Honeywell Enviracaire HEPA Air Purifier

In this review, I will first summarize the major points and focus the details afterward. This way you can stop reading when you get the level of details you need. The definitions of "HEPA" and "CADR" are placed at the end of this review. Please vote for this review if you like it :) I appreciate it.

**Kimmer (another reviewer) has kindly uploaded a wonderful youtube video to demonstrate the noise level, title: "Honeywell Enviracare 50250 air purifier". Since your computer speaker will affect the demonstrated noise level, make sure you gauge the noise to Kimmer's voice.**

Pros: Powerful, inexpensive, permanent HEPA filter, easy to maintain, 360 degree air intake and output, portable, accessible replacement parts, good support from Kaz, a 5 year limited warranty.

Cons: Noisy, high power consumption, not stylish.

Previously I owned the Honeywell HFD-130 Germicidal Tower HEPA Air Purifier with Permanent IFD Filter, but due to its ozone emission and my respiratory problem, I returned it back to HomeDepot. I got fully refunded and bought this Honeywell 50250N on the same day and loved it. I have a mild allergy. I sneeze and experience itchy eyes when I am outdoor, but stop when I am at home (where my purifier is). I recommend two important points when shopping for a purifier: (1) always examines the CADR number. It is a decent performance indicator, (2) always buys an air purifier adequate for your need. A 100 sq ft purifier will not work for a 1000 sq ft living space.

Honeywell 50250N is a true HEPA filter purifier with a 250 CADR, which translates into a recommended 375 square feet usage space. Currently, this purifier is being sold at ~$160. It has been quoted as the only purifier $100 and quits working after 2 months. By the way, even though this is branded as a Honeywell, the manufacturer is a company called Kaz, according to the instruction manual.

Ever since moving to a new home just over a year ago, my husband and I have had an increase in our allergies and sinus problems. We decided on an air purifier for the bedroom since our symptoms were worse in the mornings, and we researched air purifiers for several weeks before deciding on this one. It was the least expensive model recommended by Consumer Reports, and the most conveniently sized for our very small bedroom. As a reference, our bedroom is 14 x 15.

Good points first: this baby moves a lot of air! On the high setting, you'll notice a difference in the smell and quality of air within just a few minutes. When it's on high, we can leave it in the bedroom but still tell that it's working in other rooms that are 30 feet away.

This purifier really does work well at removing smells. That's my favorite part of the purifier. It also seems to help with the allergies. It hasn't cured us, but my symptoms have reduced significantly, and I credit the purifier with that.

Now the not-quite-so-good: This purifier is loud. Believe what everyone says, if you have trouble getting to sleep with noise, you won't want this unit on at night. We like white noise so after just 1-2 nights, we were able to sleep just fine. On high, we can hear it through the whole house, and if it's in your living room you'll have to turn up your radio or TV to hear properly. While it's much quieter on low, it's still a bit louder than what I would choose for white noise. The blue light on the switch is pretty bright, too, and we had to cover ours so it wouldn't light up our whole room.

The air it puts out is warm, so in the summers, we have to turn the a/c down to compensate since it warms up our whole bedroom.

The fan is a bit off-balance, especially on low. It doesn't cause noise or affect the air output so we haven't returned the unit, but it's noticeable. The unit is kind of ugly and quite large. Before buying, I recommend deciding on where you'll put the unit and then carefully measuring a spot the size of the unit, just to see how much room it needs, especially if you have space issues like we do.

All in all, the concerns I had (noise, aesthetics, size) before buying it ended up being valid, but for the price and the good it's doing, I think it's worth it. I'd give this 3.5 stars but since we can't, I'll round up to 4.

Edit 8-7-07: My original review is from May 22, 2007, but I wanted to add a brief update. A few weeks ago we decided to get a second purifier for the other end of the house. This purifier is in our living room which is part of a large kitchen-dining-living room. The best thing about this second Honeywell is that it really gets rid of cooking smells quickly. The whole house smells fresher. As for allergies and sinus problems, last year at this time I'd already had 4 solid months of sinus problems. This year I've just had one episode and it was much milder than what I experienced last year.

This second unit doesn't have the wobbly fan problem our first unit did. The only problems were what I mentioned before: hard to find the room for the unit, and the sound is loud enough I have to turn it off to hear the TV or radio. I'm glad we have two of these purifiers and I definitely think it's worth the 4 stars.

