with cleaning up the air than the Permaclean did. ;)

[breatheasier]

Mark,
The Permaclean SCT is Primarily an HVAC performance product. It is designed to keep the HVAC system running at it's rated S.E.E.R. with minimal pressure drop,etc.
It, like any UV setup, does nothing for inorganics. Heavier particulates that are sucked in thru "cracks" or brought in on shoes, paws etc. may not be circulated thru the system, but thats why Mr. "HOOVER" is so rich. There are limitations to this system, of course. If there are heavy shedding pets in the house, DO NOT install this product! It won't be able to keep up with the hair. If you are renovating the house(sawdust,drywall dust), DO NOT install this product, or install a fiberglas filter upstream from it during construction!
And it's true, infiltration is a fact of life, but no HVAC system/filter can contend with a crappy built home. Even a completely airtight house has an open door once in a while.The only thing we can do is deal with the conditions of each home as best we can.
I'm not sure what "smoke example" of mine you're refering to, please advise.
Not to skirt your question, or sound like a smart a**, but as far as your inquiry into air velocity/effectivness goes, differant microorginisms require differant energy levels to be destroyed. As you know, kill rate depends on intensity and dwell time, and without some constants in the equation, (I.E. a particular microorginism at a given velocity), one really can't give a percentage of "effectiveness".
in closing, please elaborate on why you believe a dirty filter/coil is not a major contributor to a system's contamination.THANX! Gotta go, Sienfeld's on!









[Edited by breatheasier on 06-08-2005 at 12:50 AM]

[genesis]

Mark you are right on the money those merv 12 did take care of the smoke it is a particulate what you see is the easy part. What you smell and don't see is the hard part.
Breatheasier I was just wondering where you came up with this term hydration oxidation. If you do a web search on it there is always a comma or a period between the two words. Hydration is where you add two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms to one molacule. The most widely use of this stuff is the fermintation of ethonal fuel. And oxidatiion is the chemical break down of a molacule.
And Mark we are figuring are jobs with about a 20x20x4 merv 12 filter at about 100 to 200 fpm. In what we are building a photocatalysis needs residence time to work correctly . So in a standard system with a 20x20x1 filter at 400 cfm you normally have to double the returns to keep from freezing up units or tripping the filter change lights.

[breatheasier]

Genesis,
Thanks for the grammer lesson. There should be a comma between hydration and oxidation. The hydration part of the process refers to hydroperoxide development which is the result of electron ejection by UV irradiation of organic materials, giving rise to free radical(hydrogen ion) development. The radicals react with ordinary atmospheric ozygen(O2), forming hydroperoxide (H2O2)ions. The hydroperoxide process activates a chain reaction with the organic material from the continual UV destruction of the hydroperoxide, triggering further oxidation.
The ozidation part of the process refers to the hydroxyl radicals (HO), which are formed when water(H2O) is exposed to UV. These radical ions are stable, but are a very potent one-electron oxidant.The reason hydroxyl ions are so destructive to organic molecules is the ions steal hydrogen molecules from the organic materials, leaving decayed carbon ions. The theft of hydrogen from organic molecules by hydroxyl radicals forms even stronger (HO) bonds, with even higher oxidation, as a result of water at the coil. The process is a chain reaction...the breakdown and formation of new HO radicals' results in continual decay of the organic material. This is the chemical to chemical reaction Perma Clean is after.

[TConnors]

Interesting... but I also would like to ask "where does all that dead crud go"? I have a 5" Carrier Merv-10 filter, before my coil. If you are "removing/killing" all that bad stuff at the coil, it's either all getting stuck in the coil or more likely getting blown through the coil into the ducts, and either into your lungs or onto your furniture. Who likes to call on "Mr. Hoover" more than they need to?

Are you saying that all this dust blowing by at 800-1000CFM gets zapped and completely "dissolves" into thin air? VERY ahrd to believe. I can see how a UV light at the coil will kill mold and such and drain away, but if you happen to run your fan 100% and no water is dripping on your coil, anything the light kills will likely get blown into the ducts. A Merv-12 filter after the coil makes more sense to me, but then you have pressure drop problems...

