That's where I've bought from in the past too:
https://www.discountfilters.com/
As well as:
https://www.filtersfast.com/
Though I bought them through Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/FiltersFast/page/8C7A7B5F-12B9-4E4C-8C70-2A4951CBE55A
MERV 11's have been what I have bought in the past. I'll have to consider the others.
That is a neat trick for the DIY air purifier.
I don't use my air conditioner or heat too much, so the air gets rather stale sometimes. I usually have it on 81 in the summer (though as low as 79 at times if I get hot) and then maybe 70 in the winter, though sometimes I'll have it a little warmer. I bought one of these heaters four years ago:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Honeywell-360-Degree-Surround-Heater-HHF360W-White/45014169
To heat up the bathroom a little bit before I take a shower on days it is really cold outside. (well, cold for here, lol)
I wanted to have the humidity lower in my house, because my allergies after many years were something I wanted to try to relieve some, so I bought one of these in 2019:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073VBWKJZ/
Was $209.99 + tax at the time. The first one they sent had a bit of an issue with noise in the first week after I got it and I sent them video of it and they sent out another free. I think maybe a little part of the metal under the filter was bent and made a loud noise for awhile. I ended up with two because eventually it stopped making noise. I had followed the directions on that one by leaving it for awhile upon first getting it, but maybe that one needed to sit more. I still don't leave either unattended, most especially though the one that made noise at first. Also, I don't think it works as well as the second one they sent. When I run it in a part of the house that is less humid, it gets very little water, maybe a cup after a half hour. But the main one I use closer to the bathroom, and sitting in the kitchen, after three or four hours it could actually be completely full. Though I usually empty it every day, and only run it for an hour or an hour and a half usually, doing it more when it's really humid. I've also been turning on the air more when it gets really humid because that is likely the most efficient.
I bought this air purifier in 2019 (I was really fed up with allergies and wanted to try what I could, short of taking any medication because I didn't think it was worth that):
https://www.amazon.com/SilverOnyx-Purifier-Quality-Sanitizer-Allergies/dp/B06XG4Z87P/
$148.02 + tax at the time.
At the time I think it had a deal to get an extra filter too:
https://www.amazon.com/SilverOnyx-Replacement-5-Speed-Purifier-Filters/dp/B071F7SCLC/
$36.92 + tax at the time, though I had a promotion of some sort on the order that made it less than that since I bought this with the purifier.
But I haven't changed the filter since the one it came with. I think I'm still about 90% on the filter that is in there. It still gets stuff out of the air.
It's not something you can use for a house, more for just a room. Occasionally I run it. I absolutely love that it has a particulate sensor on it. And if the air is really bad, like right after vacuuming or after burning something, it turns a different color. If I vacuum, have to spray bug spray, burn something in the oven, there's a fire nearby and the windows were open before I noticed (happened in the last week) or just get too much dust (less so with this though I think), I run it and I do notice a difference. You can watch it react to something in the air and then eventually filter it out. I'm not sure how well it does with dust overall, I usually only use it half a hour every few days lately in my bedroom. I have year round allergies and I think it helps to have it on a little before I sleep, setting it to turn off after half an hour. But I still wake up eventually and have to blow my nose. I might have to do that a dozen or two times every day when I am awake. I just use it sometimes so I don't wake up too early because my nose stops up. I need to dust my house more frequently. But when I do, and vacuum, I like to use that air purifier after. A DIY method would really get rid of a lot though. I had a neighbor get rid of an old fan like that in the past few weeks and they asked if I wanted it but it was kind of really old and I didn't know if I could trust the cord. I think I have an old one in the attic too. I'll have to consider something like that. I don't think I have enough extras to do the large box right now, but just for the 1 if I have a fan that works well.
I haven't really used the air purifier with the coronavirus in mind though. A few times, in the room where we put groceries we've bought for a bit before we use them, I've used it (it's probably extremely unlikely to get it that way, but we're just very, very careful), but I didn't like the idea of stirring up the air too much.
That's one reason I bought some N95 masks, just in case some people get the coronavirus. I'm going to send some masks to some family and friends. It might be more for if they are around someone with the virus and they might not have gotten it too yet and need to protect themselves better perhaps. (though again, you have to wear the N95s properly and will let them know about that)
I bought some of these N95 masks tonight:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Aura-Particulate-Respirator-N95-Foldable-10-Pack-9205P-10-DC/316909322
They didn't have them at my local Home Depot yesterday so I had them delivered from across town initially for a $8.99 charge. I have never done anything like that before (and will never again), but I really wanted to get them for some people. (Home Depot uses a delivery service called Roadie, owned by UPS, which is kind of like Uber for deliveries) But thanks to a mistake on Home Depot's part, only giving the driver one box of masks, they only delivered one box when I ordered 3 boxes. After a lot of hours yesterday, and a lot of hours today, with various issues with the order, they finally figured out how to cancel the order for the remaining two boxes and ended up giving me most of the cost of one of the boxes free because they couldn't figure out how to credit me properly for the delivery charge (because if I had to end up going out to buy them anyway, it defeated the purpose of trying to stay safe by paying the extra fee). After a manager and some other people couldn't figure it out I guess (the last person even had Home Depot's IT on it I think), it was finally easier for them to do it that way. I live in a gated community and when the driver called me from the gate today it didn't work properly and the phone only rung about 2 times before I could get to the phone and didn't know it that was them. I didn't realize until later that it actually was. (due to how the new order they created was done, I had no tracking information on whether the driver was there) They never called me from a cell phone or anything after, or I would have driven out there, so I waited three more hours until I called Home Depot and found out that it was the driver trying to get in. (We get people buzzing me from the gate by mistake so I didn't know for sure) I should have called immediately I guess but it can take 10 minutes or more just to get the Home Depot store on the phone so I didn't want to tie it up and I was also kind of expecting that they were going to send tracking info, but I guess they forgot. (because they had to do it manually with the very complex way they were able to even get the other two boxes scheduled to come again) Then it was about five more hours of trying to get it sorted out. They were going to come out again tomorrow, but I didn't want to waste a third day with it. (we had already said we would give some family some of them so it was something we needed to get sorted out, we couldn't just go with the 1 box at that point) By then the Home Depot a couple miles away had them and I easily ordered the other two boxes tonight. They had 33 boxes earlier this evening, then 25 tonight after selling some, including two to me, and then 56 boxes on checking right now at the store I went to. (only at local stores for pickup, buying in the store or delivery by a car for $8.99 (with $45 order minimum to get that service). They don't have normal online shipping at the moment for them. They had none either earlier today or maybe it was yesterday evening they didn't have any. So they are restocking a lot.
I wanted to give some to friends and family so they didn't have to try to go through the hassle in some places where they are not as easy to get since they are about to become a bit harder to find given the CDC has updated their mask guidance. I'll post about that new guidance in another post. |