Was The Ionic Breeze Air Purifier No More Than A Fabrication That Ultimately Killed The Sharper Image?

By Wilma Perkins

I'm sure we all remember the ads for the original Ionic Breeze air purifier. They could be found not only on TV, but also at Radio Shack and, if you could find one, retail stores owned by The Sharper Image. Then, poof, they disappeared, and so did The Sharper Image themselves. If you do some Googling, you'll find that people in general feel that The Sharper Image made lots of false claims about the Ionic Breeze. However, looking at reviews made by people who actually purchased the product, you'll hear all sorts of good stuff. So, let's compare the claims made by the ranting masses and media to what actually happened with the Ionic Breeze air purifier.

Ionic Breeze Air Purifiers Do Not Clean The Air As Well As HEPA Air Purifiers

The Sharper Image never claimed that the Ionic Breeze cleaned the air as well as True HEPA purifiers. Like good business people, they avoided the subject of efficiency altogether, for the most part. The stuff hit the fan when Consumer Reports said the Ionic Breeze silent air purifier cleaned only 30% of pollution out of the air. However, you have to consider that 100% of the polluted air will have to pass in and out of the machine quite a few times. Getting something 30% clean over and over again will, after time, get you almost to 100%. No, it's not as efficient, but one could say that ionic air purifiers, if given plenty of time, will do the job just as well as anything. They're also much cheaper to purchase, operate, and maintain. Also, don't forget that Consumer Reports only compared to True HEPA air purifiers as opposed to the much more common HEPA-type purifiers. HEPA-type air purifiers have no particular efficiency, while True HEPA machines are out of reach for many consumers.

The Ionic Breeze Actually Makes The Air Unhealthy

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.

Some Say The Ionic Breeze Air Purifier Killed The Sharper Image

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.

How Are Newer Ionic Air Purifiers Different?

Newer ionic air purifiers aren't significantly different from the original as the concept behind was not only simple, but effective, and wouldn't be easy to improve. Simply put, ionic air purifiers effectively, though slowly, clean air pollution just fine, and they do it quite cheaply. The original Ionic Breeze itself might be hard to find, but newer versions of it as well as the Ionic Pro air purifier and various generics are still easily obtainable. - 31822

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