We have a dog and cat, neither of whom are allowed in his bedroom. With National Allergy Supply's help I've cleaned/treated his room surfaces, covered all his bedding, covered the heat vent, treated the animals fur, and purchased a Whispure air cleaner. My husband questions the keep his door closed and the air cleaner on all day thinking:

How much energy does the Whispure cleaner take? Should it be run all day every day, even when our son is not in the room? Does shutting a heat vent prevent allergens from sneaking in? Does shutting heat vents save energy if they are only shut for a 7 hour day and then the room needs to be reheating for evening sleeping?

I'm concerned that shutting the vent and turning off the air cleaner will compromise the effectiveness of the allergy free zone we're trying to create. -- Sandy, Wisconsin

I asked Sondra Cooley, who provides training in the use of the Whipsure and other allergy products, to share her expertise in this area with us. Below is her response.

Most physicians do recommend the use of an air cleaner in the patient's sleeping environment to remove airborne allergens. Parents sometimes must decide which is the best way to utilize the cleaner for their situation. All models of the Whispure are designed to be run 24 hours a day for maxium effectiveness. The unit should be placed in the bedroom at night with the door closed for best performance. Doing so enables the cleaner to reduce the particle count and keep it down all night. The cleaner can be switched to a lower speed setting and still maintain a low particulant count. This means allergen levels do not rise and trigger symptoms.

The Whispure models use an ordinary 120 volt outlet. Maximum draw is about 130 watts on high setting or one cent per hour average cost.

Another question that needs to be addressed is the use of out vent kit. This product is designed to be placed over the supply vent in the bedroom. The electrostatic material will trap dust as it enters the room. This ensures that the bedroom stays clean and allergens from other parts of the house do not recontaminate the sleeping environment. This filter should not block the air flow, but instead, provide filtered air. These filters were designed so that vents do not have to be closed. We recommend that the homeowner change the filter every 4 weeks for maximum protection. Both the kit and the air cleaner will help provide allergen-free air.

For more information on these products, click here.

Sondra Cooley
Training and Education Manager
National Allergy Supply

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