[syntropicsystems]

Air treatments vary. Filtration is designed to collect particles, even filtration accomplished by electrostatic precipitation. Particulates can be dust, chemical (e.g. mercury), nuclear (e.g. radon), or microbiological (e.g. mold spores, bacteria, viral.) Collection is only as effective as the filters and air flow direction you design - and doesn't provide a "kill factor" for microbials on surfaces. The newest photocatalytic systems, such as Genesis, RGF Environmental, and EcoQuest's offerings create a molecular change to the oxygen and water molecules affected by the catalytic interaction with the UV lights.
Different catalysts and designs have different effectiveness levels in the type of plasma that is created. The plasma operates throughout the facility being treated, and isn't restricted to filter clean air delivery. I suspect that future measurements will be in terms of time and effectiveness in pollutant removal. After 5 days of operation a treated facility (e.g. enclosed space ship or sealed home) should have significantly reduced contaminant levels on a continuous basis. If you want to reduce your exposure to contaminants and respiratory issues, look at PCO systems that produce less than .02 ppm. The new systems even show an indoor particulate reduction of over 98% after 5 days of operation.

[tonys]

98% at what particle size?

[TConnors]

And which system is the "newest" system that does this?

[syntropicsystems]

Particle size affected is less than 2.5 micron and greater than 2.5 micron measured using an Aircuity http://www.aircuity.com system. I'm certain that you'll get the same measurement results using some of the newly released technology from other manufacturers.
The system is a sleeve technology patented by RGF Environmental 2 years ago using a quad-metallic target and proprietary UV bulb that has a 25,000 hour effective life and a polycarbonate coating to prevent any mercury contamination from bulb breakage. You could visit their site and download their 24 page booklet on PCO. When I say this technology is fully scaleable, I mean it. Duct applications for distribution can have multiple probes installed anywhere throughout the air system.
I suggest you visit Syntropic Systems web site (www.syntropic.com) if you want some history on PCO - although I don't have all of the research that I've done posted on the site. You might visit http://www.pureindoor.us to see some sample installations made by Pure Indoor Environments.
Skeptical? Only believe in Filtration as a solution?
Are you in denial about wireless cellphones and satellites?
PCO technology is being used for self-cleaning windows, tiles, roadways, and cement (heard about the self-cleaning church exterior?).
You'll be reading and hearing more and more about this technology (an unpublished research paper showed 99.999% airborne and surface inactivation of Norwalk virus within 30 minutes.) A major theme park operator (D) is starting to install this (and not publicize it) in their cruise ships.
As an old TV show used to say, "no brag, just fact."
Don't expect the government to tell you about this technology, after all, they didn't even know about the Berlin Wall falling until after the fact!

[syntropicsystems]

p.s. I do not work for RGF Environmental or Pure Indoor Environments. I am, however, interested in informing the public about advances in PCO that are being brought to the marketplace by Lennox, Carrier, BioKes, Genesis, RGF, EcoQuest, and others. Over 2000 patents were filed in Japan last year on PCO, while approximately 200 were filed in the US. A small Canadian firm has a NASA contract to develop water treatment for closed systems using PCO based upon a system they brought to the market.
This forum is to inform, not advertise. What works,and how effectively it works, is what we should all be evaluating.

[TConnors]

Thanks for the info. You keep saying "PCO", but there is no mention of that term at the RGF site, it all revolves around "PHI" technology.

"Somebody's" making money on this! You can buy the replacement Cell for $90, but the original unit is $600-$700, that's one high dollar power supply! But the Cell does last 3 years which is good (if it does what it says).

[syntropicsystems]

PCO is generic for PhotoCatalytic Oxidation. PHI is their trademarked application for photohydroionization - based upon the hydro (h2O) breakdown with O2 and recombination into charged single O, h2O2, and hO molecules. The pricing you looked at might be for the smaller replacement cells. RCI stands for radiant catalytic ionization and is trademarked by EcoQuest under licensing from RGF.
All of the reports and studies that are being released show that it works - and I haven't heard any scientists step forward to debunk or attack this new technology. The only complaint so far is that it isn't instantaneous.

[jeffw_00]

not sure if the Original poster is still watching, but I have 2 Spacegards for 18 years now (my A/c ducting is in the attic, my furnace is FHA). I buy the filters in bulk on ebay and replace them myself, each once a year. replacement is trivial, and they do work.

/j

[drk]

jeffw just saw so filters on ebay! They where $22 hope you do not pay this much?

[jeffw_00]

no - i don't remember how many are in a case but they wanted $300 at my local HVAC supply shop and I found them for somewhat under $200 on ebay
/j