Biozone Air Purifier: hepa-type

Review Holmes HAP412BN-U HEPA-Type Mini Tower Air Purifier

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This space-saving tower air purifier works two ways to freshen and clean the air in your home. First, its Hepa high-efficiency filter helps remove airborne particles such as smoke, dust, pollen, mold spores and pet dander. Then, to absorb and eliminate common odors, the filter is fortified with trusty arm and hammer baking soda. Features three speed settings and optional ionizer. Recommended for rooms up to 120-square-feet, smoke CADR 76. Replacement filter: HAPF30PDQ-U.
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Technical Details

- 3-speed mini air purifier for rooms up to 120 square feet (10 by 12 feet)
- HEPA-type filter removes up to 99-percent of airborne particles as small as 2 microns
- Fortified with Arm & Hammer baking soda to eliminate odors; optional ionizer
- Quiet operation; space-saving tower design; AHAM certified and UL listed
- Measures approximately 11-3/8 by 8-2/9 by 15-2/3 inches
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Customer Buzz

"Mostly Ineffective, Expensive to Maintain" 2010-08-22
By Robyn L. Brown (Upstate New York)
How does HEPA - and the companies who design products that rely on their filters - stay in business, if not for us desperate allergy sufferers who need a cheap air purifier and fast? But the long-term (and by long-term, I mean 3-6 months) cost doesn't justify the moderate to minor help these HEPA-style purifiers provide. It seems like a good investment, doesn't it? Under $50 and all. But wait, in 3-6 months comes the time you need to replace that HEPA filter that's been meticulously designed to be unwashable, no matter how innovative you try to be in extending its life. That new filter you need will be around $25 (at least at all the stores near me - or get them cheaper online but pay shipping). So will the next one you'll need a few months after that. The larger, tower version of this model requires TWO filters. Easy math - up to $50 to refresh that machine.

The logical person quickly figures out it's cheaper to throw the machine away and buy a new one rather than replace those filters more than once or twice. What crap. Companies need to stop encouraging this "disposable" mentality. Stop manipulating consumers and forcing them to increase the mass of waste in landfills. Stop treating us like idiots, offering low-cost machines that require expensive parts that need to be constantly replaced. We all need to stop putting up with this.

OK, but how well does it work? I once had an electrostatic air purifier. (It was from a wonderful company called EnviroResearch, that sadly isn't around anymore. I got that model for around $80. Oreck has since apparently stolen or "adopted" the same design and now sells a very similar machine for $349! But the EnviroResearch one brought me almost immediate relief from my allergy symptoms. I use that as my comparison.) I can see the filters in this purifier are trapping a lot of particles and dust. Yet for some reason, I experience no alleviation of my symptoms when closed up in a room with one of these. No reduction in dust building up around the room it's in, either. Time to break out the HEPA-filtered vacuum for the 7th time this week. I am a clean person, so it's pretty easy for me to determine how quickly dust is accumulating and these filters don't seem to slow that one bit. They just, as one reviewer cleverly pointed out, seem like a placebo.

One other thing. They cause drafts. The air doesn't come out straight out the front, but at what seems to be 45-degree angles on either side of the front. So it makes it hard to position these units anywhere where you're not getting a direct line of air blowing on you. Nice in summer maybe, but not so nice in winter.

Customer Buzz

"Great product for small area" 2010-03-15
By S. Simeone (Sunny Nor-Cal)
Works extremely well. Highest setting can be a bit loud, but mid settingis very quiet. Compact and un-noticeable. I would definitely recommend.

Customer Buzz

"gotta love the placebo effect" 2010-02-26
By CAM
first off let me start out by saying that i've been using this 'purifier' in a 10x10 room for about 2 weeks now. i was looking for something that would help increase fresh air in the room while i partake in my 'herbal medicine' smoking. unfortunately, it didn't meet my standards. while it did, over time, decrease the odor of smoke somewhat, it was hard to really notice a difference unless i left the room and came back a half an hour or more later and by then the odor would have dissipated on its own anyways just as it did before i had purchased this product.

furthermore, even when there was no smoking going on in the room, when this thing was running with the door and window closed all day (which from what i've read in other reviews is apparently the only way it will work anyways) the room had a 'stuffy smell' when i entered it for the first time, again exactly as it would have before i even purchased this product. while i did notice *some* buildup on the filter after 2 weeks, indicating that at least a little bit of impurities were being filtered out of the air, it just wasn't enough to make any legit difference for me. this made me come to the conclusion that this thing is basically just an overpriced swanky looking small personal fan.

unfortunately i think most of the people reviewing this product are victims of the 'placebo effect'.. if you try hard enough to convince yourself that something is actually working, it's very easy to be misled. i have an extremely hard time believing that reviewers who state "i noticed an immediate difference!" actually experienced cleaner air. the product will be returned.

Customer Buzz

"It's ok, but the filters too expensive." 2010-02-22
By daedelus7 (California)
I've used this for about 6 months now and it does a decent job, with a noticeable change in the smell of the room (this is due to the ionizer i think). Hasn't eliminated dust buildup on surfaces but dust buildup has reduced as far as I can tell.

