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I've tried so many air purifiers due to my allergies but realized how ineffective they were after reading an article about how manufacturers claim it catches 99.7% particles (but don't specify the size of the particles). From the Vornado AQS 500 to the Honeywell, they just didn't help at all and I still found myself relying on Zyrtec and Allegra just to alleviate my headaches.
After a month of using the Sharp FP-A8OU-W I can honestly say this is a really good machine despite the high price. Whenever I feel the my sinuses acting up, I hit the quick clean and my symptoms vanish after 10-15 minutes. It's extremely quiet and has an auto-sensor on how dirty the air is. I thought mine was broken because it was constantly green, but when my cats jumped up on it once it switched over to orange (dirty cats!) which was interesting but it still stayed on low. Regardless, I just hit that quick clean when needed and it goes full blast for about 5-10 minutes or so and reverts back to low which is nice. I don't know if that Ion plasmacluster actually does anything but sound cool but I'm not complaining since this is the only air purifier that actually worked for me.
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This is my second one of these. I have pretty bad asthma and have tried out several different purifiers with mixed results. With this purifier, however, there is a noticeable difference in air quality. It is quiet and barely noticeable on the low and mid settings. I like having white noise when I sleep, so I will usually leave it on high at night despite the fact that it is a little loud. It kind of works well for noise cancelation. The plasmacluster ion system does make a kind of clicking/beeping sound, but you can turn it off or on as you wish. The most important thing for me, though, is that it really helps remove dust and other allergens, and it has really helped with my breathing.Best Deals for Sharp FPA80UW Plasmacluster Ion Air Purifier with True HEPA Filter
I received and set up the unit over the weekend. When you turn the unit on for the first time, there is a distinct smell coming from the fans over top which I think is something many negative reviews talk about. I suspect this is the natural odors from the filters (active charcoal in the pre-filter, perhaps). I mistakenly put my face over the top vent where the filtered air blows out and suffered a bit of a headache from this odor. NOTE: The odor went away after a few hours of initial use.Since the "auto" feature sets fan speed based on the "baseline level" of particulates in your room, I ran the unit on high for the first time for about 45-60 min to clean up as much as possible, turned it off (and unplugged for a minute), and turned it back on using the state of the room at that point as my baseline.
One of the major selling points for me is how quiet the low setting is in my bedroom. If you listen close enough, you can hear the whirring of the fans, but we keep a ceiling fan running in the evening which makes the sound nearly imperceptible. On medium, the noise is certainly more noticeable, but I'd only use the medium and high settings during the day if I'm out of the room.
The reason why I purchased an air purifier is because my spouse is a chronic allergy sufferer and I'm hoping this unit helps her get a better night's sleep. It's only been one weekend so they jury is still out on the longer term effectiveness of the unit. But so far so good.
6-Month Update to come...
Honest reviews on Sharp FPA80UW Plasmacluster Ion Air Purifier with True HEPA Filter
I recently evaluated this unit and the Sharp KC-860U before buying several more FP-A80UW's. I selected the FP-A80 because of value. It offers a good combination of an activated carbon element, a pleated filter, and a 'plasmacluster' ion generator. It doesn't incorporate a high-maintenance humidifier and it offers a good flow-rate for the respective noise levels. I also have an IQ Air Health Pro Plus, to which I can compare this Sharp unit.The most important thing to understand is that this is a bedroom size unit that will do a good job in a typical suburban house bedroom -certainly not a whole house.
The activated carbon element in this unit is light and although it's nice to have, you will probably realize a significant benefit from a filter with a much larger carbon load. The IQ Air GC series is a good example, but costly. The "V5" unit the the Health Pro Plus is good for a room, but it's a significantly larger and more noisy than this Sharp unit which simply lacks enough carbon. I built my own attic unit using sheet metal and bulk ctc60 I bought here on Amazon.
The pleated filter on the Sharp is effective, though certainly not as meticulous as the IQ Air HEPA filter. Bear in mind that "HEPA" is a performance rating of the filter media and not the filter unit or system. Laser-particle counter wielding fanatics have proven the IQ Air's superiority as a complete system. But certainly some filtering is better than none and the Sharp offers two advantages: a dust detection circuit that can be set to automatically increase fan speed based on the detection of particles; and a quieter noise level at low speed.
I suppose to compare the noise levels fairly, you would have to evaluate the clean-air delivery rate (CADR) to noise ratio. But "noise" is a subjective measurement and average-weighted "dB" ratings don't tell the whole story. Air filters are not often rated in "sones" either, and people have different opinions on various sound pressure levels at different frequencies. Regardless, the IQ Air HPP on the lowest setting is louder than the Sharp on the lowest setting. Whether it has a higher CADR or is better at any given noise level for any other reason, the IQ Air is louder. Possibly it can be made as quiet as the Sharp if you take out the V5. I don't know, but it's still several times more expensive and a lot bigger than the Sharp -which is simply to say that if you're looking for something quieter for the bedroom, the Sharp is worth considering.
