Posted by Ashley on June 29th, 2009
The summer of 2009 has officially begun. To help increase your comfort level this season, we have introduced another option for weathering those toasty – and often unforgiving – temperatures. Along with our wide variety of freestanding portable air conditioners, we offer a great selection of highly efficient and economical window air conditioners.
Window AC units are room air conditioners designed to cool areas in your home, office, or business evenly and comfortably. These self-contained appliances are most often installed inside standard double-hung windows, but some units can be configured to install through a wall if you don’t have a window available.
Read more about Sylvane's new line-up of window air conditioners
Posted by Ashley on June 19th, 2009
Drip…drip…drip. Does this situation sound familiar? You open your refrigerator, longing for a tall glass of clean water – only to be met with an empty water filter pitcher. Now, you’re going to have to refill it and wait for what seems like an eternity while your tap water slowly drips through the purifying filter before it’s ready to drink.
Drip…drip…annoying drip.
Well guess what? The time you have to wait for that satisfying glass of agua has been drastically reduced with the Clear2O Original Water Pitcher. Nabbing a 2007 “Good Buy” award from Good Housekeeping magazine, the Clear2O water filter pitcher puts clean, contaminant-free water at your fingertips in a record time of 34 seconds.
Read more about the Clear2O Original Water Pitcher
Posted by Ashley on June 12th, 2009
Electronics-giant Sharp has introduced 2 super-quiet yet very powerful models into its series of sleek and attractive portable air conditioners. The new units – the Sharp CV-P12PX and the Sharp CV-P13PX – have loads of impressive features. They are equipped with four operating modes, three fan speeds, automatic draining technology, and advanced airflow louvers, to name a few. However, one quality that makes them stand out from the rest – and not to mention from similar models in their class – is that they are incredibly quiet. We’re talking “library quiet.”
When running on their lowest fan speeds, these units emit sounds that are only slightly louder than a whisper. At 41 decibels and 43 decibels respectively, the CV-P12PX and CV-P13PX can be operated in your bedroom, office, or living room with virtually zero disruption. That’s a long way from many first-generation portable AC models that, when operating, you swear sound like a plane shooting down a runway.
Read more about our new Sharp air conditioners
Posted by Ashley on June 1st, 2009
Swedish manufacturer Blueair certainly has you covered, now that it has added five new manual models—spanning a range of room sizes—to its brood of allergen-zapping and smoke-stopping air cleaners. The newest Blueair air purifiers are the 203, 303, 403, 503, and 603 models. The smallest unit, the Blueair 203, covers a space of about 175 sq. ft., and the largest, the Blueair 603, cleans an area of 640 sq. ft.
Each new air purifier is equipped with Blueair’s patented HEPASilent Technology, which performs both mechanical and electrostatic filtration to achieve an extremely high efficiency of 99.97% of particles sized down to 0.1 microns. That’s actually better filtration performance than True HEPA units, which remove the same percentage of particles down to 0.3 microns. Moreover, each unit received exceptionally high CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) scores for tobacco smoke, pollen, and dust.
Read more about Blueair's new air purifier models
Posted by Ashley on May 27th, 2009
All right, I didn’t actually list 101 here (just 21), but there are seemingly endless uses for our brand new Ladybug Tekno 2350 Vapor Steam Cleaner. Manufactured by Advanced Vapor Technologies, this system is the most powerful Ladybug steam cleaner available. The EPA-qualified Tekno 2350 makes use of the patent-pending TANCS disinfection system—TANCS stands for Thermo Accelerated Nano Crystal Sanitation—to create super-heated dry vapor steam that is lethal for germs, bacteria, allergens, and dirt.
This Ladybug vapor steam cleaner is excellent for residential cleaning tasks, but it’s also a great economical tool for workers in many commercial sectors such as car-detailing, the food and hospitality industries, and janitorial departments in schools, universities, and on corporate campuses. Come to think of it, almost any household and industry would benefit from the Ladybug’s safe and chemical-free approach to cleaning.
Read more about the many uses of Ladybug steam cleaners
Posted by Ashley on May 12th, 2009
Over the past month, the U.S. has seen its share of H1N1 virus infections – otherwise known as the swine flu – catapult from a single case in late April to more than 3,000 cases as of today. Luckily for us, the bulk of these cases are mild and 100% treatable with anti-viral drugs. However, health officials warn that we may not be out of the woods yet. It’s possible that this virus may morph into a more severe strain during the 2009 flu season. That puts even more emphasis on prevention and protection.
To learn additional ways to protect yourself and your family – (remember, the CDC’s recommendations are the primer) – check out our latest article What Can You Do To Prevent the Swine Flu?
Posted by Ashley on May 4th, 2009
Are you dreaming of a powerful portable AC that requires only minimal maintenance, features a savvy design, and can actually help you save money? Well, it’s not just a dream. Feast your eyes on our latest portable air conditioner (PAC) from New Jersey-based manufacturer, Amcor.
The Amcor NanoMax C14000E is the newest model to join the award-winning NanoMax line. Like its counterparts, this unit uses the company’s patented AutoDrain NanoMist Technology to automatically drain condensation from the unit – and to free you from ever having to empty a water bucket again. With 14,000 BTUs of cooling power per hour, this model is also the most powerful in the NanoMax series. It covers up to 500 sq. ft., which makes it the perfect supplemental spot cooler for a living room or other large room on hot summer nights.
Read more about the Amcor C14000E
Posted by Ashley on April 22nd, 2009
Today, millions of people across the globe are celebrating Earth Day. In honor of this nearly 40-year-old celebration, I pose this question to you: Do you know your carbon footprint? Thanks to the Earth Day Network, I know mine. I calculated it using their Ecological Footprint Calculator, and I’m a tad embarrassed to report these results. If everyone on Earth lived exactly as I do currently, it would take 4.9 Planet Earths to provide enough resources to sustain our daily lifestyle. What?!
