Controlled Filter Test. These definitely work, with proof.
I conducted a controlled filter test based on a controlled filter test guide to see if these were worth the money. I live in the area of the U.S. that, according to NOAA has the second worst allergy seasons in the U.S. and all three types of pollen are at extremely high levels currently and will remain at those levels for at least the next fifteen days. The reason I am able to do a controlled test is that I have a whole house filtration system and use a 5 inch HEPA 12, filtering 4200 square feet. However my "mother in law apartment" extension does not have the filtration system extended to it. Instead in that apartment I use a Honeywell stand alone air purifier, one of the tall ones with two large filters. I already know that the generic filters for those work just as well as brand name. But in the downstairs bathroom, which is both the bathroom and shower for the mother in law apartment and the laundry room. The room is 10w x 10l x 8t or 800 square feet. The dimensions of a washer and dryer are about 12 square ft total, and everything else we can just go on the high end and subtract 100 square feet and call it 700 square feet. The Honeywell model I use in that room is the HHT270W which it says are "ideal" for small rooms up to 100square feet, will filter the air in a 100 sq ft room four times per hour or rooms up to 465 square feet once per hour. By the end of this review with looking at the test results you might be wondering how a air purifier rated for 465 sq ft, one cycle per hour cleaned the air using generic filters of a 700 sq ft room in under an hour. That is because they are tested under strict controlled conditions in a closed chamber or AHAM Standard five changes per hour (ACH - Air Changes per Hour). They are rated conservatively on a CADR standard (CADR - Clean Air Delivery Rate) and that is combined airflow and filter efficiency rate. Or how much filtered air a purifier delivers in cubic feet per minute. (CFM) in a moderately polluted chamber. So filter efficiency is extremely important, and Honeywell purifiers are conservatively rated under AHAB standard assuming a closed room, like a small bedroom, this purifier for example, will not purify the air in my living room and dining room. But it will purify the air in a room twice the size of it's rating in under an hour and maintain that. With these filters. Even though it isn’t supposed to and should reduce moderately polluted air in the pm2.5 in the µg/m³ range dramatically. That is, IF these filters are any good. My Test For a baseline from whole house, the first picture shows the excellent air quality from the sensor in the center of my house. I’m looking for that or near that with these filters. The remaining photos are from the portable sensor I run off of a power supply so I can move it anywhere. For the test, it is recommended to be 4-5 feet from the floor, 4-5 feet away from the filter and both were done. Also, for the test it was recommended in order to get a baseline in the room to turn off the purifier, open the doors and wait one hour to achieve a moderately air polluted room to measure how much it drops. That was done. I bought two portable meters months ago and tested them numerous times against my whole house sensor and they are always within 1-3. Insignificant. After an hour I turned on the purifier with a brand-new filter and closed both doors. (One exterior and one interior to the hall). These were my results with photos. Note: According to the EPA this is what the AQI (Air Quality Index) in your house readings mean. 0-50 AQI = Excellent to Good. Considered healthy for everyone. 51-100 is fair to moderate. Acceptable for most except sensitive groups like asthma, elderly, children, may notice mild effects. 101 – 150 poor. Unhealthy for sensitive groups. 151-200 Unhealthy (For everybody). pm2.5 in the µg/m³ 0-30 range is excellent to good. (The lower the better). 30-70 is ok but moderately polluted. Over 70 is poor air quality. Polluted air. First readings with no purifier (Baseline) – pm2.5 – 65.0 and 65.1 with AQI of 50 = Poor Air Quality. 2nd after installing new filter and turning on purifier, closing doors and waiting 15 minutes – 27.7/AQI 84 and 27.9/84. – Fair Air Quality 3rd after an addition 15 minutes – 19.5/67 AQI – Still fair air quality 4th after additional 15 minutes – 3.1/AQI 13 – Good air quality 5th after additional 15 minutes – 2.9/AQI 13 Good air quality 6th after 5 more minutes – 1.7/AQI 7 – Excellent air quality Using these filters the air quality in the room dropped from “Poor” to “Excellent” air quality and that was with me opening the door and walking in and out every 15 minutes. VOC (Or TVOC) – VOC are Volatile Organic Chemicals. Carbon based that evaporate easily at room temperature. That is what the black prefilter is for. VOC is what causes odors. There are some volatile chemicals in your house that are not organic and also some that are odorless like carbon monoxide. The black prefilter is the filter that catches the particles from VOC’s and prevents odors. Cooking smells (the reason you have a carbon infused filter in your microwave), Tobacco, Pet smells, wood furniture off-gassing. Also catches larger particles like dust, lint, pet hair. If you notice in the photo, my sensors for whole house read VOC’s. My portable, unfortunately, does not. But it is still testable in five different ways, and I used one. Alcohol Test. Soak a cotton ball in alcohol, place it in front of the intake and see how long it takes for the odor to stop coming from exhaust. In this case, seconds. If you want to compare how well it performs against the name brand, use new and do the test on both. But for me, the point was to debunk the claim that the prefilters were not carbon prefilters or they were “painted Styrofoam”. Both claims are false. These are carbon prefilters. And they do work. I am in my second box of these and find they work just as well as the name brand. They do what they were supposed to do. But are they a deal? Cost effective? The 12-month claim for the name brand is not true from my experience, under my conditions. Closer to four months. These average around three months. The brand name is $18.88 each or two pack for $37. One year supply of name brand = $56.64 + tax. One year’s supply of these = $26.88 + tax. Even if you buy the two packs of brand name you are still paying $56 for a year’s supply. At least from my experience. Works as good as the name brand – Yes Lower cost than name brand for one year supply – By over half. Efficient – Just as efficient as the name brand. Carbon prefilter reduces odor (And is real) – Yes Longevity – These four packs will last as long a name brand two packs for less than half the price. And this is all I will be buying. Had they failed my tests I would have gone back to name brand. Functionality – These are about 1/16th of an inch less in depth than the nae brand. Here is why it doesn’t matter and why it could be beneficial for some people. Because the air blows through them, not along side them. If a tiny amount of dust gets up inside, blow it out, it’s no different than your computer fan getting dirty, you should clean your purifier every time you change filters. And you could use that 16th of an inch if you wanted to make the VOC capability more efficient. For a couple of bucks you can buy sheets of carbon filter material or also for a couple of bucks you can buy HVAC 1 inch filters with a carbon prefilter, take it out, cut it to the same size as the filter and slide it in there. When I buy the filters for my other portables, I buy them without the carbon filters, I don’t use the old ones, I just cut my own from a sheet I bought at my local big box store. Overall, five stars as far as I am concerned. Healthwise and for odors, gets the job done. Read more