The plasmacluster technology is interesting. While ion generators could be meaningful additions to air purifying equipment, they have side effects and their overall effectiveness seems questionable. If the technology was totally effective, we would certainly see more significant commercial applications. Sharp PR boasts of an application in the Imperial Hotel, but it certainly has the appearance of a promotional operation. Even ordinary, non 'plasmacluster' ion generators do not have widespread commercial adoption. Sharp's literature is nevertheless certain to point out how many millions of units they've sold to convince you otherwise.
Nevertheless, I 'believe' in the plasmacluster technology. I 'bought it' so to speak, figuratively and literally. While I have no way of objectively evaluating the results I'm getting as a consequence of using the plasmacluster ion generator, I can clearly distinguish one negative side-effect. Running the plasmacluster overnight significantly lowers the room's humidity to a level where it can become irritating -this is even with the humidifier in the KC-860U running. I had to supplement the KC-860U with an additional humidifier in the room to prevent this. Admittedly, I have very low natural humidity levels.
During the non-heating season, my house typically has 30 to 35% RH. My family is adjusted to living in low humidity. 30% would be irritating to anyone coming from a 50-60% norm, but we're usually not too irritated until it gets down into the teens or "bone dry." Even though I have several hygrometers, including the built-in unit on the KC-860U, the readings vary wildly. They're simply not accurate. More subjectively I can tell you that the plasmacluster unit seems to dry out the room badly. The reason I chose the FP-A80 is because it dispenses with the inadequate humidifier. My home's needs are much greater than the tiny unit built into the Sharp 860U which hardly keeps up with the unit's own demand. I opted for the FP-A80 and some higher output humidifiers that require less frequent maintenance. During the heating season, the demand for humidity is even greater as the cold air is incapable of holding much moisture and when heated, the RH drops to very irritating levels. I have a furnance-mounted 12gpd unit that helps with the extra demand in that season.
I suspect the Plasmacluster's consumption of water-vapour outstrips the 860's humidifier's output on low fan speeds. In order to get enough humidifier output to counter the plasmacluster, you have to run high and loud fan speeds or the Plasmacluster will dry out your air. Of course, this is a good thing if you have naturally high humidity -in which case you should certainly prefer the FP-A80.
While exactly how plasmacluster works is somewhat shrouded in marketing babble that is more bent on convincing you that it's good than explaining what it actually does in simple and realistic terms that would truly lay it bare, it's apparent that that Sharp is using some kind of plasma streamer to ionize water vapor molecules, the components of which are subsequently dispersed as both negatively and positively charged particles. While I find this explanation insufficient, we can at least be certain that it uses water. That not only means that it will dry out your room, but also that providing adequate water will also make it more effective. Since a humidifying unit like the 860 provides water vapor "at the source," the air passing through the plasmacluster should actually be at a much higher humidity than the room itself after the humidified air is diffused. Does that intense humidity at the source improve the plasmacluster's performance compared to an FP-A80 operating at room-level humidity? I suspect not because once the 860's hygrometer reaches 60% or so, the humidifier shuts off, at which point it would not have any continuing advantage to a non-humidifying unit, even if there was any advantage to it while the humidifier was actually running.
Unfortunately it's not clear with the FP-A80 and 860 units are what sharp calls "25,000 ions/cm3" or "7000 ions/cm3" generators. They advertise some very costly Japanese units as having the higher output generators but don't make it clear where the US models stand. At first I was concerned that I get "more power" because, of course, I want "more" of these things, whatever they are, because if some are good, more must be better! I suspect, but have no concrete evidence that the FP-A80 and the 860U have the higher production generators, but if they don't, I don't really care because they certainly fry enough water out of my air as it is. The costly imports from Japan do not have the value proposition of this FP-A80 at all. In that price range, I would go for IQ Air.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Sharp FPA80UW Plasmacluster Ion Air Purifier with True HEPA Filter
The right size, an attractive design, and it seems to be effective. I would prefer more than three fan speeds, but this is a minor quibble. The sensor which supposedly detects the presence of allergens doesn't seem to react to the pollens that bother me, so I just ignore it. All I know is that my itchy-eye symptoms are relieved after running the unit for a while. And the activated carbon filter removes odors.At the lowest fan speed, the noise is almost indetectable. Medium speed is tolerable. High speed is slightly intrusive.
