AirMedic Pro 5 Ultra Vocarb

Air purifiers do ***not*** remove odors effectively unless they contain a *massive* amount of good quality carbon that is arranged in a way to allow air to have sufficient 'dwell time' for the process of adsorption to occur. They will move volatile organic compounds around, which can diffuse odors, but will not remove them unless they contain a deep bed of carbon to aid to facilitate the process of adsorption (and these carbon canisters periodically need to be replaced.) Most of the purifiers sold to consumers do not have anywhere near this much carbon, and so most products that claim to remove odors are grossly exaggerating their true capability, which is limited in that regard. A quality purifier that is reasonably priced is the Coway Airmega AP-1512, and it covers about 250 square feet of space for optimal performance. It will have a minimal impact on odors, but it is very effective at removing particulate matter from the air (and particulate matter is extremely harmful to human health). A quality purifier that *will* remove odors would be something like the AllerAir AirMedic Pro 5 with a 30lb VoCarb carbon filter. Whatever odors you are dealing with, this will remove it as it's a deep carbon bed and very good quality carbon. However, these units are expensive, noisy, and not very energy efficient. From a cost efficiency perspective, the cheapest way to reduce odors is ventilation with outdoor air if you live somewhere with decent outdoor air quality in combination with source control. But if that is not feasible, units with deep carbon beds will do a great job at removing odors (and VOCs, overall) from the air.

If you have high levels of particulates *and* gases/vapors/odors/VOCs, you really need two types of purifier. Most common purifier brands have very little sorbent media for gases, vapors, or odors (includes VOCs). Sorbent media are activated carbon, activated alumina, or synthetic zeolites. On the other hand, heavyweight sorbent media purifiers clean the air more slowly than particulates-focused units. This is due to "dwell time"/"residence time" and the thick sorbent media beds. As a result, "delivered" airflows are lower and particulates aren't removed as efficiently or quickly. Unfortunately you budget is probably too low for conventional HEPA purifiers + sorbent media purifiers in each room. # Particulates units You'd have to oversize conventional HEPA purifiers for quieter operation and high CADRs due to asthma & allergies. This would be very expensive. For example, the open concept Living/Dining/Kitchen space needs a minimum of 305 CFM CADRs. You'd have to go with something like the [Coway Airmega ProX](https://cowaymega.com/products/airmega-prox) for sufficient CADRs and quieter operation. (I don't recommend buying the Airmega ProX at full price.) The Bedroom needs bare minimum CADRs of 102 CFM. I'd recommend the [Coway Airmega 240](https://cowaymega.com/products/airmega-240) \[currently out of stock; should be back somewhat soon\]. **Corsi-Rosenthal Boxes & Similar** If you want to save money, you could try building large Corsi-Rosenthal boxes with [MERV](https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating) 13/14 furnace filters and PC fans. PC fans are much quieter than a box fan. CADRs will depend on airflow speed, # of PC fans, # of filters, and filter size. You may want to add a fine mesh pre-filter overtop the MERV filters to catch coarse particulates like dog hair and visible dust. Cheap [3M Filtrete MPR 2500 MERV 14 filters in a 4-pack can be found at Costco](https://www.costco.com/p/-/filtrete-air-filter-1-mpr-2500-merv-14-high-performance-premium-allergen-ultrafine-particles-bacteria-and-virus-filter-4-pack/4000181409). A guide: [https://itsairborne.com/pc-fan-corsi-rosenthal-guide-a611dabf7e0c](https://itsairborne.com/pc-fan-corsi-rosenthal-guide-a611dabf7e0c) Alternatively, have a look at the [AirFanta 3Pro](https://air-fanta.com/products/airfanta-3pro) for each room. It uses Efficient Particulate Air (EPA) E11 filters, which is two filter classes below HEPA H13. Top composite CADR is 413 CFM, but this may be quite loud for you. # Vacuum Choose a bagged vacuum with a HEPA exhaust filter. This is superior to many (if not all) bagless or cordless vacuums. I have the [Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction HomeCare PowerLine - SBCN0](https://www.mieleusa.com/product/11262170/canister-vacuum-cleaners-classic-c1-pure-suction-homecare-powerline-sbcn0-autumn-red). It cut down on my runny nose while vacuuming. **Caveat**: the supplied AllTeQ SBD 365-3 floorhead will *not* work with long hair, whether human or animal. My floorhead's axles have hair wrapped around them; now the wheels won't turn. I had to buy the [TurboTeQ floorbrush (STB 305-3)](https://www.mieleusa.com/product/10455360/turboteq-floorbrush-stb-305-3) for this purpose. # Gases/vapors/odors/VOCs units For gas range or gas stoves, a ducted exhaust range hood would be ideal for cooking-related pollution. But I'm guessing you're in a rented space, so upgrading the range hood is likely not feasible. **To figure out which VOC "species" are in your air, you'd have to do testing with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis.** Many sorbent media purifiers use plain or chemically untreated activated carbon. The problem is that plain or chemically untreated carbon (or other sorbents) do *not* have high removal efficiencies for all gaseous "species". Sometimes you need to modify sorbents (via chemical impregnation) to improve these removal efficiencies. If you were to use plain sorbents only, you could run into some unwanted problems. E.g., "sweet" odors emanating from the activated carbon filter which may be the not-well-adsorbed acetaldehyde or spikes on tVOC monitors despite a reduction in odors. Even impregnated sorbents have their issues, especially those that break down certain gases. Depending on the exact air chemistry, these oxidizing sorbents may produce problematic byproducts. (Typically this is an issue in totally unknown or highly complex air chemistries, e.g., wildfires or fires in the built environment.) An example of an oxidizing agent is potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) used to impregnate activated carbon or alumina. KMnO₄ can off gas as it saturates or loses efficacy. **Heavyweight sorbent media purifiers are very expensive, VERY loud, and clean the air more slowly than particulates-focused units.** An example entry-level unit is the [AllerAir AirMedic Pro 5 which has a 14 lbs. VOCARB carbon canister for $594.98](https://allerair.com/products/airmedic-pro-5?variant=11868544892972). AllerAir's standard option carbons are plain/chemically untreated. You'd have to contact them first for customized carbon blends based on your air chemistry.

