r/AirPurifiers

Im trying to find a good air purifier for a 260sqft/6m x 4m living room in an apartment where a neighbor casually lands some smoke from either cigs or vaping, either way, it's annoying and I would like to avoid that. So I was looking for something with a decent amount of activated carbon that also has enough power so it's not annoying to run at at least medium speed, and I saw how the 400s Smoke filter has a smaller amount of carbon compared to the 600s.

Filter	Activated carbon
Core 400S Smoke Remover	~450 g
Core 600S Smoke Remover	~360 g
Difference	400S has ~90 g more
Relative difference	400S has ~25% more carbon

The ~450 g figure for the 400S Smoke Remover is supported by independent testing/information, while the 600S Smoke Remover is reported at about 360 g.

So who thought it was a good idea? The extra power of the 600s would be nice, as it would allow me to run it at lower speeds, however, what's the point if what matters most to avoid smoke odors is inferior to the 400s? Not sure what to buy now.

For reference, I have the original Core 300 and it's unusable at speed 3 due the noise, but at least it still works. It doesn't lower VOC and HCH0's tho as tested on my Temptop. I never tried the Smoke filter but I guess it has too low of a carbon amount to matter.

Any alternatives that are available in EU let me know.

Southwestern USA

900 sq ft apartment, not many doors and the few we do have are often open to the rest of the house so it's kind of just one big interconnected space

Pollen allergens (mainly tree- Juniper, Cedar, Sweet Gum), Cat dander (pretty heavy amount of it, there are two of these little fur babies and they SHED), general dust (not an allergen, we live in the desert so its just kind of inescapable), would not mind paying a bit extra for something that could mitigate or remove viral droplets if such a thing is possible

Budget is actually fairly flexible right now (anything <$1000 is ok) though I'd still prefer as cheap as possible for my needs. If possible, would like something where filters are at least somewhat reusable, just to cut waste. filters also need to be able to handle a fairly heavy load of pollen, dust and dander consistently (so if I can't get reusable ones, I'd prefer they at least be very cheap so I can replace them when they reach their limit). Would prefer very low energy usage, and something that can run for a long time without risking overheating. Low noise also preferred but not required.

Another concern is that it be lightweight and/or wheeled, as due to a physical disability I can't lift heavy objects.

Needs to survive a large and hefty cat both climbing on it and bodyslamming it at high speed.

Hi, I'm currently living in a college dorm and we have a lot of dust since we unfortunately have carpeted floors. We also like to leave our window open so the room smells better and we get better airflow.

Unfortunately all three of us in the room all have allergy issues with the dust and also with pollen. We are living in a room made for 2 people but there's three of us due to room shortages, so we really don't have a lot of space, but we need something that will work very well. I also have asthma so as long as there isn't a permanently on ionizer I'll be fine.

I have narrowed my list down to the Coway Airmega 200M and Levoit 400S-P. I'm in the US and our room is about 255.2 square feet and we are looking to primary remove dust and pollen from the air. The price of both isn't too much of an issue since we are splitting costs. Are either of these a better option for my needs or is there anything better I should be considering?

TL;DR: I don't know what to buy and I want the opinion of people that also really struggle with cat allergy but still keep cats (thats rare I know). Did you find a solution in purifiers that genuinely helped?

---

I struggle with cat allergies, but we still have 3 cats in our apartment, as my wife had them before me. I love the cats, but I also suffer greatly - I've developed a histamin-intolerance and can't eat most foods now and combined with the cats I'm just pretty much f*cked.

We bought self-cleaning cat toilets as everyone said that helped a ton with allergies. It didn't. We removed carpets and most other fabrics as everyone said that helped a ton with allergies. It didn't.

Out of options, I came across the topic of air purifiers and have been circling down the rabbit hole just about continuously for the last 3 hours. For every positive opinion of an air purifier there is another opinion that is negative. And just about every review on amazon looks fake. And then I read the DIY Rosenthal Box is the best, but then immediately see a whole video of a guy disagreeing with that. Picking something out is super hard.