However, now it is time to change the filter and I'm considering just getting a different purifier. Right now, a 2 pack of filters for the HAP412 are going for about $31. Considering that's almost the cost of the purifier (with 1 filter included), I'd suggest trying a purifier with a reusable/washable filter.

It's quiet enough on the lowest setting and seems to do an OK job purifying but ultimately the filters are way too expensive.

Customer Buzz

"Holmes Mini Tower Review" 2009-02-25
By S. Han
Works great in my room; especially in the desert of Iraq. Noisy at first, but after a few minutes, it quieted down.

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Review Holmes HEPA-Type Air Purifier - Small (HAP242-UC)

Buy Cheap Holmes HEPA-Type Air Purifier - Small (HAP242-UC) From Here Now!
99% HEPA filter helps remove airborne particles and allergens Carbon filtration reduces unpleasant odors Microban antimicrobial product protection Electronic ionizer increases performance Quiet operation Dual-position, slim design is perfect for table or desktop use. Handy filter change indicator plus durable three-speed GE motor. Filtration For: N\A; Filtration Type: Carbon; Filtration: 99.000 %; CADR: N\A.
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Technical Details

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Customer Buzz

"Great Little Air Purifier" 2010-07-31
By Louisekittycat (Denver, Colorado)
I just bought another HAP242-UC to replace one I had for eight years. I run it in my bedroom while I sleep to cut down on the pet dander and fur in the air (I own a cat and Border Collie), and to cover any residual sound from my apartment building neighbors. It works great. The noise level for the low setting is about what a small table fan would be. Yes, the filters are a bit expensive, but I only have to change it every three months or so.

Customer Buzz

"Must have for anyone with a litter box !" 2010-07-29
By CandyA (Fort Recovery, OH)
I put this in my laundry room with my litter box and you would never even know we have a litter box! Those of you who own a litter box know that even if you scoop it out everyday and completely wash it down frequently, it still smells terrible. This takes care of that lingering smell.

Customer Buzz

"It was worth it!" 2010-03-22
By Ayatsuri Ningyo
I've owned mine for years now (at least 3 years, now, I believe), and have (though I would not recommend doing it) run it on it's medium setting pretty much that whole time. Being very poor, I have been forced to resort to vacuuming the expensive filters, which is DEFINITELY not a good thing when one has allergies. Thus, I cannot really comment on the performance of this thing if you're changing the filter with a new one. However even with what I've had to do, it's usually all right for one or two vacuumings. My bad allergies will, however, eventually flare up again if I cannot change it after that. (I vacuum it once every couple of months or so, so after about 2 times... or about 4 months... my allergies would start to get bad again).

For the most part, I'd venture to say that if you don't have a huge room, this should pretty much solve or significantly help the allergy problem, particularly if you are using it rightly (unlike me), and buying new filters. But even if you've got to make due, this machine seems to work pretty well, and for a pretty long time.

My sister had the same machine, but she had pets, and so hers would get clogged with pet hair, forcing her to get new filters sooner. I think after a while she just gave up, because with two long-haired cats, this thing simply didn't fare so well. But for those with pets that do not have that kind of hair, it should probably still help.

After about 3 years or so, my machine is still running CONSTANTLY (though this is recognizably a hazard for any electronic device, so again I wouldn't recommend it) on medium setting. However, it doesn't sound so good anymore, and I do worry about doing that now (whereas if it were new, I might not worry about it so much). But since my allergies are severe, not running it means pretty much getting sick for sure.

I'm not sure if this review still applies, as I don't know if they have changed anything about this model since I bought mine years ago, but... this is how mine has worked for me. I only gave it 4 stars because I cannot say for sure that there isn't another, better air purifier out there, and I have not yet tried the other (filter-less) kind, so... not knowing whether those work better, I can't say. Also, this being a cheaper purifier, I'm sure it's possible (if not probable) that more expensive models may work even better and perhaps last even longer. But otherwise this would probably be more of a 5-star review... unless you are very sensitive to noise of running machines. On medium or high, this thing is not really that quiet, especially after a couple of years! So for quietness... hope you don't mind the sound like that of a fan running.

Customer Buzz

"small, quiet, inexpensive, seems to work" 2009-11-27
By asdfjkl
I like it. Its not very loud (a little loud on the highest setting), unobtrusive, and it seems to work just fine.

Customer Buzz

"Good but could be better" 2009-11-01
By Brock Smitherspoon
I put this in the bathroom as a test and noticed there is never any odor.

However, the sucking power on the unit doesn't appear to be very strong. If you put your fingers in front of the intake, you'll probably think it's not even working. (although it will show you it's working if you put a small piece of paper such as a receipt in front of it)

Also, remember this is not true HEPA. It gets 99% of airborne particles, whereas HEPA gets 99.97%. So, if you have 10,000 particles, this will miss 100 of them. True HEPA will only miss 3. I don't know if it matters that much, but, if I was rich, I would probably get a true HEPA with better suction.

For someone on a budget though, this is probably a good starter unit.

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Biozone Air Purifier

Tuesday, 31 August 2010

Holmes HAP412BN-U HEPA-Type Mini Tower Air Purifier

Technical Details

Monday, 23 August 2010

Holmes HEPA-Type Air Purifier - Small (HAP242-UC)

Technical Details

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