Buy Honeywell Enviracaire HEPA Air Purifier Now

I have purchased several Honeywell air cleaners recently for my family (children, parents and brother's household) and have been very pleased with their performance and and engineering. I was looking for an air cleaner for my daughter's room and was given an older model by friends who had used it briefly before buying an Ionic Breeze instead due to the noise levelthe only reason I didn't rate it 5 stars. While that machine is a Sears labelled appliance, it is identical to a small Honeywell. It has effectively reduced her symptoms, and the noise hasbn't been disagreeable on lower settings with any of the machines. Using the higher settings an hour or so before bedtime and reducing the fan speed to low during the night produces a 'white nboise" that I find soothing.

Replacement filters (permanent) arte readily availabvle and economical (under $15.00 at Amazon). Other Honeywell air cleaners we have purchased differ in that they have no ionizer (not recommended by medical authoritiesi am myself a family physician) and in their capacity. All of the machines I have bought are the round hassock-shaped ones and this is an imiportant design feature in that these models use either og two sizes of replacement permanent filters as above. Larger models may use up to three stacked filters in place of the original and expensive non-permanent filter. All use a cut-to charcoal-containing pre-filter which may be vacuumed periodically and used for substantially longer than the packaging indicated (at least 6 months). The HEPA filters may be vacuumed as well, a simple maintenance task.

The filter that comes with a filter that is NOT permanent but is instead a "long-life" singlre filter with a recommended replacement interval of five years. It does not have a "permanent filter".

one of the big pluses for these machines is the excellent 5-year warranty. No machine in this price range except a few Hunter models offer a 5-year warranty, and Hunter permanent filters are far more expensive and hard-to find. I have noted some complaints about warranty service in other reviews of Honeywell products, but nonetheless it is still a very good value.

I ofund some of my machines in the local Goodwill for $10 or socheck it out!. On new machines, I really couldn't beat the Amazon deals substantially and ordered one of these and another odel for family. My brother was so impressed he went out and bought 2 other machines (regrettably, not Honeywell) for his fairly severe allergy problems. t wouldn't count on these machines to eliminate strong odors vcompletely but they do make a difference.

I would add a final note about my experience with central air conditioner filters. A NMERV of 8-10 is sufficient to remove almost all common allergens. Higher filtration requires larger surface area to prevent excessive air obstruction. We bought a filter some time ago that we couldn't use for that very reason. The most economical is the Lysol brand filter available in Lowes stores.

Removing bacteria from the air is unimportant"air sdanitizer" are a waste of money. Airborne bacteria rarely survive long and DO NOT cause odors in and of themselvesthey must be in a nutrient rich medium and actively growing to cause odors. As for mold, remember that removing moisture is the answer to that problem. A relative humidity of 40 % or less will take care of mold and mildew very nicely. So, use your AC, dehumidifier, or pipe wrench as needed to control moisture problems. As for vacuums, they all workIF YOU USE THEM! A central system that exhausts to the outdoors or a garage area that can be aired is a great option. bagless vacuums, water trap vacuums, etc really don't make much difference in air quality. We find that using simple bedlinens in the children's rooms which can be tossed in the dryer for 10 minutes are useful ways to control dust mites and remove some of their allergens. Stuffed animal toys can also be given a spin for the same reasion.

Sorry if I get carried away, but I have always felt a duty to teach my opatients to take care of themselves. I hope this has been helpful. The Honeywell air cleaners are a great way for allergy sufferers to take control of their symptoms in part.

Read Best Reviews of Honeywell Enviracaire HEPA Air Purifier Here

Pro: very good ratings from Consumer Reports

Con: to read the reviews here, it's loud

But it's not what I imagined. It's "loud" setting is about as loud as a bathroom fan, and it can easily be set to "low" at night to make it just white-noise.

What matters: my wife didn't need her asthma inhaler after the first day, so I'm very happy with this.

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This unit is amazing for yanking dust and such out of the air and making it go away. I'm not inclined to complain about the noise it makes, because the only way this thing can live up to its claim of being able to recirculate the air in a large room 6 times per hour is to move a *lot* of air, over a *large* space, and do it *fast*. Outside of a ceiling fan (which is a lot bigger) there is simply no other way to do it than with a blower that you're going to hear.

One reviewer said it sounded like a floor blower (or something like that). Well, it blows at an upward diagonal, but in terms of air volume it may come close. It has to, to get the whole room to circulate back to the unit and get sucked in. Want your room's air cleaned for *real*? Grab one of these. I used a Honeywell 13500 for over 10 years before it finally died and the 50250 took its place. No regrets.

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