so the work is done, now the clean up... few questions on dust

[eddie bee]

I will take some updated pics, but the closets are built, the drawers slide well, the kitchen is complete with cabinets and granite in place...i do have a slight squaring issue on some drawers, which i think will just be something i fix down the road.

I made the big mistake of cutting the wood and making the drawers in my apt. I have also spackles and sanded, and sanded wood filler, cut sheet rock and hardi backer, all in my apt (i didnt know any better). From what i have read this stuff is pretty toxic in the air, so i think my apt is a air quality disatser... after reading various Links on dust collection and air quality i am really concerned.

keep in mind this is not a shop but the apt which i live in, i cant seem to figure out how to move enough air (as recommended to clean up the smallest and unhealthiest dust) as well as getting the right filter.

Any suggestions or has anyone had success with anything in particular

[Bob Childress]

Eddie,

Good for you getting the big stuff done. I assume you have vacuumed up the debris at this point and simply want to clear the air in your apartment. If so, get one or two good air cleaners/filters with HEPA filtration. Depends on how many square feet you need to clean. Then, just turn them on and leave them on. The specs will usually tell you how many square feet the cleaner will handle.

Usualy there is a carbon pre-filter ahead of the HEPA. At first, check this every day and wash/dry/put back on as needed. The carbon filter catches the real big pieces. The HEPA catches the tiny ones that do the real damage to your lungs. Honeywell makes a pretty good filter, as does Bionaire. Stay away from the Ionic Breeze IMHO, because it doesn't move any air. Consumer Reports rated that one lowest of all.

Good luck.:)

[eddie bee]

after reading about the smallest dust particles i just dont think it moves enough air... i was thinking about a cyclone hooked up to a shop vac, and just going over the entire house again.

yes i vacuumed up all the spackle dust and wood chips, but from what i have read that just recirculates it all into the air

[eddie bee]

http://www.cdclarue.com/pb/pbhdconcrete.html

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Ditto on the nix to the ionic breeze.

A while back I was in an office with a pile of smokers. I tried a Honeywell version of the ionic breeze.
It didn't do a damn thing.
I have a 250 year old musty dusty moldy concrete and stone celler on a wet location (high water table). I put the worthless thing in there. Yesterday I opened it for a cleaning. No need. After 5 years the ionic elements are getting sort of dirty but not really.

In my never so humble opinion the ionic breeze is a howeling failure as an air cleaner.
On the other hand, as a device for separating people from their money it appears to be a stunning success.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

http://www.cdclarue.com/pb/pbhdconcrete.html

Clearly they have lifted a page from reverse osmosis filtration. In reverse osmosis the water to be filtered is forced through a filter in the sub micron range at somewhere starting at 800 PSI on up. The filter is so effective that it will trap salt molecules seperating water from salt and producing clear fresh water. However everything in the water remains sitting on top of the filter and will plug it up. So the machines have to either drive a high pressure jet sideways across the filter and/or from the filtered water side back through the filter to cleanse it and float the detritus away.

That appears what the filter machine in your post is doing. It looks like a very good idea.

I wonder how hard it'd be to retro fit that same back flush technology to existing filters.

[eddie bee]

and every 5 seconds there is a valve that shuts off one filter while the other two keep sucking, and the back pressure pushes that air out from the filter that is off, and it rotates this way continuously.

sounds cool, but at $1600 bucks i think i'll keep looking for another way.

i was thinking of the mini cyclone connected to a vac, but i just realized that i wont ever be cutting wood in my apt again, so i'm not going to have wood chips... i basically just need a very very very good air filter that can clean the air of dust under .3 microns... as of now i have not found a solution and i would love to hear of anyones attempts to filter the air in their home...

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DustCollectionBasics.cfm

this was pretty disturbing

[Jesse Cloud]

If this dust situation isn't going to come up again, why not just get a cheap box fan and put it in front of an open door or window and let it blow for a few hours to ventilate the bad stuff outdoors?

[eddie bee]

the smallest and most harmful dust takes a lot to move, that just wouldnt generate enought CFM to move the dust

[tod evans]

eddie, you yourself said you`re not going to be cutting any more wood in your apt. so why do you feel the need for some type of particle filter? a regular household vacuum with a clean filter and in a couple weeks the only particles in the apt will be comming off you and your guests...02 tod