When I originally reviewed this product I gave it three stars. After using the product for over a year now I would take away two of those stars if I could.I purchased three Oreck purifiers at the same time and notice very little difference in the air quality in my home.
Things I like:
The "silent" mode is great for sleeping (when the unit isn't popping and snapping). The design is attractive.
Things I don't like:
1) The rapid popping/snapping sound (like a bug zapper) the units make when the cell starts getting dirty. As another reviewer wrote the rapid popping scared his poor dog so badly that it wet the floor. The noise is VERY annoying. You either clean it right away or turn it off because the snapping persists until something is done. Oreck recommends thorough cell cleaning every two weeks, but between the three units I have to do "quick cleanings" on at least one of them almost every day. Quick cleaning requires pulling the main cell and running a Q-Tip over the wires in front of the collection plates.
2) The Oreck infomercial misrepresents the product; the consumer pays a healthy price for this purifier believing there will be no additional costs associated with the purchase. They advertise "No Filter Replacement" yet there is an "optional" charcoal odor absorbing filter that does need to be replaced if the unit is used to control odors. The cost of that filter at the Oreck site is $49.99.
According to my local Oreck store, the cell doesn't get real clean if only soaked in soapy water. The "optional" cell cleaner is strongly recommended to optimize the cell performance and extend the cell life. Each can of cell cleaner is $14.99. The local Oreck store recommended cleaning with cell cleaner, soaking in soapy water, and then cleaning again with more cell cleaner.
3) The collection plates in the main cell don't hold a lot of dust, and the odor absorbing filter is too small to catch much. I question how much dust is being pumped back into the air after it is "purified."
*Note: Several reviewers have suggested I use the units in extreme conditions. However, I live in a brand new residence; I don't smoke and have three cats so the operating conditions are far from extreme.
14 MONTH UPDATE:
After using the units for about 14 months, two of the three original machines I purchased died and are happily disposed of. The one remaining unit seems to be working well and actually goes weeks without popping and snapping. I no longer purchase the Oreck cell cleaner, following the advice of another reviewer I now use Clorox Cleanup.
I replaced one of the failed Oreck units with a Honeywell 50250 99.97% Pure HEPA Round Air Purifier. I replaced the second failed Oreck with the Honeywell 18155 SilentComfort Permanent, True HEPA Air Purifier this unit is quiet and works so well I purchased two of them. They are all larger floor models that require some space, but they outperform the Oreck units in every way, and are a great value at Amazon. The charcoal pre-filters cost $9.00 to $10.00 to replace and are well worth it when I see the garbage the Honeywell pulls out of the air.
This air cleaner works ok when brand new, but cleaning this thing is a major pain, because you also have to completely dry the cell(as mentioned in the manual or you could damage the unit), I use a fan to help dry the cell after cleaning, and it takes all day because there are places on the cell where water gets in that are covered. As other reviewers have mentioned the cell HAS to be cleaned OFTEN, or else you get the very loud bug zapper noises(and sparks) that get worse and worse the dirtier it gets.
Humidity also affects the unit, the more humid it is the more it makes the zapping and electrical buzzing sounds.
I actually came here to the Amazon website to look for a new air cleaner, and I saw this model for sale, and I felt I had to give a review. I dont usually bother giving reviews(I think I am going to start giving more reviews because of this thing), and I hardly ever return items but I wish I could return this, it was a big waste of money and TIME trying to clean it. I have learned to always look at product reviews by other customers (like this one) before making a purchase if at all possible. Hopefully this helps someone else with making a decision between products.
Buy Oreck Air Purifier Tabletop XL Professional (Silver) Now
I bought 2 of these at the same time, one for each floor of my house. Paid top dollar also, as these units are expensive.Problems:
1. The cells cannot be cleaned no matter what you do. I 1st tried the soap/water.....cells still dirty. I then was scammed into buying their foam cleaner......2 bottles of it. Still didn't clean the cells. Then I tried soap/water, then cleaner, then soap/water. Didnt work at all. On top of that, the foam cleaner bottle is empty after a few cleanings. Extremely expensive!!!
Here is an easier way to imagine these cells. If you've ever had an Ionic Pro, or something with blades that needed cleaning, you know that you have to put manual force into them, along with some serious household cleaners. Now imagine trying to clean them with NO manual force. Impossible.
2. When you give up and put the 90% dirty cell back in. It will snap/pop/crackle after a day or two. And it is extremely loud! Enough to wake you up or overpower a movie with surround sound.
This is an extremely flawed product that should have never been on the market. I'm surprised that an authority on business practices hasn't looked into this.
When I saw a few of the good reviews, I had to speak up. I'm not going to allow sockpuppets mislead other people.
