air purifier advice

Does anyone know of an inexpensive but safe brand of air purifier? Didn't know that the "dusty bird" syndrome could hurt the others. Need to get an air purifier but I sure do hate to spend $500........
Thanks

This will sound terrible, but along with an air purifier I have found that a box fan with a furnace filterstuck to it is a very inexpensive way to really cut down the cockatoo dust. Most air purifiers have really hard times keeping up with cockatoo dust and we went through several types before we tried the box fan filter method.... looks terrible and works great!

I have the RabbitAir but it is about $500 it works good but i will be trying the box fan ideal. How often do you clean/replace the filters?

I have a lot of 'toos, so I knock the filters clean a couple times a week and replace the filter about 2 to 3 times a month.... filters are cheap and if the fan is on it will hold the filter to itself. I've been really impressed with the difference it makes in the aviary . Such a cheap solution, but I just leave it on on low all the time and I haven't met an air purifier that can compare yet.

In my experience, you get what you pay for with air purifiers, for the most part. Most of the inexpensive ones don't cover very much area, but some of the better once can do the whole house.

I'm cheap though, and have been lucky to find some of the $500-700 range second hand/ in thrift stores for $25-100. I have a Living Air (an older model, I think), and it's absolutely wonderful. I paid about $100 for it, including parts I had to replace (easy to do), and I just use a lint filter that I wash every now and then, but charcoal and HEPA filters aren't washable (at least not with mine), and it says it can cover up to $3500 square feet (I've never tested it to that big, but it's pretty good). If you get a quality air purifier, even if you have to pay more than you want to, I think you will be happy with the results.

They're also good for general respiratory health. I got mine when I lived with cats and non-hygienic roommates, and then I realized I breathed better when I wasn't home too. When I left the cat people, I made sure to find a nice place for it in my new place (by myself). I can definitely tell a difference when it's not on, even before I got Puck.

We also use window fans in the aviary to suck air out. I just wanted to clairy we do use a few standar air purifiers (along with cold air humidifiers), but I have found that the box fan does a grreat job of cutting down the bulk of the dust (depends on location though).

When it comes to cockatoo dust if it helps some with a couple it will help alot with one i just gotta dig the fan back out now. Does it work with any filter?

Yeah, the one dollar filters work just fine. I buy a size that fits the fan a little better, but it doesn't have to be perfect, and in a pinch I steel our supply of furnace filters if I'm out of ones for the fan.

Did you try searching the forums yet??

http://www.parrotforums.com/amazons/13411-air-cleaner.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/11761-air-purifiers.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/accessories-sale/9181-air-filter-specifically-parrots.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/6087-air-filters.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/congo-timneh-greys/5879-air-filters.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/3306-air-purifiers-safe.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/5187-air-filtration-systems.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/3407-good-air-purification-unit.html

These are just the threads with 'air purifier' or 'air filter' in the title. There are dozens more (actually well over 100) that specifically discuss air filtration systems.

ShreddedOakAviary said:

This will sound terrible, but along with an air purifier I have found that a box fan with a furnace filterstuck to it is a very inexpensive way to really cut down the cockatoo dust. Most air purifiers have really hard times keeping up with cockatoo dust and we went through several types before we tried the box fan filter method.... looks terrible and works great!

Click to expand...

What an incredibly inventive idea! I will never look at my furnace filter the same way again!

I got a HEPA Air filter from Home depot about 3 years ago for $150 Did a great job of clearing my room from my parents' cigarette smoke! I'd imagine it'd do okay with 'too dust, not sure though but it's a smaller one, runs on a timer and remote control

Can you explain the box fan concept? Where do you put the filter?
I went and bought a purifier after contacting the company. They said there was no teflon (used every initial and abbreviation also) but when I got it home and read it, the Ion discharger part says harmful to birds.

Negative ion button - says a healthy amount of negative ions without ozone. Thsi sound like the same name as the "bad" button on the one I got. Is it the difference in not putting out ozone or what? How long have you all that have RabbitAirs had yours?
Thanks

ShreddedOakAviary said:

This will sound terrible, but along with an air purifier I have found that a box fan with a furnace filterstuck to it is a very inexpensive way to really cut down the cockatoo dust. Most air purifiers have really hard times keeping up with cockatoo dust and we went through several types before we tried the box fan filter method.... looks terrible and works great!

Click to expand...

This is the most awesome thing I have heard in awhile! Thank you soooo much! I have been wanting an air purifier forever but they are so expensive I knew there was no way I was going to be able to talk Nick(my other half) into spending that kind of money on one. I'm sure it doesn't work as well as an actual rabbitair or something but we don't any powder birds or rodents or anything, and I keep the cages clean, I would just like something that snags some of the dust that gets stirred up from the birds and dogs. And since we have a box fan running in our room all of the time anyway, this is perfect, I can't believe I never thought of doing this before!

ShreddedOakAviary said:

This will sound terrible, but along with an air purifier I have found that a box fan with a furnace filterstuck to it is a very inexpensive way to really cut down the cockatoo dust. Most air purifiers have really hard times keeping up with cockatoo dust and we went through several types before we tried the box fan filter method.... looks terrible and works great!

Click to expand...

We have two cockatoos and two macaws. One of the macaw was having trouble with the dust even though we had a HEPA air cleaner.

We tried your box fan idea and it works great!! In the first 10 minutes of use, we could see plenty of trapped dust. Thanks for the idea.

To think we were breathing all that dust for years.

Could you send a photo? Can you use any air conditioning filter and just cut it?