Customer Reviews

Wagan EL2022 Ionic Air Purifier

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I bought this from amazon, based on all the good reviews. I was trying to get the smoking smell out of my car. This product is petty impressive in that, as soon as I turn it ON there seemed to be a magical "no smell" environment (at least when I sit on the drivers seat). So I must say that the product works very well. The issue came when I used it for my 30 minutes commute back and forth from work and saw that I had a persistent sore throat and throat irritation in the evening. I then read about this online and found that a side effect of a product like this that releases a lot of ozone, is that it can cause throat irritation. So I have decided to keep it and use it only when its really required - I cannot keep it ON all the time in my car. So in short, while this product does its work petty well, people who may be sensitive to sore throat and throat dryness etc may need to think twice before getting it.

Added in march 2011:
I have owned this for almost a year now. I don't use it very often, but it lies in my glove box for use some times. I have grown used to the smoke smell in my car :).
I want to point out that this device does not remove the smoking smell from the car itself. It just creates this zone of "no smell" while its turned on.

I bought a used GMC Envoy 2 weeks ago. It was obvious that the previous owner was a smoke. Although the smell was not overbearing (probably kept the window open while smoking), it was still there.

My first (and cheapest) attempt at removing the smell was to place 2 small bowls of vinegar in the car while I was not using it. This helped for a short period of time, but the smell would slowly creep back in after a little while.

My second (and most expensive) attempt was to use the Gone Smoke "fogger" product that I had bought on Amazon. I set up two of these cans and ran my air conditioner on full blast and set it to circulate the air internally for a few minutes (per the instructions). I came out the next morning and found that the smoke smell was gone...but seemed to be more covered up than destroyed. There was a faint smell but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Regardless, after a few days, the smoke smell was coming back.

My last attempt was the Wagan Car Ionizer. I plugged the unit in about 5:00pm on a monday night. I came out to my car the next morning and could not believe the fresh smell (or lack there of) in my car. It was almost weird (in a good way). The best way I can describe it is that my car has a "new car smell" withouth the new car smell. I know that makes no sense but it is the only way I can describe it. I also noticed instantly how much easier it was to breathe.

I have now had the unit in my car for 4 days and it smells as fresh as the day I put it in. Of course, this is still in teh very early going, but I feel confident that the smell will nto return. The only question is how long the unit will last. But, hopefully by that point, the "stink particles" would have been totally irradicated. If worse comes rto worse, I'll just buy another unit. @ $10.99/ea, I have absolutely no problem doing this once a year.

2 final notes: 1.) I have not experienced any of teh sore throat issues that others have described. But again, it has only been 4 days. 2.) The blue power light is a little overbearing but nothing a small piece of black electrical tape can't take care of.

John

A family member has personal gas problems that leave the car smelling horrible no matter how often it is aired out. This product WORKS! Drawback may be you can't use deoderizers because this device will make them a waste of money. You won't need the smell good stuff because your car will no longer have any bad smells. I give this a very large A++.

I read all the reviews for this item, and didn't believe it could work. So I decided to buy one and try it myself, since the price was right. First, I tried it overnight in my car, which was smelling a little "dull" after the hot summer. The next day, I did notice the "ozone" smell, but otherwise, the car... well... didn't smell! Next, we put it in my mother's car, which stunk since she bought it due to dogs, cigars, and a water leak. Someone had put nasty grape stuff in the car to mask the odors. We were shocked that after only one night, most of the stink was gone! Third, we used it overnight in my boyfriend's Mustang, which got a little flooded a few years ago and had a slight musty odor. So far, so good! That means this thing worked in three cars with three different smells.

I don't know how it works, but it works.

I am really sensitive to smells, especially in cars. This ionizer did a very good job at neutralizing the new car smell in the car that I bought a week before getting the ionizer. It also neutralized the new floor mats I put in a day later. I will definitely be keeping this in my car for as long as I have the car.

I bought a 2 year old car and the old owner smoked. It's only a slight smell and I didn't even notice it at first. The car had been completely detailed inside and out right before I bought it, carpets and floor mats cleaned and every surface wiped down. So the cleaning fluids probably masked the smell for a while. I was driving a friend a couple of weeks ago and he said it smells like someone had been smoking in the car. That's the first time I even noticed a slight, stale cigarette smell. Based on so many positive reviews I thought I would give this a try, I figured for around $11 I've got nothing to lose! I put this in my car on Monday and it's now Friday. The unit has run for about 14 hours, and so far there has been no change at all - the same dull, stale cigarette smell is still there. I know this isn't very powerful, so I'll give it another week or so to see if it gets the smell out. So far I'm convinced the great reviews were written by employees of the company. I don't expect this to work even with another week of use. If it does, I will change my rating. If not, I'll try a true ozone generator. But if you have stale odors in your car that you just can't seem to get out, especially cigarette smoke, I would advise against this.

Update - Just over two weeks now, averaging 2-3 hours per day in my car, using this air purifier and it has absolutely no affect on the stale cigarette smell. Don't waste your money on this thing. Wish I could give it 0 stars.

Update 2 - I took the car to the dealer I bought it from who did an ozone "shock" treatment. That completely removed the odor. There was, however, a residual ozone smell that lasted about a week. but that's gone now too. If you have cigarette smoke odor or any other smell you can't remove, use an ozone generator. Call a detail shop, car dealer or equipment rental place. If you rent one, use it carefully because they can be quite dangerous.

I only really have one comment to make. The ionizer works for sure but seems to lose some of its effectiveness over time.

It's always plugged in, in my car and I don't see any difference.
I wonder what it does.

Not worth buying.

I bought this because I am/was a smoker and my dr told me I had to quit for health reason's and I plugged it into my car for 3 maybe 4 days and the smell is gone. It's great, even when I turn on the AC there's no smell. I don't even use it anymore, the smell didn't come back. I would highly recommend this product!

I sometimes smoke cigars in my car. This item got rid of the odor in about 2 days. Left it in the car for about a week. Developed a horrible cough. Took 10 day to stop coughing. Probably should not have left it plugged in for so long. Really scary