Fellowes AeraMax 290 Air Purifier Mold, Odors, Dust, Smoke, Allergens and Germs with True HEPA Filter and 4-Stage Purification, Large Room 300-600 sq. ft., Black

* OVERALL: This makes the room smell reminiscent of a health facility because it makes the air so clean and has noticeably improved the number of sinus infections I get. * Noise: it can get loud on level 4+ but that is because it's taking in and pressing out a lot of air. At 2 or below, it's quiet enough to watch tv alongside and still be able to hear. At level 3, you could get by with turning the tv up slightly. For conversation in the room, fan speed 3+ is a no go. * The Ionizer: The ionizer can be turned off by holding down the bottom blue button with the star on it, which I always keep turned off. Since the mere presence of an ionizer and plasma tech can release ozone even when not in use, I wish I could remove it. Ozone means particles are larger, heavier, and stick to the insides of your lungs more easily. This causes lung irritation and keeps irritants within the lungs more securely and for longer periods of times. You generally don't want to breathe ozone in you have no respiratory issues, and if you have lung sensitivity, allergies, asthma, COPD, etc., you're really going to want to avoid it entirely. * Size: The unit is big, about 2.5' tall, and the air intake is on the sides. * LIGHT ISSUE: I wish the lights that illuminated the buttons could be turned off at night, as the light keeps me awake (blue light). I've resorted to covering it with some fabric, which covers the import and export vent slightly. AERAMAX, PLEASE provide an option to turn off all the lights. The light shines from the buttons, and also shines out the sides of the device through the intake vents in a darkened room. Any light disrupts melatonin production, and blue light is the worst suspect. After over a year of 24/7 use, I'm buying another brand of air purifier just to alleviate this issue of fighting with the light emanating from the machine. * Weight: Heavy. This is not something you're going to want to move from room to room. It has a handle for carrying it if needed, but you're going to want to leave it where you left it. Since it's wide and narrow and tall, and thus tippy, you're not going to want to attach wheels or place it on a wheeling base to combat the weight of moving it. * Filters: The carbon filters appear to need replacing twice as often as the HEPA filters. * Aesthetics: I would have appreciated the black areas of the unit being white, to lend a more sleek and modern vibe, as it looks more like a 1990's space capsule with it's shape and contrasting black and white. Something about Nintendo comes to mind, and ET. * Structural Design: I love that the vent that blows the clean air is at the top, and can be tilted and directed where you want it. You can aim it to blow right at your face if you have a sinus headache and/or breath clean air while you work on the computer or watch TV. * Longevity/Quality: 100%. I have used this device 24/7 at fan speed 3 for over a year and it's still going strong. It's gone through 3 HEPA filter changes, and 4 carbon filter changes, not always replaced on time ;) UPDATE: After 4 years and 4 months of 24/7 use on fan speed 3, this air purifier LIVES. It has no issues whatsoever and works perfectly. A+ for quality! I resorted to covering the lights with black electrical tape. This means that every time I move it to another room and turn it on again, I have to lift the tape at the bottom and press the ionizing light to turn off the ionizer, then press the tape back down while trying not to trigger the other buttons. The light from the other lit buttons is slightly visible from the sides where the intake vents are located. I have no complaints about this item except for the lights. It could be quieter as well, if I'm being particular, but the required CFM for an air purifier to do well really requires that it moves a lot of air, which makes noise.

