Category: Product Guides

Blueair Pure Air 211 vs. Levoit Core 300 (yeah baby!)

Blueair Pure Air 211 

Blueair is an amazing air purification manufacturer out of Sweden that has some of the absolute best air purifier products on the market.

The Blueair Pure Air 211 is no exception.

This air purifier is about simplicity. It has one control button located directly on the face of the air purifier. One control button to simply eliminate allergens, odors, dander, and mold.

This air purifier employs true HEPA, activated carbon, and a washable pre-filter.

It is very small, coming in at only 20 in tall and about a foot diameter.

The video for blue Air is one of the most astounding videos that any air purification company has produced.

Check the Price of the Blueair Pure Air 211 on Amazon

The rate at which this air purifier is able to remove all the smoke in a room is unheard of.

The noise level this air purifier operates on- 31 decibels for low and 56 decibels on high is also a landmark that other air purifiers have not been able to reach.

I know what you’re thinking. I’m pouring it on thick.

Well….

For starters, This IS an awesome HEPA air purifier and it’s easy to get caught up in the hype.

This air purifier does have an amazing clean air delivery rate and can filter a 500 ft room about five times an hour.

But….

There is some things you might want to consider with this air purifier before you go rushing in paying a big price for it.

For one, the replacement filter for it is $45. And the recommended time span to replace it is every 6 months. So you’re looking at an extra $100 a year to keep a fresh filter.

And companies like this are not stupid when it comes to the way they manufacture these filters.

blueair pure airThey know that if they sell you a separate HEPA filter and a separate carbon filter that even though you will not be able to get a 100% clean result, you can still clean a HEPA filter pretty well and make it last much longer.

But when it is tied to a carbon filter, it’s not going to be nearly as easy to clean and you will not be able to reactivate the carbon since it has to be heated to 1,000° or something.

Second, carbon filters are sold by weight. And getting a carbon filter heavy enough and big enough to absorb strong odors is not very likely in a small air purifier. Another thing that you rarely hear about carbon filters themselves is that they can have a strong sweet smell.

Most of the reviews you find about the blue Air carbon filter is that the smell of the filter is not too good. And since the carbon filter is the part of the air purifier that is supposed to get rid of odors in the room…. WTF? You get the point.

Check the Price of the Levoit Core 300 on Amazon

Levoit Core 300

The Core 300 by Levoit is the close runner-up the BlueAir 211

It is less than half the price for one Levoit core 300 but it also covers about half the square footage.

The filters for the Levoit come in two different styles. One rated for pet allergies is $36 and one that is the original at $30.

What’s the difference between the two filters?
No one’s saying exactly but it looks like the pet allergy model has a heavier mass of carbon than the original.
That would make sense because carbon is the part of the filter that absorbs odors.

For less than the price of one blue Air 211, you could purchase two 

Levoit Core 300s and place them on two different sides of a large room and get a better result than trying to clean a large room with one air purifier.

But two filters for two small air Core 300 purifiers is slightly more than one filter for one large air purifier.

But the fact remains that it is always better to put smaller air purifiers throughout the house than it is to have one large air purifier and try to get air from the whole house or large room circulating through the one air purifier. Make sense?

Plus there’s also the added benefit of being able to place smaller air purifiers and smaller rooms when you need them to be there.

Downside:
But remember, though you may be able to get a better air purification process out of two small air purifiers than one, the noise level of two air purifiers in the same room will be louder than one.

Levoit also has its own large air purifier line that is advertised to cover 700 square feet and only slightly more than the blue Air. But it also has a smart sensor that automatically adjusted the speed of the fan on the air purifier to match the amount of indoor air pollution that needs to be eliminated.

The price for the filter is $70. The pet allergy and smoker version cost $100.
The filter has a suggested life of 6 to 8 months before you have to replace it.

You can see how expensive it can get to run a Levoit large room air purifier pretty quickly.

