Bargain Air Purifiers: Why they are a waste of money

Honeywell HHT-011

Bargain Air Purifiers, those I would classify under $50, are popular at most discount stores, home improvement centers, and readily available on the internet.  They are also the best-selling category of all air purifiers because of their best-selling feature- price.  I admit that I’ve even been guilty of trying one of these low-budget purifiers years ago, being one of millions of buyers lured by the flashy packaging and discount price.  Now after several years of research, the facts tell me that my money could have been better spent just by knowing a few key specifications that are important for an air purifier to work properly.

For comparison purposes, I have chosen three of the bargain “shoebox” models, a small tower model,  and one of the sub-50 dollar ionic towers to see how they stack up in effectively removing allergens from the air.

1.) Honeywell HHT-011: Price, $42.99.  First, you need to know that this “air cleaner” does not feature a True HEPA filter. It has what is called a hepa-type filter, which allows a full 1% of particles to pass through without being filtered (a HEPA allows only 0.3%). Also, this unit is rated for areas up to 85 sq ft.- but note that that is running at full speed and will only change the air in that space one time in one hour (ACH=1). Essentially, you would have to stand right over the thing to get any benefit from the filtration.

Holmes HAP242-UC

2.) Holmes HAP242-UC: Price, $36.79. Again, this unit is not True HEPA but features a cheap hepa-type filter.

The coverage area is a little better at 109 sq ft. but this is still with ACH of one time per hour. That’s enough for a tiny office or bathroom, but without a true HEPA filter to pass through, what’s the point? The dust, smoke and pollen ratings given by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers are among the lowest of hundreds of purifiers tested.  These ratings are generous, at best, for most units, so low ratings are definitely a negative point that will be reflected in poor performance.

Holmes HAP412N-U

3.) Holmes HAP412N-U: Price, $45.00.  This is small “tower-style” with the hepa-type filter rated for area up to 120 sq ft. Most item description pages will verify that this purifier will effectively clean a 10×12 room, which sounds reasonable to anyone looking for an adequate purifier on a budget.  What they don’t tell you is if the cfm (cubic feet per minute) rating of the fan is strong enough to circulate the air in a 10×12 room around furniture, or how many times that air can be circulated in one hour.  For anyone that has slight to severe allergies, it is recommended at least four air changes per hour to get the allergens to a manageable level.

4.) Fresh ‘n Clean Odor Grabber: Price, $38.45. Well I like the name and I like the price, but that’s about it.

Fresh 'n Clean Odor Grabber

The coverage area of this baby is a max. of 45 sq ft. (a 5×9 room), which is tiny.  Unless you wanted to put one of these right under your desk while you are working, you wouldn’t get much benefit from it.  Supposedly, it has carbon and some zeolite mixture for pet odors, which are both great, but this unit does not have enough air flow capacity to do them any good.  Also, note that the small HEPA filters have to be changed every three months at $20 a pop.

Bell Howell Ionic Purifier

5.) Bell Howell Ionic Air Purifier: Price, $24.99.  With most ionic air cleaners, they are “filterless” so the dust, pollen and dander get electrically charged and stick to collector plates.  The problem with this unit (and with most ionic filters) is that there is not enough fan capacity to circulate the air in a normal size room.  Numerous testing agencies have proven ionic purifiers to be ineffective at actually removing dust and pollen from the air. As  if that isn’t bad enough, count on hand-washing the collector plates every 48 hours and then letting them completely dry for 12 hours.

The insufficient performance of these “bargain” air purifiers is one reason why Air Purifier Central does not carry them.  Although they have recently offered medium-priced air purifier units, all of their air purifier products are proven and high performance purifiers that will greatly benefit someone suffering from allergies, asthma, or lung sensitivity.