IQAir - GC MultiGas

I have Austins and IQAir MuliGas. The Austins were recommended by a clinic which treats individuals with extreme chemical sensitivities. You want a unit where the fan feeds the filters (1st in the chain) to avoid contamination from the fan itself. No filter is going to eliminate all VOCs.

I have a couple of models: Immunity Machine, Healthmate Plus, bedroom machine. There have been some reviews stating that Austins are slower at clearing a room of particulates. My main concern is VOCs and since I run 3-4 filters in each room that isn't a concern for me. Am now testing the immunity machine. Seems to do a much better job with VOCs, although final results will take a while. What is your concern with IQAair?

I run 3 filters, Austin and IQAIR, in each of 2 spaces - one 300 square feet the other 600 square feet. If the air is poor outside my Purple Air sensors will still show green. However there are so many chemicals in wildfire smoke, particularly if structures have burned, that they don't get everything. I am sensitive to terpenes and right now they don't help with the Camphor tree flowers. So they can greatly improve air quality but don't expect all VOCs to be removed from the air.

I use Austin Immunity machine and iQair GC Multigas units as VOCs are a major concern for me. Not rated.

To get rid of VOCs you need a lot of absorbent substrate, 10 pounds or more. IQAir GC multigas works, other vendors include airpura, allerair, austin.

For VOC removal the generally recommended manufacturers are Airpura, Allerair, Austin, IQAir all of which have filters with 10 or more pounds of carbon. The AirDoctor 1000 has a relatively small Carbon filter which would have to be replaced more frequently than the others. This is reflected in the cost of the replacement filters which run \~$72 where replacements for the others run in the 100's. Doubt that it is as effective due to its small size. I use Austin and IQAir GC Multigas units. Just replaced the Austin filters with Immunity machine filters and saw significant improvement, but at the cost of \~$700 per filter. They are supposed to last 5 years. If you have to replace before that they reduce the cost. Consumer Reports (subscription required) has extensive discussions about air filters and reviews for filters without Carbon.

Consumer Reports rates it a 53, at low speed 2/5 and 4/5 at high speed. Their top rated large room filter is the Coway Airmega ProX with a rating of 85. You will need one unit in each separate room. I run 3 of their GC MultiGas units, 1-2 per room.

IqAir e disponibil in Romania, doar ca e destul de scump, link la importator: https://www.dezumidificatoraer.ro/purificator-gc-multigas-DZ384 Completare: nu te astepta la minuni nici de la asta, adica are un efect partial si de scurta durata.

[Iqair](https://www.iqair.com/us/products/air-purifiers/gc-multigas) (ships from California) or [allerair](https://allerair.com/products/airmedic-pro-6-ultra?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=7f8d24bda&pr_rec_pid=8225197699&pr_ref_pid=8225328195&pr_seq=uniform&variant=42969115470) (ships from Canada). They have hepa filters and pounds of activated carbon to filter out VOC’s. However, the iqair purifer is much quieter. I recommend getting a [Temtop](https://a.co/d/e6atbsG) air quality monitor to measure particulate matter and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC’s), to ensure the purifier actually works and when to take extra precautions of the air inside/ outside is really bad. I tried both due to the LA wildfires when the smoke was really bad and even now as I live near the fire zone and there are concerns of bad air quality as the cleanup is expected to last 1-2 years. My favorite is the iqair one since it’s quieter and looks nicer, but it has less activated carbon. However, the Temtop monitor doesn’t show any issue filtering out VOC’s. I do live in an 1bedroom apartment however. The allerair is good too, it’s just too loud and the customer service is not as good. For your house , you have to get 1-3 of either of them.

I would overall aim to address the mold problem and deprioritize VOCs unless they’re actively a problem. So that would mean maximizing the amount of hepa filtration within your budget. Ideally a purifier for each bedroom and either a larger unit if the living room / kitchen is an open concept or just do two in that large space. For carbon filters, IQAir is very impactful if you have the budget for the GC Multigas. There are other recommendations like Austin Air. A lot of people don’t feel like the carbon filter has a significant impact, but I know a few chronically ill folks who say it makes a meaningful difference.

Absolutely. I have an IQAir GC Multigas

We rec’d the IQAir Multigas GC yesterday and I ran it in the bedroom all night without no problems. In this short time, the unit has already significantly reduced the overpowering VOC smell in my bedroom and bath. It’s a big unit, it’s as tall as my hip! I have the fans turned all the way up and it’s not noisy to me but I also don’t mind that sound of a fan going, others might not feel the same. So far, I’m super impressed and think it was worth the cost.

I agree, I have an IQAir multigas GC and an Airpura G700. They both work incredibly well and I highly recommend both, but I prefer the IQAir due to less noise and I love to use it with the App. Don’t get me wrong, we have the Airpura cranked in the living room during the wildfire smoke high AQ days and it works incredibly well.

We just moved into a new build that absolutely reeked of VOC’s, and I’m super sensitive. We bought them specifically to tackle wildfire smoke and VOC’s. We put the IQAir in the bedroom because it’s quieter, and the placed the Airpura in the living room/kitchen which smelled the worse by far. I’d say within less than a week 99% of the VOC smell was gone. The Airpura is a mechanical beast and does the job extremely well, I feel like it did the heavy lifting of removing the VOC’s. Just know that it’s louder, and only has an on/off button and a dial to adjust the intensity, that’s it, no bells or whistles. I feel like it’s more for special events like VOC’s or wildfire events rather than a daily use air purifier.

Something like the Cleanairkits if you can get furnace filters where you live or you can consider the airfanta 3 pro. I don’t think CleanAirKits ships to India though but you could make your own since it’s pretty DIY. They both are low cost and offer excellent cadr without being loud. Hepa filters are super loud at their high setting which you need to get the high cadr values. If they are on their low setting, they don’t really do much. If you want, the iqair gc multigas would be the most expensive, nicest air purifier that will offer elite performance. The unit costs a ton though but you get what you pay for. Since it’s a big unit, you could run it on a lower setting so it won’t be so loud and you would still get good performance. The 12 lbs of carbon in it will scrub out harmful gases you might encounter where you live. Their CEO breathed out of the air purifier in a sealed box with a tear gas grenades going off as a marketing stunt haha.

If money is out of the question. IQ Air Multigas.

Iq air MCS hands down. Entertain no other option, its ability to filter is down to the smallest size I can find.

You’re right, my bad. Guess is a colloquial name we’ve given it in my house. I’ve had two for 9 years and can’t imagine life without them. We do vacuum the bottom pre filter every two weeks to prevent dog hair from reducing flow. I do bring a medium sized new version Air Oasis when traveling.

AirDoctor didn’t seem to do anything for me so I sold it and got an IQAIR which seems to help quite a bit. The replacement filters are expensive At the time I bought it it was the only purifier capable of trapping mycotoxins which are like 0.003 microns or 0.03 microns They have a hyper-HEPA filter system I run mine on high 24/7 They are medical grade and even used for clean rooms. They are also the only one I’m aware of that you can break down to properly clean out mycotoxins and take it with you when you leave mold. My humidifier, vacuum and old air purifier will have to go in the trash

Unfortunately the most effective purifiers are not cheap. I bought an AirDoctor because the IQAir was too expensive. It didn’t seem to do anything, so I ended up selling it and buying the IQAir in the end. The IQAir MultiGas was most effective (of the IQAir lineup) against VOCs like mycotoxins last I looked. I supplement with Microbalance EC3 candles