The Levoit core 300 is an excellent air purifier that boasts all the same features as the blue Air.
Very quiet and able to completely filter the air in the room five times per hour.

And the reviews for Levoit are typically very good.

What’s the Best buy? Blue Air 211 or Levoit Core 300

Two small air purifiers by Levoit is a better deal than the larger 211 air purifier by Blue Air.

The price of the filters will be a little more but they are rated for 6 to 8 months over the 6 months expected exchange on the BlueAir.

It is better to have smaller air purifiers throughout a home or large room than it is to try to get one big air purifier to do all the work.

Food for thought:

If your main concern is getting rid of allergens and dust and you could take or leave the carbon filter, there are plenty of HEPA air purifiers that do not use an all-in-one true HEPA and carbon filter. Cheaper.

And though it may be true that you will not be able to completely wash a HEPA filter 100%. They still can be rinsed quite well if they are not sealed together with a carbon filter.

Regardless, filters are the part of the air purifier business where the big money is made.

And for the consumer, it is where most of the money is spent.

What Should You Look For in a Small Window AC? (3 Favorites)

Small window air conditioners  generally cover right around 150 square feet for 5000 BTUs. 250 square feet for 6,000 BTUs.

BTUs which stands for British Thermal Units can be a confusing metric to base your AC needs off of.

Most people are unfamiliar with what BTUs actually are.

That’s okay,  so am I.

An easier way to figure out what size AC you actually need is to base it off the square footage. Which is generally labeled on the box near the same area where the BTUs are listed.

The formula for square footage is length x width.
In simpler terms, if you have a room that is 10 ft going one way and 12 ft going the other way, you multiply 10×12 to find that you have 120 square feet of space.

Using the same formula, you can find out how many BTUs you need by simply multiplying the square footage by 25.

Sq ft x 25 = BTUs.

But to be fair that is a rough estimate and doesn’t take into account variables like high ceilings, hot climates, and rooms that are directly in the Sun.

If any of those variables applies to you, then you should probably consider stepping it up to the next size.

What should you look for in a window AC?

 

1.  Sq. feet covered
Getting the right AC to match your square footage is important. Air conditioning is not like a race car engine that works better when it has more power. Two large of an air conditioner can actually make the room extra humid. Not to mention the extra energy required to run a larger air conditioner.

2.  Physical Size
It’s important to match the physical size of a window AC to the actual window it’s going in. Though with a small window air conditioner, it will not usually be the case, it is possible to get a AC unit that is just too large for your window.

3.  Watts/ energy usage
The amount of watts an AC uses will impact the amount of money you spend to run the unit every month. It’s a good idea to check the wattage to find a unit that is relatively low.

Beyond this small list, it is really just bells and whistles.

Some of the extras you can expect to find in a Window AC are:

 

1. Dehumidifier

Humidity on its own can make a room feel hot without the actual temperature being that high. A dehumidifier or dry mode as it is usually called, will reduce the humidity in the room without using the refrigerator function to cool.

2. Auto shut off

Auto shut off on a window AC is an excellent feature because it will turn the AC off once the desired temperature is reached.

3. Remote control

A remote control with your window AC is one of the best features you can look for when shopping for an AC. Can you imagine any other item that has made life easier than a remote control?

This list of small window air conditioners is comprised of units that use 5,000 and 6,000 BTUs or cover 150 to 250 sq. ft.

Della 6000 BTU

  • 15.26 x 13.45 x 19.04″
  • 6000 BTUs
  • 690 w
  • 250 square feet

The Della small window AC is a great air conditioner that covers 250 square feet handily. It comes featured with full on dehumidifier, auto shut off, 3 speeds, and the obligatory remote control.

Cons

Heavy- 53 lbs
Available in White only
690 w- Expect to use more energy

View on Amazon

LG Energy Star Rated 6000 BTU

  • 19.56″ x19.38″ x12.38″
  • 6000 BTUs
  • 480 w
  • Covers 260 square feet

The LG 6000 BTU window air conditioner comes with everything you need. It is a very quiet AC that comes equipped with dry mode for dehumidification and a remote control.

