FINCHforum

I've been reading lately about using HEPA filters to help keep the dust down in the bird room, so I went out and bought one. (Honeywell 17000).

But that thing really blows a lot of air!

I'm not sure where I should put it, so as not to blow cold air on the birds and make them sick.

How do the rest of you manage this?

I point mine up to the ceiling.
I used to have a panel on the output so it would not blow on the cages.

Point the output away from the birds.
But the main thing is put the input side towards the birds, so it sucks in the dust.

I point mine away from the birds also.

I have a rolled up towel under one side of mine, so it tips the outflow away from the cages. It normally blows straight up, but since I have cages nearly to the ceiling, it was creating a breeze as the wind bounced off the ceiling. Now it's at an angle aimed at the far corner of the room.

I have six air purifiers/filters and three of them really blow air. I just have the side where the air comes out in the opposite direction of the birds. It works great and the draft does not affect the birds because it is pointed towards the side of the room where there are no birds.

Thank you for the input.

In my bird room, there are cages lining most of the walls. There simply isn't a way to aim the air flow away from one side without aiming towards the others.

The two options I have been considering would be to either put it in the middle of the room, directed straight up, or to maybe put it underneath my work table, so that the table blocks the air flow and dissipates it somewhat.

All I can picture is that this thing is going to turn my bird room into a whirlwind.

But Bugaboo5, if you have six going, and three that really blow air, do you not experience a lot of turbulence?

What about the chilling factor? My bird room has always maintained a constant 70 degrees. Now it will be like I'm cooling it off with a fan.

Do you all keep them turned on low?

LOL, you can hear the wind flow in the room, but the birds are used to it. Start your air purifier at low and gradually increase the volume by days or weeks. I now keep all of mine at the highest level and thank God I do -- the amount of dust and dander collected is appalling! Can you just imagine just breathing in all that stuff? Pleh!

The birds don't mind the sound at all. The five I have running currently are:

GE HEPA 106653 Air Purifier
3M Office Air Cleaner
Ionic Pro Turbo TA500 ‑ Air Purifier
Oreck XL Tower Professional Air Purifier
Holmes HAP424-U Air Purifier

Of those five, the GE, 3M, and the Holmes HAP424-U Air Purifier blow substantial air. The GE and the 3M are also the two loudest, with the Oreck coming in a close third in terms of sound.

There is hardly any chilling factor unless I am standing right in front of the filters/purifiers. We keep the heat on in our house almost 24/7 and maintain the house at 75-80 degrees.

I keep my birds all on one side, so I have the strong air blowers going off blowing in the opposite direction. Again, it's pretty disgusting. All this dust and dander we can't see with the naked eye accumulate in the filters. I would start yours off low and increase the rate/speed over time. Get the birds accustomed to the sound. I wouldn't cover the filter with a table or anything, as that would prevent dust and dander from being collected at full capacity. Most of my equipment shoot the air out of the side. The only one that shoots up is the GE. But I think the shooting up will work to your advantage in your situation, given that you have birds on all sides. The air should not affect the temperature of your room, I think, but check your thermometer.

Good luck!

Thank you for the detailed information. It's very helpful.

Such a great discussion on air cleaners; I have recently purchased 2.

Question: Who has an air cleaner with "washable/cleanable" filters and how does it work?

Question: Do you have to run it on high to do a good job? Can you just run it on medium or low, & is that still effective?

I started mine on low, to get everyone used to the sound. Then as bugaboo mentioned, I gradually raised the speed up over several weeks to medium, then to high. Given how much gunk the filter collects, I want it on HIGH to collect more of it. YUK !!!

If HIGH is a problem, with the draft it creates on the birds, then run it on medium.
Draft on the birds is NOT good.

The only exception to this is if you use an electrostatic filter. These use a metal grid of plates to collect the dust on the plates. A wire charges the particles +, then the + charged particles are attracted to a - charged plate. If the air moves too fast, the charged particles will go by the plate too fast to be attracted to the plates. Here I use medium (3 speed fan) or low (2 speed fan).

I got my HEPA filter before the washable HEPA filters came out.
I may replace my paper filter element with a washable one.

i try to avoid allowing mine to blow directly on the birds as well