Update: I've had Air2-D2 for around a year. We also bought the Pure Zone 3-in-1 filter a month before this one. Reasons we bought this: I'm a live in caregiver for a woman in a minimally conscious state who has a weakened immune system and allergies. The household went from 2 cats to 5 last summer and the allergy meds my patient and her husband were taking became insufficient in keeping up with their cat allergies. In addition, I have a severe dust allergy and couldn't go longer than a week without doing a full house cleaning with a mask and gloves or I'd start having severe coughing fits. I have a family history of lung cancer and am a bit paranoid about the air I'm breathing. House description: One story 3 bedroom 2 bath, fairly open floor plan, UV protected windows In short, we all love this air filter. It reduces the allergies significantly, is fairly quiet on the lower settings, has easy to replace filters, and reduces times in between cleanings. At first we kept this only in the center of the house in the living room, but after seeing how much it reduced dust in that room we started to rotate it to different rooms. It definitely doesn't not have the intake power to clean an entire one story house from one room. I can go a month now without cleaning and the dust doesn't get to me. When I do clean now, there's less dust after a month than there was after a week before. It feels generally easier to breathe in the house now and the air always smells fresh without having any sort of scent. My patient has not been ill once since we got the air filters. I'm not certain that the filters have anything to do with this, but it's worth noting. It also has made us a bit more mindful about what cleaning products we use. I noticed that when cleaning with aerosol products the light will turn red after about twenty minutes even if I'm two rooms away. I had no idea my cleaning products traveled that far in the air. How it compares to the purezone 3-in-1: We keep the PZ in the master bath where the catboxes are and it does an amazing job at keeping litter dust and odors under control. The PZ does not have any indicator on it about the air quality though, so we only really turn it on high when cleaning the boxes. For the month that we had the PZ in the living room before we got this one, the range didn't seem nearly as good and while it was slightly less dusty, it wasn't significant enough to change how often I cleaned. Mainly because it only picked up dust and not a lot of cat hair. The PZ is much more efficient in a small room.

Do you have dust in your house, pets or allergies? Well then it’s time to get an air purifier. This is a great investment into your health and is built to last a lifetime. This size machine will purify the air for up to 500 sq ft! I love cooking steaks on a cast iron skillet but live in an apartment and needless to say it gets smoky! AeroMax works quickly, quietly and effectively to purify and it clears out the kitchen smoke in less than a minute. I love the automatic mode because you can save power and electricity when your air is perfectly clean and the machine is smart enough to know when it needs to be kicked into high gear and refilters the entire room in minutes. I know some comments talk about a high pitched squealing- that’s from the plasma filter. You can change it to run the Hepa filter instead or turn it off. This purifier guarantees that there won’t be any negative ions but they allow you to not risk it and shut it off. For those people who are sensitive to noise turn it off the plasma option at night, my dog doesn’t seem to mind the sound either way and I don’t notice the squealing during the day. -The only con I have about this device is that I wish I could turn the lights off on it! They thought of everything else why not add that feature? The lights are huge and extremely bright blue, equivalent to a child’s nightlight. Let’s just say I’ll never stub my toe again walking to the bathroom at night with this thing on- it’s that bright. Your brain cannot fully go into rem sleep with bright light and it was effecting my sleep. unfortunately I cannot throw a blanket over it because it covers the intake and I cannot tape something over the 5 lights because this machine is extremely touch sensitive. So maybe it would be good in a kids room or if you didn’t mind sleeping with your room illuminated. Other then that it works great, I love watching it work while I’m vacuuming or dusting really takes care or those airborne particles.

So far, so good. There is a power-on switch on the top rear which some reviewers seemed to not know about, and if you don't turn it on, it will seem the unit is DOA when it is not. There is also a reset process for the filter-change lights, which is in instructions, but which I haven't used yet. I have elected to leave the unit on, all the time, on low setting, and so far it has been quiet with none of the vibration or noise reported by some other reviewers. The reason I don't give it five stars is because the air-quality light changes when sometimes I can see no reason for it. It is usually blue, for good, and it will usually move into orange when cooking, indicating that it is filtering something associated with the cooking process, odors or slight, not-visible-to-me-smoke. Also, on occasion, I use alcohol to clean glasses or other things, and the unit's air-quality indicator, which is in my living room, will turn red, indicating poor quality, which is true, since the odor of alcohol isn't great. But sometime, the indicator will change to orange or red when there's nothing happening and I'm not doing anything except watching TV, so I don't know what that's about. I ran it in auto once, for a while, and the unit would then kick up the fan speed when the indicator changed to other than blue, returning to low when the air was no longer "active" for it. The fan wasn't too loud at the second setting, but at the third and the highest setting, it is obvious, but I don't ever go there, using it in manual on low. However, if I start a fire or other emissions become a problem, it's nice to know I can crank it up. The unit's intakes are on the side, so it can be placed pretty close to things directly in front or behind it, and I leave the sides with at least a foot clear and it's fine. The indicator lights are bright, but not a problem if you place the unit so they don't point where you usually are. If in a bedroom, the unit can be placed with its front facing a wall, since intakes are on the side, and the exhaust (filtered air) going out the top, toward the front will just be deflected off the wall and the lights no factor. In my living room, the unit is behind the TV viewing positions and to the side of the desk, so the lights are no problem there, either. Unwrapping the filters and replacing them in the unit was no problem, and I'm about a week away from the first carbon clean-up or change-out. It may be sub-conscious peace of mind, or it may be that I actually seem to feel the air is better, clearer of any odors, and as I said, on low, very quiet, yet strong enough flow that I can feel it on my face when I walk past it, and I'm 6'1", so I'm happy with it.