Built-in timer allows you to set the duration that you want the air conditioner to run.

Indicators let you choose between cool, energy, fan only, and dry mode.

It also has a indicator light to let you know when it’s time to clean the filter.

Low wattage means a lower energy bill with this unit also.

Cons – oversized.

Check it Out Here

MIDEA MAW05M1BWT

Need something a little smaller? Back to the basics?

MIDEA offers a 5000 BTU window air conditioner with mechanical controls. 7 temperature settings and two fan settings.

This is a entry level low priced AC set to be released in April 2021.

  • 15.98 by 13.19×12.05 in
  • Covers 150 square feet
  • 450 w
  • 5,000 British thermal units (BTUs)
  • Washable filter
  • Easy installation- minimal modification needed

Cons

No bells and whistles.

View on Amazon

TOSOT 10000 BTU

Need something a little bigger?

TOSOT offers a 10,000 BTU window air conditioner that covers 450 square feet

  • 21.4×22.8×15.8 in
  • 115 w
  • Covers 450 square feet
  • 10,000 BTU

The TOSOT 10000 BTU has a sleek modern look with a digital readout. It also does not have the standard grill on the front side of the AC that is typical for nearly all other window air conditioners.

Smart remote control uses sensor technology to monitor the temperature of the air and adjust the air conditioner strength.

Sleep mode- adjust the temperature throughout the night to give you the best comfort. throughout the night

Modes include fan, sleep, timer, swing, and I feel

Very low wattage for a window AC. Energy saver.

Energy STAR certified

Review stating that it is the best AC they’ve ever had.

See it Here

Best Mid Size HEPA air purifier?

Best midsize HEPA air purifier?

If you’ve done any looking around for an air purifier, even just a little bit, you’ve probably figured out that almost every air purifier you can purchase uses the same type of technology to clean the air.

  • Pre-filter- HEPA filter- carbon filter
  • A pre-filter for larger debris.
  • A carbon filter for odors and gases.
  • And a true HEPA filter for all the other contaminants in the air.

Sure there are some variables and little things that the different companies do to make their air cleaners different, but in the end, they’re basically the same.

So how do you know what to look for when everything is basically the same thing?

When it comes to HEPA air purifiers,
The main things you want to look for are:

  1. Replacement filter cost and the amount of filters you’ll need to replace per year
  2. How many square footage can you get out of one air purifier
  3. That the air purifier uses actual HEPA filters and not the HEPA like filters.

Beyond this small list, everything else is truly bells and whistles.

Most air purifier brands these days are coming out with smart sensors to measure air quality and auto adjust the air purifier.

This is a great feature. But absolutely not necessary other than for convenience sake.

Other purifiers have 360° filters. Again, a great future but just a variance on the same thing.

So here we have tried to compile a list of excellent med room size HEPA air purifiers that we absolutely believe would be a benefit to you without costing you too much upfront or on the back end with filters.

Honeywell HPA 300

  • Sq ft covered 465
  • Technology- true HEPA and carbon filters
  • Filter cost-Hepa $18.62 replace once a year
  • Carbon filter three pack $21.68 replace once every 3 months.

Honeywell is a trustworthy brand and this air purifier comes with a 5- year warranty.

The price of replacement filters is quite reasonable considering the true HEPA only requires changing once a year.

Effectiveness- filters the air of a 450 ft room 5 times every hour. Comes with a turbo setting to filter the room faster.

Pros-

  • Endorsed by doctors.
  • Trusted brand.
  • 5 year warranty.
  •  HEPA Filter only needs replaced once a year.

Con’s

  • The Carbon filter serves as the pre-filter.
  •  The style of the machine is pretty dull. The look of it makes easy to mistake it for your paper shredder.

