QUICK: What portable AIR FILTER do I buy?
Easy to choose if you know what you're looking for!
THIS is NOT an ad. It’s my opinion.
I get NO compen$ation from saying anything about any brand or any product.
BEST VALUE
(My rating, after 25 yrs in the business!) - Honeywell H300 Tower. $200, quiet, moves air well, very very affordable replacement filters, has regular and VOC charcoal pre-filters! Get FOUR of these for the price of one Austin, get FIVE for price of one IQ-air... GET two for price of a replacement filter for either of these!!! Replacement filters for Honeywell are about $30!!! WOW. NOW THIS is VALUE.
REMEMBER - ALL HEPA material filters are the SAME. You pay for advertising, marketing, and fancy buttons! or metal housing (some people with chemical sensitive react to some plastics - this is different story... for another time).
SEE my blogs on HEPA…
YOU choose the filter device SIZE based on the quietest setting - LOW
THEY sell it using the “room size” calculated on HIGH setting - the loudest!
The “best” air cleaner is the one you use.
So - always consider NOISE - the small units need to run on high, noisy setting! The large units “can” do the same when on low - quiet setting. I recommend this ALWAYS. You don’t choose based on Max volume (CADR etc) - you choose based on quiet setting/low.
EASE of Use
AND, you wont be efficient unless you maintain. SO, it has to be EZ to switch out pre-filter! prob once a month or 2 months. AND, EZ to swap the HEPA - prob 2-6 mos.
BEST Room Placement for YOU
AND, you must know where to place it so the OUTPUT is useful - think of it like Oxygen - the person who needs oxygen does not open the valve and let it blow willy-nilly into the room - they direct it so they can breath it. CLEAN filtered air is often best when pointed at the occupant - bed pillow, office chair, tv sofa, etc.
BEST Placement for the ROOM
AND, When not using it to supply directly to the occupant, We want NO obstructions for the RETURN air - try to get the output and the input to “circle” . I often place two units in a room - opposite corners, to create a cyclone/circle - the clean air blow particles toward the other unit, which captures them, and it blow clean air picking up particles toward the other unit,... after a while i might move these to the other corners or other spaces that are obstructed etc. depending on size, maybe 15, 30 mins or maybe 2 -4 hours in each position... lots of variations but the idea is to move dead air, and keep particles moving toward the filter.
upgrade is HPA5300BS - best buy today has them $231.00 Honeywell - Allergen Plus HEPA Air Purifier, Extra-Large Rooms (500 sq.ft) - Black
Model: HPA5300BSKU: 6412444
well, of course it captures mold particles, they are All larger than 1/100 micron, with is what ALL proper HEPA will capture (read my article on HEPA filter efficiency to find out why. The "advertised" or "certified" maximum penetration size is 1/3 micron. ALL particles that are BOTH larger and smaller get Trapped at higher efficiencies (i.e., greater than 99.97%)
So no worry there with mold spores becuase smallest mold spores is 2 microns- with is at least 6 times larger than 1/3 micron...
AND cells of filaments, IF they happened to break apart that small are also in the 1 -2 micron size - again, captured at greater than 99.97%.
Now- please read my article on mycotoxins - they are molecules, and they are larger than 1/1000 micron! BUT they are ALWAYS attached to the cell wall of the "large" spore, or the cell wall (or inside) the filament cell wall. So they too will always be captured at greater than 99.97%.
Therefore, this Honeywell , WILL indeed to perfect for mold and mycotoxins.
In fact, MERV 12 will be perfect in a home forced air filter. And MERV 14 prob more than good for a portable - which is about 95% efficient - BUT since it continually circulates, like the HEPA portable, they WILL sooner or later clean "all" particles that come past it.
The "need for "HEPA" efficient filters is exaggerated - because they don't stop collecting particles until "all" the particles are gone. AND since mold particles (and spores) are ALWAYS being added to the air in the space - the filter never really catches up - BUT they do lower the exposure concentration - especially when they are high volume.
This is the problem with so many of the devices being sold - they move too LITTLE air volume per minute to rapidly clean the air before more new particles arrive. This is so important when choosing - and many mfr's sell 'desktop" or mini-units - pointless for folks who want very clean air.
SO answer is - of course these Honeywell WILL do a great job if you want to clean the spores and mold particles that carry mycotoxins.