The room that I want to have the purifiers in is about 50qm² (living room) and we almost always and continuously have the windows and balcony door open for fresh air, but are directly in front of main traffic streets. hallway<->living room does not have a closable door, so the hallway size is counted into that 50qm², as well is the kitchen area as its an open area.

https://preview.redd.it/4k0t2ts0shth1.png?width=1861&format=png&auto=webp&s=2518c9a46d470f3cc9ebed447da23ad727a13b72

I've read that a DIY Rosenthal box is the best pick, but not the one with one filter+fan - only the one with 4 filters and a fan pushing out air from the top. But then ... just about every purifier I saw recommended instead is in principle pretty much just the "one filter+fan" layout that was just agreed upon being not good? So what makes them different?

https://preview.redd.it/25lwxv7ushth1.png?width=894&format=png&auto=webp&s=0f18887d86ed495703c621630157fad3741474d4

I guess I'm just trying to justify my choice paralysis here and maybe I'll end up deleting this. Buying anything in this day and age is just super annoying as everyone has a deviating opinion and its super hard to formulate your own without excessive testing equipment first ...

I guess what I am really asking is the opinion of people that have a situation like mine - cats but having cat allergies. Did air purifiers noticeably help you? If so, which one?

First time I've ever dabbled in air purifiers in general, but I heard of the AirFanta 3Pro and it seems the best around!

Energy efficiency, CADR, filter cost, noise - you name it!
Seems it even beats the high-end $1,000 large purifiers (in theory) if you use 2.

That said, there's a few features I wish it had.
If possible, I was wondering if you guys might know how to add any of the following (ideally no soldering necessary).

1. A sensor to detect air quality level, and auto turn the fan on when needed
2. Something that can auto toggle the fan speed based on the air quality level severity (saves electric bill and noise)
3. Automation for dying down during certain hours and/or conditions like movement.
4. Washable prefilters
5. Filter health status indicator (not just time-based)
6. Separate carbon filter

The first 3 are the big ones.
I've heard someone say Home Assistant could help.
Is that best, or better idea?

4-6 are minor, but still nice.

Regarding the first 3.
It would be best if it's able to accomplish this in a relatively discreet/neat way.

I might be willing and even want to have the particle sensor far away so some purifiers are extra aggressive in some places. But otherwise, I'm open and may even prefer a method to make it relatively compact/hidden.

Title.

This is now our third replacement HealthPro Plus XE from IQAir and every single one does the same thing. Sometimes it reports the AQI and PM2.5 to the AirVisual app and other times it reports 0. It’s not just the app because I have the unit in balanced mode so it automatically adjusts as needed (one of the main reasons I bought it) and it’s not upping the fan speed when I know the air quality is bad. For example this morning the outdoor AQI is over 100 and the app shows 0 across the board and I’m having trouble breathing.

The only thing customer service will do is continue replacing the unit with a new one which is just ridiculous because all of them do the same thing.

This latest unit is less than two weeks old.

Anyone else seeing the same?

Im looking to buy an air purifier for a living room, there's an annoying neighbour that likes to smoke and sometimes smoke may reach here, beside the usual dust you want to lower.

Size about 260sqft or 24m^2, and I've read some technical explanation here I think it was (not sure who) where they mentioned that filters that are round are more difficult to manufacture, and you should avoid them and use flat filters if possible.

So I was considering the Core 600s or the Vital 200s. Im in the EU, and these are more avaliable than other brands. Im also not interested in ionizers and such, just filtering. I also do not want an odd looking box with fans.

The question is: How relevant is the shape of the filter? Does it really matter?

I have a 300s that I use on a small bedroom. It works in lowering PM2.5 and 10P.M (actually tested with a Temptop). It does nothing for VOC and HCH0 tho. So I wanted a bigger one for the livingroom, so I can run at a lower noise, but im not sure sure due the shape of the filters thing plus the 300s at least seem to do nothing for VOC and HCH0 so I doubts if it's going to do anything for smoke odor at all.

has anyone else noticed white streaks/dust in the outtake vents of their air purifiers? i have black outtakes so makes its essily visible. and makes me think they’re not working. I have 2 different brands I’ve noticed this on. my large Coway is the worst. It makes me think they SUCK and release captured pollutants back out. My Coway was $600 so if you can’t get a decent product at that price, are any of the filters good??