This air purifier works great, I bought it in 2016 and it's now 2022, that's 6 years of nearly always on use! Seriously, I've only unplugged it for like a month or 2 total in its life. Filters aren't too badly priced and they do seem to work very well. (there are 3rd party filter packs that work well too!) Very quiet for the first 3 settings and the highest setting is loud but wow it moves air like no other! The Auto and Auto plus work very well, changing speed when needed. Auto plus just uses 1 level higher than standard auto for a little extra power. Great for someone who is a smoker or has asthma or other breathing conditions, keeps basements smelling nice. And really helps if you have , cats, dogs, other animals. There is virtually no dust in my room with the filter, it really does a great job of capturing it. Every other week I remove the filter and vacuum the charcoal pre-filter to remove the pet hair/dust, this really helps keep the machine running well. I have taken this air purifier apart for a deep cleaning but it wasn't too bad inside, the hardest place to clean is the space right in front of the filter intake, it's hard to get anything in there to clean so it just collects dust, that's why I opened it to clean it. Opening it is not too hard if your handy, but I'd wait until the warranty runs out just in case. No issues to report either, it has just always worked, which is impressive. I really do recommend this product, the price is well justified.

This air filter had a powerful plastic-like smell that others have complained about, but I turned off the ionizer part and the smell went away after a day. The ionizer can be turned off by holding down the star-like button for a few seconds until the light turns off. I purchased one from Amazon Warehouse Deals that was listed as "Used - Very Good - Item is in original, pristine packaging. Cosmetic damage (Less than 5% ) on the top of the item" but it arrived in great condition. It obviously had never been turned on. The filters were new and I did not see any cosmetic problems, and I saved about $30. I am using this air filter in a large 650 square foot room. While the maximum square footage is listed as 600 square feet, this filter seems to work just fine in my space. I usually leave it on "automatic" mode, and it generally stays between low-speed levels one and two. On high, the filter moves massive amounts of air, but it does get a bit noisy at that speed. It is a steady hum, so if you are using it in a bedroom while sleeping it shouldn't keep you awake since it is a constant noise that blocks out other background noise. On low speeds, it doesn't make much noise at all. The air smells noticeably cleaner and there seems to be less dust. I have been less congested, too. Definitely recommended, especially for large rooms.

Our home has very poor air circulation so cooking odors tend to linger for seemingly an eternity. Our allergies cause difficulty breathing, itching eyes and stuffy noses. Aerosols and other chemicals used throughout the home also linger in the air. Using this air purifier has GREATLY reduced our allergy symptoms. Nighttime breathing is less labored so we are getting a much better rest. Other allergy symptoms have noticeably reduced. As for cooking, odors are removed in 1/3 the time. Granted, Bacon will always be a nightmare to remove, but now we don't have to open the windows and let allergens in just to let bacon odors out! It's great that we can adjust the fan speed if we know that we are adding pollutants to the air. If I know I will be spraying sunscreen or hairspray I usually go ahead and move the fan speed up to a higher setting to get a head start on it…but if I forget, the machine senses the fumes very quickly and adjusts accordingly. It is also good that we can leave the system set on "continuous" if we know the air quality that day is very bad. The machine is very quiet on the lower fan speeds. The highest speed is a little louder, but it is not offensive. The front display lights are very bright, but if we are using in the bedroom, we just position the purifier so we don't see them. You could cover the lights with black electrical tape or painters tape if you are super-sensitive to light. As for the filter life - my filters probably won't last the full three months noted in description because my air is so full of offensive stuff! To me, this shorter filter life is not a negative….it is a positive! It shows that the purifier is doing its job and that my health is being protected. I am willing to purchase filters more frequently for peace of mind.

