My Current Thoughts on Air Purifiers

I'm Removing Every AirDoctor Link From My Site

I have promoted AirDoctor for years. I have talked about those units in stories, in guides, in my emails, and in most of the DMs I have answered about air quality or mold. And, a lot of you own one because I told you to buy one. And I do genuinely love these air purifiers and consider them to be a quality product. So this is not a post I am writing lightly. I am removing every AirDoctor and AquaTru affiliate link I have. All of them. Blog posts, guides, link in bio, podcast, everywhere I can find them. I am not taking another dollar from that company, or sending them any new customers. So in case you've missed what I've recently written about it on Instagram, here's exactly why, and here is what I recommend doing if you already own one.

What I Actually Know

I want to be careful here, because there is a lot circulating right now and not all of it is equally solid. I'm not going to base any decisions off of things that I can't back up.

What is a matter of public record:

AirDoctor and AquaTru are made by a company called Ideal Living. Its founders and co-CEOs are Peter Spiegel and Katie Williams. That one comes straight from the company's own website.

Prakashanand Saraswati is a man who led Barsana Dham, a two hundred acre ashram outside Austin that served as the Texas seat of a religious sect called Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat. In March 2011, a Hays County jury convicted him on twenty counts of indecency with a child. He did not show up for sentencing. The court sentenced him in absentia to 280 years, and Interpol still carries a red notice for him. The case numbers are CR-08-272 and CR-08-273 if you want to look at the file yourself.

A Texas appellate opinion, case number 03-08-00768-CR, identifies Peter Spiegel (CEO of Ideal Living) as a member of that Barsana Dham community and records that he personally guaranteed a ten million dollar bond for Saraswati.

What is circulating but is not established:

There is a set of videos from Youtuber Reckless Ben making the rounds with much bigger claims attached. An independent review went through seventeen of them and found several unsupported by the available evidence, including the claim that the company finances a trafficking ring, the claim that a judge was bribed, and the claim that news outlets were pressured to bury the story. Honestly, this is all horrifying but so far, there's not a ton of substance to the claims. I PRAY they are not true, but nothing evil really surprises me anymore. There's also some sus surrounding the pair of people making the claims, so that makes everything seem more weird.

But here's the thing... I do not need the unverified parts. The court records about the $10mil bail are enough for me. I cannot, in good conscious, promote these brands ever again. As a follower of Jesus, that doesn't sit right with me in any capacity.

I'm sorry.

I made money from this, and that feels really uncomfortable but I don't want to gloss over it. My affiliate links for AirDoctor and AquaTru have provided a significant contribution to my income for the last couple of years, and honesty this news is gutting to me and I feel really upset about all of this (not about the loss of income for myself because I literally couldn't care less, but I value honesty and integrity above all else). I do not take my platform lightly.

Every time one of you used my link, I got paid. I did not know what I know now, but I also did not know to dig to look for this information, and I had a platform and an audience who trusted me to dig. And that is a heavy burden to carry.

If You Already Own an AirDoctor: Consider Keeping It

Please do not just up and throw away a working machine that you invested your hard-earned money into. That helps nobody. It does not undo the purchase, it costs you hundreds of dollars, and it puts a perfectly good purifier in a landfill. The problem is the ongoing money... filters have to be continually purchased, and every replacement set is another payment to the same company. So here is the workaround: there are third party filters that fit AirDoctor units and are made by completely unaffiliated companies. You keep your machine and the money stops going where you do not want it going.

Search by the part number, not the model name. The listings are a mess and half of them are mislabeled. The part numbers are printed right on your current filter.

AD1000 (parts ADF1001, ADF1002) All in one cartridge design, so the third party versions are integrated three layer units. Ecofort, BreatheMax, Exlyric, and Think Crucial all make two packs. Roughly 7 by 4 by 11.5 inches, swapped about every six months.

AD2000 (parts ADF2001, ADF2002, ADF2003) Think Crucial, Oxyvera, Ecofort, XHT AIRFIL, and another generic option all have kits. Usually one main filter plus two carbon and four pre filters. About 14 by 12 by 2 inches.

AD3000 and 3500 (parts ADF3002, ADF3003) The most competitive category by far. Think Crucial, LifeSupplyUSA, and XHT AIRFIL both make HEPA plus carbon pre filter sets, and there are multi packs from a dozen sellers. 17 by 14 by 2 inches.