First and foremost, I'm so sorry about your rabbit. That's really awful... I'm not sure I'd keep using the Molekule purifiers. The [brand was subject to a class action suit](https://www.classaction.org/media/sobel-v-molekule-inc.pdf) and ended up settling. There was a [separate suit brought by California Air Resources Board (CARB)](https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/molekule_incorporated_sa.pdf), as Molekule sold its Home One indoor air cleaner before being certified for low ozone emissions. Their purifiers perform poorly for particulates. And depending on the exact catalyst used in PECO, you *could* be creating unintended byproducts. For gases or fumes, you would need sorbent media. I have no idea how well plain/untreated sorbent media (e.g., activated carbon, activated alumina, or synthetic zeolites) adsorb sulfuryl fluoride or chloropicrin. I would strongly recommend seeking out an environmental consultant that performs gas testing and possibly a chemist versed in sorbent materials. Failing that, you may want to post on r/AskChemistry. The issue with plain sorbent media is that some gases aren't adsorbed well, which can cause odors to emanate from the purifier. You may also have issues with competitive adsorption, where weakly adsorbed gaseous molecules may be displaced by more strongly adsorbed ones. This tends to happen as a sorbent medium becomes saturated. There are modified sorbent media like potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) impregnated carbon or alumina to help increase removal efficiencies of certain gases. But KMnO₄ is a strong oxidizer, breaking down certain compounds via redox reactions. In addition to other gases in your airspace, I don't know if breaking down Vikane could result in problematic or toxic compounds being formed. **We would generally recommend ventilation (fresh air and/or exhaust) first, as this is cheapest and easiest solution.** But the best choice of air purifier is likely **AllerAir**, as they offer over 40 customized blends of carbon / sorbent media. I'd stick with the AllerAir [AirMedic Pro 5 series](https://allerair.com/collections/pro-5-series) or [AirMedic Pro 6 series](https://allerair.com/collections/pro-6-series). Different models (HD, Plus, Ultra) have varying amounts of carbon. Be sure to read the specifications for each. Generally you'd need one purifier per walled-off room if possible. Unfortunately most commercially available sorbent media purifiers are loud - very difficult to get around that. **Important**❗: to specify a custom carbon/sorbent media blend, you must contact AllerAir first to place your order. Sorry I can't be more specific on the chemistry side. Good luck!

I have an allerair that has 25 pounds of carbon. I have it in my bedroom and a cat box. If they use the cat box at night, I can smell it for a couple minutes and then gone. Airpura, allerair and Austin all make ones with big carbon filters.

I would call the Air Purifier Store, they were very knowledgeable and helpful. If you need a large carbon filter for smoke look at alleraire or airpura or Austin. They have models specifically for smoke with large carbon filters, like 25 to 40 pounds of carbon. I have been happy with my 2 alleraires. They will be more than 300 dollars but may be worth it if they work. I’d definitely call and see what they recommend as when I purchased I had decided on a particular model. When I talked to them they explained what was best for my needs, which was cheaper than what I thought I needed.

You might try calling The Air Purifier Store, they are very helpful. I bought a couple Alleraire purifiers from them. They make models especially for smoke. Not exactly cheap, they have some of the largest charcoal canisters.

My experience with an allerair unit with vocarb filter was terrible. It seems highly variable in how people feel about this brand from reading comments online. Essentially the unit I bought will never operate as efficiently as they advertise - will never effectively clean the air at a reasonable rate. They admit it but refuse to take the unit back without a 25% restock fee. Their equipment is misadvertised and they don’t deny it The actual CFM is much lower than advertised but the real kicker is the decibels was 30% higher than the max advertised and way too loud to operate at full speed. Meaning actual operation was again reduced significantly because it has to run at a much lower speed to be able to even be in the same room Airmed 1 with vocarb