Austin Air Update

I recently (as in yesterday) got a comment on a previous post of mine, about the Austin Air Purifier I purchased last month.

"Alright! So what does the poi and one lovebird flock think of the Austin Air now? Are they adapting? Do you notice less dust floating around in the environment too? You know I love my Austins!!"

They've adapted to seeing it there and don't seem to be concerned with it in their room anymore. It's now part of the decor.

Less dust floating? Well, there was never that much dust around, given that none of my guys really generate that much dust. While I didn't see that much difference in the air, I think it did take longer for a little dust to settle on the cages. According to the Boy, the air does feel cleaner.

All in all, I do feel like it was a good purchase but I'm sure it'll be even more handy when I'll have it in a bigger room. Right now, confined in the small-ish birdroom, it doesn't have to work too hard ;)

New air purifier

I've recently purchased a new air purifier for the birdroom and it arrived yesterday.

Before, I had a Rabbit Air which I love and is in the living room (it's soooo quiet) and I had another kind (not sure of the brand) in the birdroom. This particular air purifier we got off some type of points system. While it did a good job, recently I've started to trust it less since it's been acting up. Cleaning / changing the filters didn't work so it will be retired, or at least moved to the bedroom where it won't have as much to do.

I've said that I loved my Rabbit Air purifier. However, it is not what I got this time. After reading (a lot) of reviews and talking to other parrot owners on some forums, it appeared like the Austin Air might be something to consider. I've been meaning to get one for some time now, but didn't have the justification for purchasing it. But when the Boy volunteered to jointly get something for the birds, that is what I wanted. And it just so happened that one of the recommended sites for purchasing it in Canada was having a sale.

So here it is, my new Austin Air Allergy machine. Why the Allergy? We decided it was probably the best bang for our dollar without going overboard. Yes, it doesn't look as good as the Rabbit Air, but it's one mega power horse! It is recommended to start it on high for an hour when first plugging it in and...well you could feel the air being sucked in and pushed back out (the outburst of air was actually moving some things in the birdroom!)


What did the birds think of it? Well..so far they don't seem to be big fans of it, even Joey who normally relished to be in the way of air being blown out of something.

And while it's not as quiet as the Rabbit Air, it is fairly quiet on low, provides some type of white noise on medium and sounds downright powerful on high, it's not as loud as I thought it would be. Specially on low.

Air filtration

Let's go on the topic of air filtration with parrots.

I do believe it is important to have at least one air purifier when one owns parrots; while I don't tend to over sanitize anything I give them, since their respiratory system is quite fragile, investing in a good air purifier is required.

Yes, it will benefit your bird's health to have such a thing as well as your own health, especially for all of those living with rather dusty birds (cockatiels, cockatoos, African greys to name a few). As it turns out, I do think I am allergic to the dander issued by cockatoos and African greys, as I had a terrible time being around my mom's birds without having itchy eyes and a runny nose. The installation of an air purifier helped tremendously, to the point where I had no reaction when in the same room as the birds (and the purifier of course).

Now how to choose which air purifier to go with? Because let's be honest - there is plenty of choice to go around.

While I don't pretend to know which one is better, it's clear to me that you will get what you pay for. Invest as little as possible at first, you'll end up having to buy a whole lot of replacement parts if not having the replace the whole thing early on. Filters can also add up in costs so it's another thing to look into for long term spending.

I have two air purifiers.

When we got the first one, I couldn't bring myself to choose so we ended up with this one (as posted about here). While that one was technically "free", we did look it up before hand and it seemed to be pretty good without being over the top. And while it does seem to do a good job with keeping the air clean, it's not particularly quiet (regardless of what the website say - trust me).

Now for years I was thinking of getting a Rabbit Air purifier. I have to say it's one of the few times that advertisement in a magazine has got me to actually want something but seeing it repetitively in each monthly issue of BirdTalk..well I just wanted it. But due to the price and the fact that it would have to come from the States, I held off purchasing it. That is, until it was posted on a parrot forum that Rabbit Air was offering a discount to anyone from that forum who would order the BioGS SPA-421A purifier. So I took the leap. One of the major selling point at the time? How quiet it was and people were saying it was true.

I received my purifier earlier this week and I concur with all the others - it is indeed very VERY quiet. By having it run all the time, it mostly stays on the low setting and I don't hear a noise coming from it. I do know it's on since the sensor is quite sensitive and the level will turn up if it feels the need to (which always surprises me as I forget it's on). The turbo setting on the Rabbit Air is quieter than the low setting on my other air purifier..just to say how quiet it is.

It's also very thin and doesn't get in the way.



Joey also modeled the purifier.



I ordered straight from Rabbit Air and must say, they gave excellent customer service. It was a pleasure dealing with them.

Today's delivery

Not toys.

We actually received the air purifier we ordered a while back. Ironically, I've been thinking about it last night and this morning before it's arrival - wishful thinking? Maybe..

In any case it's here now and I'm thrilled!

For a while I've been browsing different air purifiers, uncertain on which one to get. Finally, the Boy mentioned wanting to redeem some Points and was there anything I wanted. Well, I asked if there were any air purifiers in the items the points could be redeemed for and there was one. We read reviews on it and they were mostly good so voila, "free" air purifier.

We got this one.

It's in the birdroom, as it could not cover all the apartment and it's really the birdroom's air that I want as clean as possible given they do spend a sizable amount of time in there (i.e. during the day when we are at work and then at night).

So far, my only complaint is that it seems to be on the noisy side, but I've often read this was the case with these things so I won't obsess about it.