Here I thought I was doing as much as I realistically could to help our environment. I recycle what can be recycled; I shop with reusable bags; I light my home with compact fluorescent lights; and I’ve started composting. And yet, these actions, while helpful, don’t seem to be enough. I – we – could be doing so much more.
At Sylvane, we try to do more every day. For example, we work hard to adopt greener habits around the office. Along with using recycled product cartons and recyclable shipping boxes, we use 100% biodegradable packing peanuts when packaging our products. We feverishly recycle everyday trash, turn off lights when they’re not needed, and use plant-based cleaners.
We also strive to pack eco-friendly solutions into our product catalog. New this week are a line of Earth-conscious Blueair air purifiers, including the 203, 270E, 303, 403, 503, and 603 models. Here are some additional products that can help to reduce our collective carbon footprint: Read more about Sylvane's eco-friendly products
Posted by Ashley on April 15th, 2009
Yesterday afternoon, President Obama and the First Family welcomed their new furry, four-legged canine “Bo” to the White House. Bo, a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog, is a curly-haired, black-and-white puppy with a lion-cut tail and lots of appeal. Aside from his penchant for being a gentle companion, obedient, agile, and easily trained, Bo is considered to be hypoallergenic – a must for 10-year-old Malia Obama, who is allergic to dogs. But is there really such a thing as a hypoallergenic dog? Many allergists say no.
According to the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America, Portuguese water dogs – or “Porties” – are considered hypoallergenic because they are single-coated and shed less hair than other breeds. However, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) says that the amount of hair a dog actually sheds is not the issue for allergy-sufferers. It’s not a dog’s hair that causes allergies. It’s a dog’s dander, or dead skin cells. Read more about hypoallergenic dogs
Posted by Ashley on April 6th, 2009
Spring pollen is back – and it’s in full force. As reported by CNN, ABC News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – and quite possibly, that thick layer of yellow powder on your car – this year’s spring pollen is apparently going to be worse than ever. (Let’s all let out a collective groan.) According to countless reports, we can expect higher than normal pollen counts in many parts of the country.
For instance, if you live in the Northeast, you can expect heavier pollen levels as a result of the area’s high population as well as the large number of pollen-producing plants in the region. The Midwest will also likely see a more severe allergy season, stemming from the late winter flooding and snowstorms, which have made the ground ripe for tree and grass growth. In the Southeast, there are conflicting predictions. While some numbers predict a less severe allergy season, allergists at the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic, say residents in the region should hunker down for a particularly tough season, based on recent pollen trends and weather patterns. Read more about the spring pollen forecast
Posted by Ashley on March 18th, 2009
Last Friday (the 13th), one of our employees – with a particularly keen sense of smell – detected a potentially deadly problem with our office’s air quality. Walking back and forth from the warehouse, our warehouse manager, Drew, (and his bloodhound-like olfactory sense) sniffed traces of gas that seemed to be emanating from the Sylvane break room. As an initial step, we confirmed the presence of a dangerous gas using our trusty Safety Siren Pro Series Combination Gas Detector. But when it was clear that the odor was growing stronger, we thought it was best to call in a natural gas expert to diagnose the problem and advise us on how to handle it. A half-hour later, we identified the scary pollutant – carbon monoxide. The culprit? More on that in a minute. Read more about carbon monoxide
Posted by Ashley on March 10th, 2009
For the past few months, all of us here at Sylvane.com have been working on a rather top secret project. Well, maybe not top secret, but we have had something very special up our sleeves. Now, we are ready to make the big reveal. (Drum roll please…)
This past weekend, we launched the new and improved Sylvane.com! If you haven’t already, take a minute and check it out. Read more about the new Sylvane.com
Posted by steve on February 23rd, 2009
Bedding, air purifiers, HEPA vacuums, Loratadine – I use it all in the battle against my allergies. But a neti pot?
I must admit that even amidst positive reviews from our customers, I was very hesitant to pour water through my nose. Visions of gasping and coughing from accidentally swallowing water while swimming as a child flitted through my mind. To add insult to injury, adding salt to that very water didn’t seem like a terribly comfortable idea. Wouldn’t it burn? Read more about using a neti pot
Posted by Ashley on February 16th, 2009
In this economic landscape, we look for deals underneath nearly every rock – or pile of bills, for that matter. Well, here’s a deal for you to think about, even in the midst of winter. Consider a combination appliance, such as a portable air conditioner with added functionalities.
Okay, hear me out. (I swear I can hear those of you in the North chuckling: “Why on earth would I buy a portable air conditioner, now?!”) Does it sometimes seem like you need to have an appliance for every task? For instance, I have observed this problem when it comes to my electric cooking appliances. Stuffed in my pantry, I’ve got an electric vegetable chopper, a quesadilla maker, a sandwich maker, an indoor grill/griddle, a s’mores maker, and a waffle iron. Now, every time I open my pantry and stare at this mess of culinary technology, I think “Why can’t someone just make one appliance that does all of these things?”
Apparently, portable air conditioner (PAC) manufacturers have already received this memo. Read more about portable air conditioners with added functionalities
Posted by Ashley on February 6th, 2009
America’s “Gateway to the West” has now taken on a new – and not exactly desirable – nickname. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) has ranked St. Louis, MO as the No. 1 most challenging city for an asthma-sufferer in 2009. This is due to a number of factors, including a higher than average annual pollen count, poor air quality, a lack of public smoke-free laws, and a worse than average crude death rate from asthma. The Midwestern city rose to the top of the list from No. 9 last year, replacing 2008’s Asthma Capital, Knoxville, TN. Read more about the 2009 Asthma Capitals
