Can anyone recommend a decent budget air purifier?

[StevieP]

I've been really struggling over the last few weeks with wheezing and having a blocked nose etc and through the process of elimination I believe I might be suffering from an allergy of some sort - possibly a dust mite allergy!

Anyway, it's worse at night and so I'm thinking of trying an air purifier to see if it helps - I've been looking at 3 models:

• Levoit LV-H132
• VAX AP02
• HOMEDICS AP-25A

This is by no means a definitive list so if anyone has any better suggestions in the £100-£150 price range I'm all ears!

The Levoit is very well regarded on the rainforest (and in other reviews online) and is certainly the most attractive in terms of size as it's a lot smaller (and reportedly quieter too!)than the other two - but the flip side of this is that the unit itself says it's only suitable for a room measuring upto 8 square meters (which doesn't seem to be very big to me!?!?)

Does anyone have any experience of any of these, or any other, models?

Thanks...

 

[garsands]

We have a Airfree P40 Filterless Air Purifier with Night Light for our daughters bedroom for her allergy, she seems to sleep better now.
But I am not 100% sure how well they work as the missus wanted to buy it so I left her to it.
You can find it on amazon for £129
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Airfree-Fi...008I0SRCC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

It has no moving parts so totally silent I think this it why it was chosen & recommended for rooms up to 16 m².

 

[NoobCannon]

Do you mean amazon?

 

[StevieP]

Do you mean amazon?

Yes I do - I am constantly surprised by what will get you in bother with the mods on here so thought I'd err on the side of caution!

 

[StevieP]

We have a Airfree P40 Filterless Air Purifier with Night Light for our daughters bedroom for her allergy, she seems to sleep better now.
But I am not 100% sure how well they work as the missus wanted to buy it so I left her to it.
You can find it on amazon for £129
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Airfree-Fi...008I0SRCC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

It has no moving parts so totally silent I think this it why it was chosen & recommended for rooms up to 16 m².

Wow, I never would have thought that you could even get something silent!

The reviews look for the most part great - my only concern would be the fact it uses heat rather than a fan - do you notice it giving off much heat whilst on? (The last thing I want to do is make an already warm room warmer in the summer!)

 

[BinnsY]

It's a bit over your price range but I've recently bought one of these and have been very impressed. You also get a second filter cartridge with it at this price so your running costs are covered for 2 years which is worth considering when looking at other models;

https://www.breathingspace.co.uk/air-purifiers-c1/winix-u300-air-purifier-with-smart-sensor-p192

After some googling they seemed to suggest that brands such as Winix / Blueair who speicifically focus on air related products generally made better offerings than people like Vax who are effectively doing them as another option in their overall range.

The u300 model I have seems pretty good its certainly clearing my entire bedroom but I'd say it's having an effect over most of upstairs if I run it all the time and leave the door open. On full speed it's rather loud but it has some fairly intelligent auto modes including a light sensor that turns it into a super quiet mode at night (you can't access this off the normal controls, it relies completley on the light sensor). Even if the air quality decreases it wont ramp the fan speed up when it's in night mode and neither myself or my wife can hear it even in a silent room so it does the job.

There is one downside to it and it's to do with the "plasmawave" feature it offers. I cant remember exactly how it works but the jist is it encourages the filter to collect more polutants that it otherwise would by using electricity. It does however emit a very very faint noise I can only describe as "chirruping" where you can rhytmically hear it going up and down. This is inaudible on anything but the night mode setting, but in a perfectly quiet room you can just hear the pattern of it working away. However, you can turn the plasmawave feature off on this model by holding the auto button down for 3 seconds so we just do this before bed, then it's perfectly silent. You also get a few people complaining about the light the animated plasmawave logo puts out during the night but again turning this feature off solves that problem as well.

The other thing I would recommend you look at is the life of the filters. Some models that are cheaper I noticed needed replacement filters every 3-6 months at £30-£40 a unit. Whilst this one's a bit more expensive it only needs a £60 filter every 12 months, and with it coming with a second one for free it seemed a better option.

 

[StevieP]

Thanks for the suggestion - it looks great and I take on board your comments but as you say it's a bit out of the intended budget and the other potential issue is the size - I've got limited space in my bedroom and I just can't imagine where I'd put something of this size!

I'm very tempted by the Airfree P40 as suggested by @garsands but I'm a bit concerned that it isn't "proactively" sucking in the airborne particles but rather just sits there and waits for the airflow to taken any nasties to it! (I don't have a ceiling fan or air-con to circulate the air!)

 

[Zirax]

I have always gone from one from here
https://www.allergyuk.org/get-help/products

This is one I got for the living room
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C69FVJ8/
Moves quite a surprising amount of air, even on the lowest setting.

This one was recommended, but they have since removed it for some reason???
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004R9OU42/
This one is manual so you can trigger from a timer (cheap rate).

Both have renewable filters. Beware 'lifetime' filters as buried in the paperwork you will often find these need cleaning by hoovering / dusting every few months. Much quicker and better in my opinion to open a cover and replace, without having to worry about filter build up and performance over time.

