Worth the price.
I live in an older apartment building. Every day when I come home from work, it smells like cigarettes or marijuana from the neighbors. Add that on top of the normal musty, moldy smell of old buildings, and it just gets to be a lot even if you have no allergies. My apartment is beautiful on the inside and I’m in the middle of a lease, so I don’t really want to move, so I decided to start looking for a HEPA filter to try to Alleviate some of the issues. After doing days of research, I finally settled on the Green Air™ Encore. I was a little shy of the price because I'm entirely new to the HEPA filter market. However; I wanted to buy something that appeared to be a quality product. I wanted something that could work individually for my entire apartment that is 630 square feet, and the 1000 square feet this model can handle squarely fit the bill. I've had it a little over 24 hours now, so I'll give you my very initial impression. The Green Air Encore™ came very well packaged. Its factory packaging was covered in a discrete box with no other markings so that no one would want to take it off of my front porch. Inside on top and bottom, it had regular hard rigid styrofoam which was a little disappointing for something at this price point. It did, however, come un-damage, so that's good. The initial setup was very easy. The outer door is magnetic and comes off with a decent enough amount of force that I'm confident it won't fall off on its own. However; I don't feel like I'm going to break it every time I take it off. Under the cover, you'll find the units 3 filters. The first of which comes off, is washable and has no need of replacement. The intermediate filter is activated charcoal and is wrapped in a plastic bag that must be removed before starting the unit. Inside is the HEPA filter. The HEPA filter looks adequate enough to deal with it's rated for however I could not find a MERV rating anywhere on the packaging the unit or the user's manual. I initially used the unit in its Auto setting, and it had run for about 20 minutes before it dropped to its lowest setting and the air Purity light showed blue stating that I had very clean air. The user's manual shows how you can easily change the sensitivity of the air. So I decided to do that. After setting the unit on its highest sensitivity, it ran for an additional half hour before again dropping to its lowest setting. The air in my house very well may have been cleaner since the unit is rated for 1000 square feet and my apartment is only 630 however there was no olfactory difference. I decided to put the unit in manual mode and set it to the second of its four settings and let it run overnight. Before leaving for work in the morning, I set it on its third of four settings and put it in the middle of my largest room and let it run for twelve hours while I was at work. This is when I finally notice how much of a big difference the Green Air™ Encore makes. For the first time since living in my current apartment when I open my door, my house smells clean. There's no cigarette smoke there's no hint of marijuana or mold and mildew. In just 24 hours I feel like the unit has already proved how great it's going to be. If the system can actively help me enjoy my home, I can only imagine how much is benefiting my health. At this point, I am very satisfied with this product and would recommend that anyone looking for a high-quality HEPA filter unit give the Green Air™ Encore serious consideration. ***Update*** Two and a half months later and I cannot imagine my house without this thing. Inside for most the winter and I have had no allergy problems at all. The first filter cleaning was a breeze once I hound the hidden button on the left hand side. All in all still stand by my first review. Read more