Air Purifiers Reviews

I bought this from all the hype from consumer reports (This is the 501 model, not the 401). At first it seemed to get rid of 95% of pollutants (dust, etc) in the room at which it was placed... after a long while, it dropped to 80% or so. After I replaced the filter, it went back up to 90 to 95%... I found out that the outgoing (or is it incoming) vents actually get dirty with dust and have to be cleaned ocassionally to maximize the effect and efficiency of the device. Who knows if the internal components also get dusty degrading the device as well (I suspect that it does to some extent, even if the particles are small). Too bad there was nothing about that in the instruction manual. The cost of replacing filters gets too expensive in the long run in my opinion. True, it has helped with breathing, caughing, etc..., but next time I think I'll just get me something akin to the models that allow you to clean the filters without actually buying them - even if they aren't as good. I can buy 2 of them with the money saved in the long run instead of just one of these units. It might not be as effective - but in the big picture of things, if you don't have allergies, then it really doesn't make sense to get this. And if you do - you probably need something more expensive anyway. About the only real plus I can say is that this thing really looks good and is much better than ozone generators that I've used to clean air in the past and at least it does work to some extent (unlike products that are in my opinion waste of money - like most ozone generators that are used to clean air).

After reading reviews a number of places online, I decided to buy the Blueair products. In ended up sampling the 402, 501 and 601, and ultimately returned the 501 and 601 and replaced them with 402s.

The 402 is truly quiet. This was an important consideration for me; the reason I returned the 501 and 601 was because they were noisy. The 402 has four fan speed settings. The fastest is unpleasantly noisy; I would not want to be in the room while the unit is in this mode. The next fastest, though, is *much* quieter. We usually leave the units in this mode. Sometimes we use the next-to-slowest mode, for example when I'm watching a movie and sitting in a chair right next to the 402. The middle two speeds are sufficiently quiet that I never feel like I need to use the slowest speed. (The 501s and 601s are unbearably noisy at any but the slowest setting - which is slower than the middle speeds of the 402. For 2/3 the price you can move more air, more quietly. Go figure.)

The only downside to the unit is size. It is about the same size as a tower PC. It's tall enough not to easily fit under furniture, and it's airflow pattern (in one of the skinny vertical sides, out the opposite side) means that the best placement is with one of the long sides against a wall. If wall space is at a premium, it can be hard to find a place to put it.

I haven't had the units long enough to replace the filters yet, but I have taken out the filters that came with them, and put them back in. It was very easy to do. After two months, only one filter is showing any visible dirt - but the house is *much* less dusty.

After having had a typical inexpensive air cleaner you can buy at most department stores for years, I was concerned about having a filter that was noisy. Our old filter was too loud to leave on even on the lowest fan setting. In fact we would sometimes turn it on for the sole purpose of providing background noise when our kids were sleeping.

I picked the Blueair 402 because of the great reviews that it got for being quiet and for the great ratings on how well it cleans the air. It arrived yesterday and I have been impressed beyond what I expected. I may have had low expectations because of my old filter, but when I first turned it on I had to check to make sure that it was even running because I could not hear it at all! On the lowest two settings the sounds is not even noticeable. On the third setting you can hear it running, but the sound has a much better quality than other filters/fans. Even on the highest setting the noise it not that objectionable (quieter than my old filter on the lowest setting.) I wouldn't leave it at this setting for sleeping, but I wouldn't have any problem leaving it at this setting during the day, especially in a room I was not in.

We left it on setting three all night without a bother (I may consider using setting two after our initial "cleaning" period is over. My wife and I both felt a noticable difference when we woke up this morning. Part of the reason for getting this is that we have a dog and two cats and we were both waking up in the morning all stuffed up and/or sneezy. This morning was noticeably better.

The filter is very easy to replace also. The one downside is that the unit is rather large. As long as you know this going in, it shouldn't be a problem. Unless you have a very large area you are cleaning, you may want to opt against the 501 or 601 as I believe they are even bigger. I may consider getting a 201 for my kids' rooms since they are smaller bedrooms.

Overall I'm very pleased and also like the fact that the filters are environmentally friendly compared with some of the filters used in other units.