Blueair 501 HEPA Air Purifier With Ionizer
- Filter Type: HEPA
- Allergens Captured: Pet Dander Pollen Dust Smoke Mold Spores Bacteria Viruses
- AHAM Certified: Yes
- Sq. Ft. Coverage: 500 Sq. Ft.
- Quiet Operation: With Quiet Operation
- Ionizer: With Ionizer
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A great big overpriced disappointment
Pros
Cleans air, sort of. Looks kind of cool. Pretty quiet on the lower settings.
Cons
Expensive to buy. Expensive to operate. Noisy at highest setting. Difficult to clean.
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Buy something else, unless you find this unit at a garage sale and don't mind paying for the replaceable air filters.
This air filter is advertised as silent, or nearly so. Well, yeah, at the lower settings it is pretty quiet. But what they don't tell you is that at the highest setting, it is anything but quiet. It is as loud as my vent fan above my oven, and that's pretty loud. So you can have quiet, and room air that is only filtered once every few hours, or you can have noise, and air room air that is filtered several times an hour.
I am also disappointed with how difficult it is to clean this air filter. It has a cage built around the fan assembly, so you can't clean the fan unless you take the cage apart. Nor can you clean the inside of the cage easily, and it tends to collect pet fur. I found that the only way I could remove this fur is by using the suction wand on my vacuum, and running it back and forth, back and forth, in the areas where the fur had congregated. You need specialized tools to disassemble the cage.
The replaceable air filters are costly, and should be replaced every six months. Air circulation slows down drastically if the filters are not replaced regularly. Also, I find that there are gaps between the 3 air filters, allowing dirty air to pass through unfiltered.
These sorts of problems might be expected in a cheapo air filter, but not in an air filter this pricey. The Blue-Air 501 filter is a big boxy money-making scam. Avoid it. There must be better alternatives.
I am also disappointed with how difficult it is to clean this air filter. It has a cage built around the fan assembly, so you can't clean the fan unless you take the cage apart. Nor can you clean the inside of the cage easily, and it tends to collect pet fur. I found that the only way I could remove this fur is by using the suction wand on my vacuum, and running it back and forth, back and forth, in the areas where the fur had congregated. You need specialized tools to disassemble the cage.
The replaceable air filters are costly, and should be replaced every six months. Air circulation slows down drastically if the filters are not replaced regularly. Also, I find that there are gaps between the 3 air filters, allowing dirty air to pass through unfiltered.
These sorts of problems might be expected in a cheapo air filter, but not in an air filter this pricey. The Blue-Air 501 filter is a big boxy money-making scam. Avoid it. There must be better alternatives.