Read Best Reviews of Oreck Air Purifier Tabletop XL Professional (Silver) Here
Four years ago, I suddenly developed allergies. The allergies caused severe breathing problems (I couldn't draw a full deep breath without effort) and because of the allergies, I also has chest pains whenever the breathing issues started. While I did start daily medication, I found that the symptoms frequently overrode the medicine. My allergist recommended an air purifier for my home. A friend recommended Oreck, and I went to a local Oreck store for my purchase. I ended up buying the silver tabletop model and a tower floor model. I have a two story home, and I use the tower model on the first floor (1800 sq ft) and the table top on the second floor (800 sq ft). Both units covers their respective areas without problems.The units come fully assembled and ready to use. Just take them home and plug them in. I purchased them one evening, and by the next morning, I could tell a huge difference in my breathing within my house. The models are quiet and unobtrusive. You can hear them running, but its background noise like your refrigerator or air conditioner would make. They're sleekly designed and don't stand out, however, the table top models are large, so they do take up some space. I use my tabletop model in my bedroom, and it sits on top of my dresser and pretty much covers the whole top.
Both units contain what Oreck calls a Truman cell, and this cell is what cleans the air. The air passes first through a screen, then through the Truman cell, and finally, through a carbon filter. All three of these parts remove easily for cleaning. The Truman Cell should be cleaned with Oreck Cell cleaner. One can of cleaner will set you back $15, but you can clean your cell five times with it (I spray one end of the cell, let it set for five minutes and rinse, then turn it over and spray the other side and let it set for five minutes, then rinse the whole cell thoroughly, then I set the units in front of a table top fan to dry). The units comes with a red indicator light that shows when the unit needs to be cleaned. The unit usually averages needing cleaning every two to three weeks.
The units are so easy to clean and disassemble. The Truman cell lifts out, the carbon filter lifts out and the screen lifts out. All of that filters the air before it blows through the motor and out the top of the unit through the adjustable fins (tabletop model). If you properly clean the Truman cell and the screen, you can blow out the carbon filter with canned air, and the unit will run perfectly until it needs cleaning again. I also take a damp paper towel and wipe the unit down as it does get covered in fine particles (almost like a powder). Once a year, I take both units to the Oreck store for cleaning. My tower model came with five free yearly cleanings, and my tabletop came with none. Last time I checked, the cleanings cost $39, and they replace the carbon filter when they clean the unit.
Oreck guarantees all their units for years (different periods of time for different units), but anything that goes wrong they will fix without question during that period. I've had both of my units for four years now. The tabletop model has been totally problem free. The tower has had the Truman cell replaced once and has one wire on the Truman cell replaced...both times without charge or fuss.
These units saved me, literally. Once the purifiers started running, all, and I mean ALL of the symptoms left. Yeah, the machines have to be kept clean, and the cell cleaner costs a lot, but being able to easily breath in my own home is worth it.
Want Oreck Air Purifier Tabletop XL Professional (Silver) Discount?
I have owned this for about two years now (got it as a gift), and I can now say that it simply doesn't worknot even a bit.Since I live in a very dusty apartment, I was more than happy to get this to help keep the dust levels down around my TV and laptop, and was initially impressed by what was promised and said by the Oreck family on TV infomercials and QVC.
I was delighted to get this Oreck, because of the dangers that dust levels can have with expensive computers, and the promises made.
Dust build up is what caused my laptop to die, and I wanted to avoid that experience again.
After having this unit on 24 hours a day for two years now, and running in the three different modes, I would have expected my dust levels to be almost non-existent, but sadly, this is not the case at all. Not even close.
Nothing has changed at all since owning this, except for the much higher energy bills that I now have each month.
To be honest, I really feel like this is a scam. David Oreck and his family have said that this will clean an a entire standard-sized room 2-3 times a hour when the unit is left on.
This is a complete lie.
Since giving this unit time to work for these couple of years, I can tell you that this simply is totally untrue.
I still have the same amount of dust in my apartment as I had before I got this, and there's no reduction in overall dust whatsoever.
In fact, after I turned the unit off for an hour to observe the large build-up of dust STILL on my TV and surrounding items,
I turned it back on, only to see a VERY LARGE dust cloud blow OUTWARD into the air that had accumulated on top of the Oreck unit!
Not only had the unit FAILED to get rid of the dust, but it also BLEW it out into the air I was breathing.
In theory, this unit is SUPPOSED to REMOVE the dust from the air, but it only BLOWS it into the air, giving me a greater opportunity and chance for respiratory problems later.
Gee, thank you very much David Oreck.
Not only is this unit worthless, but so is their sales and service staff that I made contact with at their local Oreck stores.
Their sales and service guy was EXTREMELY rude to me, and it took them 3 weeks to get my Oreck serviced, when it was only supposed to take 3-4 days at the most.
Even when I called to complain about this to the Oreck company on the East Coast, I was placated with feeble attempts at understanding, and was then offered a bottle of their Air cleaner as a free gift for my troubles with their rude Oreck sales and service man, but they NEVER sent it to me, so they lied about that as well.
I am DONE with Oreck, and never will buy or use their products ever again. With what I went through, I am amazed that this company is still in business.
If it were possible, I would have given this so-called "air cleaner" (LOL!) ZERO stars.
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