I have been using this purifier since July 1. This unit intakes air from two sides and expels from a vent at the top of the front and I have had no issues with placing it next to a wall or in a corner. It has definitely cut my dust allergies down quite significantly and has made my home more comfortable. I prefer not to have this on if I have the windows open for a while (just seems like a waste). QUIET on lowest setting but still effective and is good for those who enjoy a BIT of white noise. It gets louder with each setting but I personally don't mind it at all. The auto setting works great when cooking to help with smells. I love the ease of use, the size of the unit looks just fine with the rest of the room, and the handle is also convenient when I feel like moving the unit to a new location. I find it to be lightweight as well, but that varies for individuals. Also, some reviews have noted a plastic smell... I recall a somewhat sterile smell when first turned on and I was worried it was permanent but I gave it a week and haven't noticed it since. Maybe some users did not remove the plastic wrap from the filter before powering on. The blue lights personally do not bother me at night. UPDATE August, 2017: Everything I stated remains the same and I am so pleased! I have unintentionally put this purifier through hell (accidentally had it on while kitchen counter tops were being glued (no one or pets in the house) and other construction and painting projects) and the HEPA filter light came on about 2 months before the full year mark. Not bad! The charcoal filter spans about every quarter so make sure to have spares on hand. When I didn't have the HEPA replacement on hand it was noticeably more muggy and not quite as fresh.

This is my second model that I buy in a period of 8 weeks because we loved the first one so much we wanted to supplement our house with another one, on a different floor. They are super quiet. The air quality indicator works as explained in the book. The air quality sensor is very sensitive to variations in the air. As an example, and a funny one, my husband, just to verify the sensors sensitivity, farted in front of it and the purifier within 60 seconds lit the air quality indicator light from soft blue to an amber colour and the speed of the fan increased slightly to a still quiet level. Only when the air quality indicator lights up bright red do you hear the fan. We have noticed that we need less tissues to blow our noses after a few days of having them. I had a very good experience with another Fellowes product, a PowerShred cross-cut shredder, so when I saw they also made purifiers when looking for one, I was sold. I highly recommend.

Bought this one in 2016. I liked it so much that I bought 2 more of the larger model (Aeramax 300.) Removes 2nd hand smoke, very good for pollen. Aeramax 200 and 300 best sensors for odour control I've had, works well if you replace the carbon filter every few months. High speeds are noisier but lowest speed is barely noticeable. Value because they still work, and because unlike other brand which discontinues filters after a few years, I can still buy Fellowes hepa filters.

Quite noisy when it goes to the high speed setting, but other than that it is very quiet on the normal run program..It decides what mode to go to, on high it has decided that there must be something in the air that needs cleaning up. Glad we got it.

Quiet when running at low speed but the ion generator always makes a little hiss that you can notice when the room is very quiet. I wouldn't use it in a bedroom just for that because you can't disable it. The automatic mode will detect most organics in the air and amp up the fan speed accordingly. Here are some examples of things in detects; isopropyl alcohol (hand sanitizer), ethanol (wine), hair spray (butane), perfume or when cats go to the litter. For the purifying side, well, it didn't change much for our house, when making food or using hand sanitizer, it'll clear up scent quicker for sure. There's also a bit less of floating dust in the air. There are 4 fan speed, automatic mode will only use the first 3 settings, for the full speed, you have to use the fan button manually, it is very noisy but very powerful, nice if you're training near it, it'll really help with the sweating. Replacing the filter is easy and I didn't have too since I bought it yet, but that's only a couple months ago.

This is great for my fiance who has cat and dog allergies. We keep it in the bedroom. We have a dog and a cat at home and it is so noticeable when they accidently get turned off. I own two of these now and have been running them 24/7 for 4 years now and have had absolutely no problems whatsoever. The replacement filters are easy enough to find. The lights are bright at night, annoying but soooo worth dealing with because the air purifier works so well. I have definitely gotten my money's worth!