Bionaire BAP1500-U HEPA Air Purifier

I live in a dairy farm district; and the air is quite smoggy to begin with; so having a machine like this in my room hardly seems like a luxury. Since I’ve been using machines like this, my sinuses glow with health, I stopped sneezing, eyes stopped watering, and I sleep much better and of course breath easier. I'm not exxagerrating.

Many of the complaints on here for this machine, seem quite scrupulous, but perhaps these are the people that spent  $149.99 on this unit and naturally would expect better quality for that price. I didn’t spend that much for mine and it's new. Don’t spend $149.99 on this machine; cause while it may do the job, it’s just not worth the overprice of $149.00 or more, because it falls short on quality where it shouldn't for that kind of price. Shop around to get the best price.

I bought this unit to replace another model I had that was very similar by another manufacturer. The older unit I had did not have a permanent filter, and I got tired of buying new filters for it. At $30.00 a set for filters I was spending $120.00 a year, just on filters, so I replaced the old unit with this Bionaire model.

Style : Unit is stylish and sleek. It kind of has that yuppie uptown bachelor pad look to it with the cylinder-oval tower shape and black and silver paint colors.

Construction:  Looks like it's all made of hard plastic. Areas that look like metal to some perhaps, are painted a matte silver color. I have no way of assessing what the inside and motor housing is made.  Taking the machine apart voids warranty.

Noise Level: This unit does make noise. On high it’s intolerably noisy. Low and medium sounds much better, however you don’t have to leave it on high all the time, only when you want to quickly clean the air in the room. Some may find it difficult to get used to the distinctive high pitched whir the fan inside of it makes. 

The previous unit that this Bionaire model replaced ( Holmes Air HAP422-(U) ), had this distinct sound too. I wouldn't be surprised if both units are made by the same company. 

Sometimes the panels on this machine vibrate and make annoying noise. This is fixed by pressing on the front of the panel, as it may just be loose. Sleeping with ear plugs or having a larger room can solve the noise problems if they bother you too much, and you want to have the unit on while sleeping.

Controls: There are buttons on the top of the unit that allow you to control three fan speeds; oscillation, ionizing function and on/off switch. These functions are also on the remote control. Control function buttons have embossed illustrations, not words, to indicate what they do. This might annoy some people, but it is manufactured this way to easier sell the unit in different
countries.

Remote control: Has a wireless remote control switch that includes all the functions that are on the unit itself.. I didn't think this would be a big deal, but I love the remote control feature!   :)

Fan Speeds: 
Low (For continuous operation)

Medium (For continuous operation and quicker air cleaning, moderately noisy)

High (This setting is noisy and for short term use only- quick air cleaning)

Ionizer: Puts negatively charged ions  in the air allowing dirt to stick to them,making them easier to trap by the machine because in the microscopic world, the ions are large. This gives the air a fresher smell and increases the effectiveness of the machine.(some as another reviewer indicated, might find this smell offensive, but I don’t understand this. It just makes the air smell clean and fresh. Perhaps it causes the machine to emit a slight metallic smell to some people?  I don’t know. I can only speak for myself.  I like the smell the ionized air has. I don't use it often though, cause there has been speculation that using the ionizer removes oxygen from the air, but I can’t argue whether this is valid or not. A leading consumer magazine (you know, the one that writes reports for consumers) indicates using the ionizer too much decreases lung function. I've also noticed that if you leave ionizer on for a long time, it causes the air to get warmer. I don't know why this is.  I don't recommend using the ionizer for long periods of time for the aforementioned reasons.

Oscillation: Unit has oscillating feature which might seem frivolous, but seems handy and effective if you don’t have a ceiling fan in the room

Diffuser Panel: Unit has a diffuser panel on it, so ejected air spreads in more directions, instead of just one

Permatech Filter: Never needs replacing. Just vacuum every few months.

Service Indicator Light: let’s you know when to  clean unit

Remote Control: makes it easy to operate machine from a distance

Performance Assessment Turns over clean air twice an hour in a room that is 913 sq ft in size or smaller

Washable carbon pre-filter   A simple filter that precedes the hepa filter that can easily be  cleaned by rinsing in water. It is what causes odor removal from the air

HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter technology. Traps particles as small as 2 microns

Pet Peeves:____________
Cylinder fan in unit has distinctive high pitch whir that might be annoying to some .

Unit vibrates with annoying buzz sound if panels aren’t fitting tight

Vent does not gush out air like some might expect because it has an effective diffuser designed to spread air in all directions gently

Some have complained of an annoying click when unit is in oscillation mode. This has not been my experience.

Notes:_______
Please note that some say this unit doesn't clean well on low,  and the oscillation isn't effective, etc.. When you see this written, you have to ask yourself, "When is the last time this person cleaned the unit?", "Have they dropped it, or knocked it over by mistake, or otherwise mishandled it?" Many people are lazy or for some reason don't realize, or forget,  that air cleaning appliances like this either have to have the filtlers replaced or cleaned periodically (usually every 3 to 4 months) , otherwise the unit won't work.