Thoughts-

Honeywell HPA is your basic true HEPA air purifier with a carbon filter.

The odd thing about this air purifier is that the carbon filter is used as the pre filter.

Activated carbon is very porous and binds gases to the inside of its pore walls. Having the activated carbon filter serve as a pre-filter will quickly block the area of the carbon and make it inefficient.

You can easily see that keeping the carbon filter vacuumed off would lengthen the lifespan of the filter considerably in this case.

Click here to Check It Out the Honeywell HPA 300 Amazon

Bissell air400 professional


The Bissell air 400 is comparable to Honeywell’s HPA 300. It is a very nice air purifier.

  • Sq Ft. It covers 400 square feet
  • Replacement filter cost –Pre filter and HEPA filter combo $24.99 Suggested replacement every 6 months.
  • Carbon filter $25.99- Also replaced every 6 months.

The primary difference between the Bissell air 400 and the Honeywell HPA 300 is the addition of a air quality sensor that monitors the air and adjust the speed of the fan to accommodate the amount of air purification you need.

Pros

  • Honeycomb design on the carbon filter helps adsorb odors and gases better.
  •  Smart sensor with automatic adjustment allows for the unit to be set and left.
  • Very well reviewed on Amazon.

Cons

  • Filters are more expensive and the HEPA filter requires twice as many replacements per year.
  • The Initial price of the air purifier is also more expensive.
  • Style- This air purifier also could be mistaken for your paper shredder.

A nice air purifier that uses the standard three stage filter system. Pre filter- carbon filter-HEPA filter.

The main difference between this HEPA midsize air purifier and it’s competitors is that it has a smart sensor that adjust the fan speed to match the air quality.

Click here to View the Bissel air400 on Amazon

Winix 5500-2

This is my favorite midsize HEPA air purifier.
Style wise, maybe your paper shredder just needs a boyfriend.
 But performance wise it has something you’re not going to find with most med to large size room air purifiers.

That something is Plasma Wave.
Plasma Wave is a type of ionizer that emits both positive and negative ions.

It is effective at not only reducing or trapping germs and viruses, it actually destroys the membrane and leaves them inactive.

Yeah but don’t ionizers create ozone?

Winix plasma wave does not create a harmful amount of ozone. It is well within the federal limit. 

Plus Plasma Wave is only one function on the Winix 5500-2 and it can be turned off and used only when you need it. 

Winix plasma wave also employees the standard true HEPA and carbon combo.

The carbon filter uses pellets. A technique that is becoming very popular in the air purification industry.

Pros

  • Air Quality indicator that shows you through a series of lights how bad or how good your air quality actually is.
  • Dual smart sensors that monitor your air quality and adjust the speed of the fans to the amount of air purification needed.

Cons

  • Though the air purifier itself is not the most expensive, filter prices for this air purifier are a little higher.
  • Filter prices run $59.63 for the carbon filter and $39 for the HEPA. Replace HEPA every 6 months. Carbon every three.
  • Style wise. Black and boxy. Not too much chance of it adding to the decor of your room.
Check Out the Winix 5500-2 Here

Levoit Core 300

Levoit is one of the most popular hepa purifier brands available. And they didn’t get there by not providing excellence.

The Levoit Core 300 is a smaller room air purifier that only covers about 250 ft.

The reason we have decided to include the Levoit Core 300 here is that it comes with a price that makes it possible to buy two outstanding air purifiers the cover 500 square feet combined for the price of another air purifier that only covers 400.

Price is only the first reason.

Secondly.

When it comes to cleaning the air in your house, it is much more effective to play small air purifiers around the house rather than try to get all the air in the house or large room through one big air purifier.

This little air purifier gives you the chance to do just that.

There is a couple of downsides to employing too small air purifiers in a large room compared to one:

The price of filters is not that much cheaper for one air purifier and it’s going to take twice as many because you have twice as many air purifiers now. $30 for the original. $36 for what they call their pet version. They recommend changing it every 6 months.

