Was The Ionic Breeze Air Purifier Solely A Big Fat Fabrication That Eventually Annihilated The Sharper Image?

Remember all those commercials about the Ionic Breeze air purifier? They also made appearances at Radio Shack and The Sharper Image stores. Then they were gone, along with The Sharper Image, for the most part. Researching the Ionic Breeze air purifier on the net will very quickly yield two facts: the original Ionic Breeze air purifier is nearly impossible to find, and there are a bunch of folks out there that feel The Sharper Image lied about it. Yet, if you look at the reviews from the people that actually bought one, you'll see that they're generally favorable. Let's take a look at some of the claims that eventually killed the original Ionic Breeze air purifiers, and put them into perspective.

The Ionic Breeze Air Purifier Is Not As Effective As a HEPA Air Purifier

The Sharper Image made no claims that their Ionic Breeze could clean polluted air as effectively as a True HEPA purifier. They avoided that subject, actually, just as all good business people do with stats that don't really benefit their product. It was Consumer Reports who first mentioned the efficiency of the product, saying that it only cleaned 30% of the air pollution. They neglected, however, to take into consideration the fact that the unit was intended to be run 24/7, therefore cleaning the same air repeatedly. No, it would never reach 100%, but then neither does any other air purifier. They're not as efficient as a True HEPA air purifier, but after time, it will get the job done. Ionic purifiers are also much less expensive to maintain, as well as to operate and purchase in the first place. It's also worth mentioning that Consumer Reports compared the ionic air purifier to True HEPA air purifiers, not the more common, and much cheaper HEPA-type air purifiers. HEPA-type purifiers don't have to adhere to any specific rules, but True HEPA machines aren't affordable to all.

Some Say The Ionic Breeze Produces Polluted Air

The idea is that the ionic air purifier produces a lot of ozone to clean the air of other pollutants. However, this isn't true. When people say this about ionic air purifiers, they are confusing them with ozone generators, which actually do clean the air in a similar manner. Even Consumer Reports agrees that the Ionic Breeze air purifier has no problem meeting HEPA guidelines for ozone. It's also worth noting that the Ionic Breeze air purifier actually passed all HEPA guidelines, with the notable exception of efficiency.

The Ionic Breeze Air Purifier Caused The Sharper Image To Go Bankrupt

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 $50 million equity, without including cash on hand. This didn't convince their investors, though.

Have Ionic Air Purifiers Improved Since Then?

As the technology is quite simple and effective, there really isn't much room for improvement, even in the newest ionic air 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.

Want to learn more about the Ionic Breeze Air Purifier, as well as the alternatives? Visit Ionic Air Purifier Info.