AD5000 and 5500 (parts ADF5001, ADF5005, ADF5006) Think Crucial does a fourteen piece kit with two particle filters, four carbon, and eight pre filters. Ecofort has a set as well. Most sellers suggest carbon every six months and the main filter annually.

AD4000 Nothing yet. This is the newest model and the aftermarket has not caught up. If you own one, you are stuck with the genuine filter for now, and if you see a listing claiming compatibility, be skeptical, because several results are actually for an unrelated Bosch unit.

The Honest Downside of Third Party Filters

They are not the same filter. AirDoctor's filters are rated to 99.99 percent at 0.003 microns. The third party filters above are standard True HEPA at 99.97 percent at 0.3 microns.

It voids your warranty. Coverage and performance claims are tied to genuine filters. If the unit fails, you are on your own. Given the circumstances you may not care, but you should know.

Fit quality is inconsistent. These come from a lot of different sellers and the gasket seal varies. A filter that does not seat properly lets air bypass the media completely, which means the machine runs and does almost nothing. If it feels loose, return it.

What I would actually do: third party pre filters without hesitation. They are carbon impregnated sponge sleeves, they are the simplest part in the machine, they need replacing most often, and you lose essentially nothing. That is where most of your spending goes anyway.

For the main HEPA filters, you have a real choice to make. Genuine filter and better ultrafine capture, or third party and no more money to Ideal Living. I am not going to make that call for you. Both are understandable choices and it depends on why you bought the thing. I also want to highlight that there is a difference between ME cutting all ties completely with AirDoctor as someone who recommends products to hundreds of thousands of people, and you as an individual consumer making a choice for your own home.

If you feel troubled by the idea of having these purifiers in your home, you could also consider selling them on Facebook Marketplace.

If You Are Buying a New Purifier

I have been researching all week and have landed on three different options, at three price points.

Medify MA-40. Around 250 to 300 dollars. H13 True HEPA with a real carbon pellet layer, 1,793 square feet in an hour, no WiFi or Bluetooth. It has an optional ionizer that is off by default and CARB certified at zero ozone. I recommend leaving off the ionizer (the same suggestion I made about the AD units). Plastic housing and a modest carbon load are the compromises. This is how you cover a whole house on a normal budget.

Jaspr Pro. I just ordered one with my own money to try it for myself. This comes highly recommended by many people that I trust. They're pricey, at around 1,000 to 1,200 dollars. Steel build, H13 HEPA at 99.99 percent at 0.3 microns and 99.9 percent at 0.1. About two pounds of carbon. Very high airflow near 600 CFM. It has an onboard particle sensor and auto mode that run with no WiFi and no Bluetooth at all, plus a true dark mode for bedrooms. Filters are expensive, so budget four to six hundred a year. Jaspr sent me an affiliate link and a $100 discount code - ORGANIMAMA - use it if you'd like but if you don't want to, that's okay too!

Austin Air HealthMate Plus B402. Also comes highly recommended by multiple sources that I really trust. They're around 895 dollars. Fifteen plus pounds of activated carbon and zeolite, which is not close to anything else on this list. HEPA to 99.99 percent at 0.1 microns. All steel, manual dial, no electronics to speak of. The filter lasts about five years, so the five year cost is the lowest of the three by a wide margin. Lower airflow, so it belongs in a bedroom rather than a great room.

Off gassing and chemical sensitivity, go Austin. Fast clearing in an open space, go Jaspr. Multiple rooms on a budget, go Medify.

Where I Land

I firmly believe that you bring into your home matters. I also put Christ first in my home, my life, and on my platform. And so, without a second of hesitation, my partnership with Ideal Living is done.

If you want to keep your unit, keep it. Use the part numbers above and stop the money to Ideal Living, if that is something you want to do. If you are ready to replace it, there are three good options up there. I already have a Jaspr unit on the way to my house, and I plan to also order a Medify and an Austin Air unit so I can give you my unbiased, honest feedback on all 3, soon!

xoxo, Kristen

The court records and corporate filings referenced here are public. Claims I have described as unverified are exactly that, and I am not asserting them as fact.