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Air Purifiers Reccomendations Coway/ winix/ levoit

I went down the air purifier rabbit hole and now have total decision paralysis. I need recommendations for a bedroom, and another for a large, open-concept living/dining/kitchen area.

Coway has a sale rn, and I was thinking airmega 100 for the bedroom and airmega1512 for the living room. But I saw a post about it being HEPA only at speed level 1. Is it not HEPA at a higher speed?

Costco has Winix C610 for a still, but read ionizers aren't great. Can you turn the plasmawave off?

Levoit is not HEPA, but it does a great job clearing the room. Is it a good brand?

I want something reliable. Trying to understand the technicalities is very overwhelming.

Please HELP!

USA (IL)

bedroom- 13x11x8= 1144 cubic feet

Living area- 21x23x8= 3864 cubic feet

Pollen, allergies, dust, dog dander

Under $200 ish?

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u/LoosePackage6121 — 3 days ago

▲ 8 r/HouseFresh+1 crossposts

Smart Air Blast Mk II vs. Coway Airmega ProX

I've got a Coway Airmega ProX running in my ≈4,000 ft^3 open-plan living room/dining room/kitchen in Los Angeles, and it does a better job than any of the other purifiers I've tried at relieving my respiratory symptoms.

And its noise is pretty good: When I'm working 10' away at my desk, it's tolerable at speed 2, and when I really want quiet I can switch to speed 1 and it disappears.

Its one problem, though, is the filter odor, which just won't disappear even after a month. I posted about this odor on another thread, and a few commenters indicated they had the same issue.

From looking at the reviews on housefresh.com, the only purifier that seems to equal or exceed the ProX's CADR:noise ratio is the Smart Air Blast Mk II. Specifically, based on their measurements, it seems I could run the Blast at speed 1 and get better CADR and lower noise than the ProX on speed 2 (see bolded entries in table at bottom).

But here's what worries me:

What matters isn't just the SPL (sound pressure level), it's the character of the noise. E.g., the Alen 75i at speed 2 has nearly identical SPL to the Coway at speed 2, yet I found the Alen more intrusive. So even though the Blast's measured SPL at speed 1 is lower than the ProX's on speed 2, there's no option to decrease the Blast's noise from there if it is intrusive.
The Blast could have the same filter odor issue as the Coway.
It seems unacceptable that the Blast has a street price >$1k (compared to $650 for the ProX), yet they didn't equip it with a brushless DC motor (which is why its wattage:CADR is about double the ProX's). So I wonder if there is excessive profiteering going on here. Plus if they're cheaping out on the motor, are they doing the same on the filters and other components?

So it would be really helpful to hear from someone who considers themselves both noise-sensitive and odor-sensitive, and who has tried both machines.

ProX:
speed 1: 212 CADR => 3.2 ACH, 37.4 dB
speed 2: 299 CADR => 4.5 ACH, 44.4 dB
speed 3: 462 CADR => 6.9 ACH, 53.6 dB

Blast Mk II:
speed 1: 375 CADR = 5.6 ACH, 41.9 dB
speed 2: 429 CADR => 6.4 ACH, 47.4 dB
speed 3: 547 CADR => 8.2 ACH, 54.7 dB

u/theorist9 — 6 days ago

▲ 3 r/HouseFresh

PC fan purifiers vs HEPA for allergies

Has anyone had experience with comparing HEPA purifier vs PC fan purifier to say one had more effect on improving their allergic symptoms from dust, pollen, etc given similar CFM/CADR? I understand that more air exchanges per hour is important, but wondering how much HEPA makes a difference in some cases where units are moving air at the same rate? Or are there other factors that I"m missing? I currently have both types, 2 Alen breathesmart and just added the Luggables XL-7. Combined with my others it is noticeable how much faster particulates come down to zero and that's a plus.

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u/FairManner1292 — 5 days ago

▲ 4 r/HouseFresh

I wonder about the "minimum 4.8 ACH" thing. In order to get 4.8 ACH/h, most people would need big units on maximum speed. Or most people are using medium-sized units for medium spaces, getting 2-3 ACH, and most are happy with the results (online reviews).

I talked with two sellers in stores, and they told me that "on automatic, the purifier will clean the air, and once it's cleaned, will go on a slower mode". So once the air is clean (low PM2.5 count), there is no point for the unit to run at the same intensity as when it was cleaning the air. I understand air gets polluted again, but not at the same speed as the unit cleaned it (at least for low-pollution environements). But I hear and read from experts that "you need at least 3 ACH, preferably 4-5, and the machine needs to run 24/7".

There are many well-known brands with medium units of 250-300M3 CADR (147-176 CFM), rated for 50-80M2 (538-861 sqft), like the Philips 1000 series and the Philips Mini 900, with people using in rooms at these sizes, and being happy with the results (see online reviews).

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u/Hour-Tomato-6137 — 14 days ago