Warning: The sound the air purifier makes is going to be louder because now there is two air purifiers making the same sound.

But if air quality is the central reason you are purchasing an air purifier, the Levoit core 300 is a excellent choice.

It uses the HEPA 13 filter combined with the carbon filter in a 360° design that pulls and cleans air from all sides.

Pros

  • Super nice small air purifier that will fit into the decor of any living room.
  • Uses the HEPA 13 360° filter that can filter particulates even smaller than the true HEPA.
  • The initial cost is very low.

Cons

  • Filters are pricey and require changing every 6 months. And of course, you’ll use twice as many if you run two small air purifiers in the place of one large air cleaner.
  • Also the filter is a combination filter that combines the HEPA, Carbon filter and pre-filter in one.-Sounds awesome, but it also means that you cannot just buy the Hepa without getting the carbon.
  • And there’s no doing any type of DIY cleaning on the HEPA filter because you would end up tearing up the carbon filter.
View the Levoit Core 300 Here

How Did the Winix PlasmaWave Slip Through the Cracks? Review

If you do a casual search on Amazon for the broad subject “air purifiers” , you’ll quickly come across the Winix Plasmawave pretty fast.

 

Winix PlasmaWave 5500-2

 is the latest greatest air purifier by the company and it generally gets outstanding reviews. 

Check the Price of the Winix Plasmawave 5500-2 on Amazon Here

The first thing you notice right off the bat is the fact that it says it creates no harmful ozone.

Now I know that there are air purifier companies that make ionic air purifiers that do not list any type of ozone production simply because the amount of ozone created is below the federal limit of .005 parts per million.

And if it is a negligible amount of ozone and it doesn’t cross over the Federal limit, then who am I to say that there needs to be a disclaimer.

But that’s not the case with the Winix PlasmaWave, It actually says it creates no harmful ozone.

Plasma wave technology is one of the best air cleaning technologies available. But any type of technology that creates ions is going to create at least a small amount of ozone.

And it’s not like you can hide the smell of ozone either. It’s hard to say it doesn’t create ozone when you can smell it pretty easily. And many of the reviews for the Winix PlasmaWave say they can smell ozone coming from the machine.

The keyword here is “harmful”. The Winix plasma wave advertises that it creates no harmful ozone. It doesn’t say it doesn’t create any ozone at all. Just not a harmful amount.

ozoning a houseYes it’s a great technology. But that’s pretty misleading.

I think that’s pretty obvious why, ozone is a word that strikes fear and so many people’s minds that having an air purifier that says it creates ozone is like signing a death warrant for it.

The second thing about the Winix advertisement that is misleading is the fact that it says it has a washable carbon filter.

Activated carbon filters that are used in air purifiers have to go through the activation process in order for gases and odors to bind to them. The problem is that the activation process involves heating the filter to around 1000°.

Carbon filters are very much like a sponge with thousands of pores that adsorb gases and binding them to the walls of the pores.
Once the area of the carbon is used, it can only be replaced and washing it with soap and water will not reactivate it. 

The carbon filter in the Winix plasma wave is more like a container that has carbon granules in it. So it does lend itself to vacuuming and brushing any debris off of it.

But saying that it has a washable carbon filter
is misleading and probably is only done for advertising purposes to set the air purifier apart from the pack of HEPA and carbon filter air purifier makers that don’t make any outlandish claim about their carbon filters.

Technically they can say these things, because like I said before, the amount of ozone being generated by the Winix is not enough to be dangerous or cross over the federal limit.

And though you cannot wash the carbon filter in the Winix with water, it can technically be vacuumed and brushed off.

But It’s hard to come to terms with an air purifier company that tows the line of advertising like that.

But then again…There are few competitors that can compete with the Winix PlasmaWave on Performance.

