Air Purifiers - Who Has What? Do They Work?

[MeanDean]

I personally never put much stock into that since I have few to no allergies.

But a close family friend is coming to visit who has allergies to whatever. Seems like a sneezing fit will break out at random. Sometimes it's blamed on air conditioning, sometimes the A/C hasn't been on for days.

I don't want to minimize the symptoms since I seem to be lucky there.

What are some room air purifiers people have used that have helped with alleviating allergy issues? If there's something I could get for a room that helps I'd spring for that for the visitor.

Thanks.

 

[madguy30]

They seem to work. There was super high dust and dander levels about a month ago and I was pretty stuffy and after running it, I cleared up.

 

[DJSteve]

We've had two Coway Airmega 1512 for a year and a half probably. They seem pretty good for the money. Relatively quiet, replaceable pre-filter, decent cfm, not $500+. Whole air purifier market has a lot of BS to sift through as far as filtration efficiency and overstated airflow specs (and/or stated airflow specs being at high setting that's loud as F)... 1512 seemed like one of the better options in the <$250 price range when we were shopping.

If it's for temporary use and you don't care what it looks like, another option might be to buy high efficiency furnace filter(s) and seal them to the intake side of a box fan. That seemed like by far the cheapest way to get something effective with truly significant airflow, to me. I forget what the name is but there's a cube design with 5 filters and a box fan that was sort of developed during COVID that's moderately popular on reddit etc. The "pretty" appliance option won out in my case because I have a wife and they were going to be around indefinitely.

I would also suggest replacing HVAC filters with at least the midline allergy rates ones (3M red or similar--most manufacturers seem to follow similar color coding) a week or so before your guests' arrival. These typically run $10-15 each, and are probably your cheapest/simplest first step in reducing allergen load.

 

[JP4CY]

I have a couple tower ones. I change the filters every couple months.
We try to have windows open as much as possible so I think they help.

 

[aeroclone]

We've had two Coway Airmega 1512 for a year and a half probably. They seem pretty good for the money. Relatively quiet, replaceable pre-filter, decent cfm, not $500+. Whole air purifier market has a lot of BS to sift through as far as filtration efficiency and overstated airflow specs (and/or stated airflow specs being at high setting that's loud as F)... 1512 seemed like one of the better options in the <$250 price range when we were shopping.

If it's for temporary use and you don't care what it looks like, another option might be to buy high efficiency furnace filter(s) and seal them to the intake side of a box fan. That seemed like by far the cheapest way to get something effective with truly significant airflow, to me. I forget what the name is but there's a cube design with 5 filters and a box fan that was sort of developed during COVID that's moderately popular on reddit etc. The "pretty" appliance option won out in my case because I have a wife and they were going to be around indefinitely.

I would also suggest replacing HVAC filters with at least the midline allergy rates ones (3M red or similar--most manufacturers seem to follow similar color coding) a week or so before your guests' arrival. These typically run $10-15 each, and are probably your cheapest/simplest first step in reducing allergen load.

We also have a pair of Coway Airmega 1512s. I ended up buying them as Wirecutter.com recommended them as the best air purifier. First one was for my bedroom and it has made a big improvement in my allergies.

Bought the second one for my kids room later on when he started having some allergy issues. Worked wonders for him as well.

Would certainly recommend this model. Very quiet as well on the low or medium speed. Really never had a reason to run it on high.

 

[dmclone]

We just bought one a couple of weeks ago. It seems like a good unit, but it probably wasn't needed in our house. The monitor basically says that our indoor air quality is as good as it can get at its lowest setting. Maybe in the summer it will be more useful.

LEVOIT Vital 200S-P, White​