 

[ak22]

Snake plant...

 

[Roar87]

Surely it's hayfever like everyone else is suffering from? Have you tried an anti-histamine? If you're wheezing you should go to the Doctors and see if you need an inhaler as well.

 

[StevieP]

I've never suffered from hayfever - although I know you get get it at any time!

The reason I think it's an allergy to dust mites is because it tends to come on within 10-15 minutes of walking in my own house (and I freely admit that we don't hoover and dust as mush as we should!)

Anti-histamines do work to a degree but I don't like taking tablets all the time and so would prefer to treat the cause rather than the symptoms!

I think I'm going to give the Airfree a go because I like the small size and the fact that it is silent!

Thanks for all the suggestions guys...

 

[VincentHanna]

I think it's an allergy to dust mites is because it tends to come on within 10-15 minutes of walking in my own house (and I freely admit that we don't hoover and dust as mush as we should!)

...and so would prefer to treat the cause rather than the symptoms!

Vacuum more?

 

[NoobCannon]

£10 for more than a months supply of hayfever/alergy medicine vs a expensive gadget

 

[StevieP]

Vacuum more?

Yeah, solid idea in principal but you don't know how lazy I am!! (although we will be doing this too - this last few weeks has been unbearable!)

£10 for more than a months supply of hayfever/alergy medicine vs a expensive gadget

I don't like taking tablets and would prefer the room(s) to just be "cleaner" long-term - plus I like my gadgets!!

Thanks again guys...

 

[NoobCannon]

Yeah, solid idea in principal but you don't know how lazy I am!! (although we will be doing this too - this last few weeks has been unbearable!)



I don't like taking tablets and would prefer the room(s) to just be "cleaner" long-term - plus I like my gadgets!!

Thanks again guys...

But you will need to move it around with you and then wait for it to do its thing before you feel the (imo placebo) effects.

A non comercial sized unit isnt gonna work thru the whole house.

Its the kinda thing that sounds like a good idea but just wont work in principle unless its for one room and you can somehow seal that room from the outside

 

[CREATIVE!11]

I spent a loooooooot of time reading and looking for the right model (In fact I think I posted a thread here but didn't get much input). Like you I had a lot of issues I also think my allergies ruin my sleep when I get them. So I run it next to my bed all night. I wanted a fairly cheapish product that was good enough. Problem is some air purifiers can run into 500+ range and since I bought it to try it I wanted to spend not too much. I got the DX95 used on amazon warehouse, 80 quid cheaper so like 120. Had some scratches on it that's all, purely cosmetic.

I ended up settling on Fellowes model https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fellowes-Allergy-Approved-AeraMax-Purifier/dp/B00EPEVPTC?th=1

This one. It's seal of approval stamped by allergy uk all that blurb. It definitely helped my allergies for sure. Dust is a big problem for me. Only thing i've had to do to that model to run it in bedroom is just sticky tape some cardboard over the blue lights on the front and it works great. It's got 4 speed settings and sounds fine to me.

Edit: The one thing you must make sure is the filters are TRUE HEPA. Cheap ones are not actual Hepa filters just claim to be. Also bigger models have a higher CADR (clear air delivery rate) so basically "Cleans" the air faster with multiple passes through the unit.

 

[StevieP]

But you will need to move it around with you and then wait for it to do its thing before you feel the (imo placebo) effects.

A non comercial sized unit isnt gonna work thru the whole house.

Its the kinda thing that sounds like a good idea but just wont work in principle unless its for one room and you can somehow seal that room from the outside

Placebo?? So you basically think that on the off chance this makes any difference, it will be all in my head? There are a lot of very positive reviews out there - does this make them all weak-minded?

However, I'm fairly sure that if I can go into my bedroom and not be wheezing like a 99 year old then placebo or not, it will have been worth the money! (I don't particularly need it to work in the whole house - just be nice to be able to put my head on my pillow and get to sleep at night!

 

[CREATIVE!11]

Placebo?? So you basically think that on the off chance this makes any difference, it will be all in my head? There are a lot of very positive reviews out there - does this make them all weak-minded?

However, I'm fairly sure that if I can go into my bedroom and not be wheezing like a 99 year old then placebo or not, it will have been worth the money! (I don't particularly need it to work in the whole house - just be nice to be able to put my head on my pillow and get to sleep at night!

Ha yeah total placebo for me. I slap the carpets a bit to throw some dust into the air and immediately eyes water and nose begins to itch like crazy. We're all mental and making it up. And the fact the air purifier has stopped that happening to me is all in my head. Oh well it works so there we go.

Edit: Oh also remember rainforest have generous returns policy. If you do get one and find it doesn't help just pack it up return it say really didn't help. As long as it's kept perfect condition which it will be just sat in a corner and repackaged as it came they won't complain.

 

[Dis86]

Vacuum your house you dirty sod! Particularly if you have pets.

 

[NoobCannon]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.allergyconsumerreview.com/do-air-purifiers-really-work.html/amp