Winix PlasmaWave might have slipped through the cracks being that it is an electronic air purifier with ionic technology that somehow made it to the forefront and is sitting on the front row as one of the best air purifiers available.

winixPersonally, it is the PlasmaWave function that the controversy is about, that would make me purchase this air purifier over the other top Air purifiers like the Levoit or the Blue Air.

There are scores of air purifiers listed on Amazon alone. You can look on the Walmart app and see another huge list that is not on Amazon.
But they all have one thing in common, or should I say Three?

They all use a three-stage filter that combines a pre-filter for large debris, a carbon filter for gases and odors, and a true HEPA filter for contaminants and particles floating in the air.

Winix PlasmaWave also uses the standard true HEPA the filters allergens as small as 0.3 microns and Carbon with a pre filter.

These are hands down the most popular and effective air purifying technologies on the shelf. Almost every air purifier uses these three filters.

But when it comes to viruses, airborne mold, bacteria and germs, Hepa filters can only capture the contaminants and that’s only if they are not smaller than .03 parts per million. Which unfortunately viruses are.
Which kind of makes the true HEPA useless.

The plasma wave function of the Winx 5500-2 will eradicate bacteria and germs as well as viruses.

Plasma air purifiers work by emitting positive and negative ions simultaneously. Polarity causes the ions to snap together instantly which traps bacteria in the air inside of the newly formed atom. This technique is known to leave viruses dormant. You can read more on Sciencedaily.

Having the plasma wave option on an air purifier is the exact reason I want to own an air purifier.

Yes I am aware that too much ozone can cause breathing difficulties in too high of quantities.

But I am prepared to turn the Winix plasma wave function on and leave the house if needed. I’m also ready to let the house air out if I were to need to.

It’s because the plasma wave can do what the other air purifiers cannot do, actually kill the bacteria, not just capture it.

And one of the biggest points is, the PlasmaWave function can be turned on and turned off whenever you want it or vice versa.

There’s one other thing that I like about the Winix PlasmaWave that most of the other top Air purifiers do not have is that the HEPA filter is completely separate from the carbon filter.

I know that the directions state that a HEPA filter cannot be cleaned and I also understand that that is probably true for the most part.

But compared to say the Levoit Core 300 which has a replaceable filter that combines the HEPA with the carbon, which makes it non washable right out,

The HEPA filter on the Winix plasma wave is completely separate which gives me the option of at least soaking it, which may help me extend the life of the filter.

And like I said, yes I know that the filter will not be as effective. But at least I have the option.

Q&A

What is the Winix air quality indicator?

The Winix air quality indicator is a light that shows the quality of air currently in your room.

What are the air quality indicator colors?

The air quality indicator colors on a Winx PlasmaWave are Blue, Amber, and Red. When the light is shining Blue, your air quality is good. When it is shining Amber, you have normal to Fair air quality. Red means poor air quality.

What does it mean when the Winix air quality indicator stays Blue?

Blue is the best you can do. It means your air quality is very good.

Summary

Do I think Winix’s PlasmaWave advertisement is misleading?

Yes I do believe that it is meant to misconstrue on a couple of points. Being that it says it creates no harmful ozone but that’s only when the plasma wave function is not on or they’re really trying to say that it doesn’t create enough ozone to be considered harmful.

And it says it has a washable carbon filter. But washable in this case can only really mean vacuuming or brushing it off. It will still have to be replaced.

But on another level, I have to agree that this air purifier is much better than most of the most popular brands listed at the top of the page right now.

Without exception, all the air purifiers use the exact same technologies: true HEPA, activated carbon, and a pre filter. Winix PlasmaWave actually gives me the option of using Bipolar ionic that the other air purifiers do not. And it’s not like I can’t turn the function off when I do not need it.

And did I mention that the HEPA filter in the Winix PlasmaWave is separate from the carbon filter. A big plus if you want to do a DIY cleaning job on it.