Top 10 best home air filters 2022 passed our test

I have owned this product for less than 24 hours as of this writing. More updates as I have more to say/remember to do them. Also, I will be very verbose, the sort of in-depth information I want when I am researching products over $99 for purchase, so you really know what’s going on. Hopefully it helps, but it may be TL;DR for some.My background: I am not a smoker and never have been. I was raised by a chain smoker and have spent the majority of my life around second hand smoke from parents, family and friends. I have stress induced asthma and have also been through experimental chemotherapy that has apparently permanently damaged my lungs. Over time, my lungs are slowly degrading, and as they do I become more and more sensitive to more and more things, which trigger my lungs to get irritated and produce phlegm to coat my lungs and prevent the irritation, which causes me to cough more and more over time. (It has been a lot of fun having this sort of lung disorder during the pandemic, let me tell you.)”Well, why don’t you see a doctor then?” you may reasonably ask. My experience with doctors in the past has consisted of watching both my mother and grandmother die with (no joke) 30+ prescriptions each all at once (with 3 to 5 doctors all prescribing simultaneously and admitting to me in private that A) they were not consulting with one another, and B) nobody on earth could possibly keep track of the side effects of so many prescriptions at once), and my uncle wasn’t far off that number when he died. I also have repeated personal experience with the medical industry that strongly supports my experience and belief that going to the doctor is going to be a financially insane choice (whether or not I have insurance) that I get little to nothing out of regardless. So I choose to avoid doctors and the medical/drug big business establishment like the plague whenever possible.When I realized recently that my lungs were noticeably irritated all the time when I was in my own home, but I was fine if I went outside, I decided it was time to step up my game. Enter this unit, which I researched before buying.My unit is brand new, not a returned unit. Upon turning it on, it told me that my air in all areas of the house tested was as good as it gets, with a reading of 001. This did not please me, because I know it’s nowhere near that good. So I did an update of the firmware to see if that would fix the issue, and it did. The new display read 005, which was significantly lower than I expected, but the unit reduced that to 3, then 2, then 1 relatively quickly.Within about 15 minutes, the air in my (door closed) office started to smell noticeably different. Lighter, cleaner, fresher, more neutral. I was surprised. I also noted that over the next few hours, my coughing decreased significantly as long as I stayed in my office.When bed time came, I put the unit in my bedroom and turned it on full blast with the doors closed while I went to the kitchen to have a snack. At first, the bedroom registered 5. The unit quickly brought it down to 1. I noted that my coughing increased when I was in parts of the house that had not had the benefit of this device to clean the air.Returning to my bedroom after my snack, I noted that once again, there was a nice difference in how the air smelled in my bedroom compared to my kitchen.Normally it takes me a while to stop coughing enough to fall asleep when I got to bed each night, but last night while there was still coughing before sleep, it was markedly less, which my girlfriend commented on today. This morning, I woke up to the pleasant realization that my lungs did not feel irritated for the first time in a long time. I hadn’t even realized how irritated my lungs were when I would usually awaken until it was gone.Moved the unit into my home office again, and turned it back on. It started at 5, and again rapidly cleaned the air until it was at 1. Then I began doing more experiments. I noted that when the AC kicks on, it goes from 1 to 2 or 3. When it turns off, the unit returns it to 1. When I open the door to my office, it goes to 2, and then back to 1 when I close it. When my cat walks into my office, it goes from 1 to 2 if I close the door after him, and stays there for as long as he is moving around. If I pet him, it goes to 3.Thinking this level of sensitivity was too good to be true, I decided to try further experiments. I closed my office door again, waited until it settled down, and sprayed some air freshener in my office. No change – it evaporated. Just as expected. Then I went down the hall and into my living room and lit a stick of natural compressed sandalwood powder incense. I returned to my office and closed the door. Within 2 minutes, this unit detected the incense in the air, rising to a 4-5-6 and then back to 3 when the AC turned off. The next AC cycle, it jumped into the teens, and then into the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s as the smoke got going during the next cycle. When the count hit 45, it turned the ring green and stepped the fan up a notch.I found that I could watch the numbers go up when the AC was on, and down when it was off. It got up to around 86 at one point, and the ring sometime before that turned orange and stepped the speed up another notch. Now that the incense has burned out, it’s dropping, with highs in the 50’s, and lows i the 20’s and cycling lower each time the AC kicks on again. It’s been interesting to see it power up and down to match the particulates in the air.Build quality seems good, but the bottom can come off easier than I’d like. A couple times now I have tried to lift it only to find that it had un-screwed and the bottom and filter were not lifted with the rest of the unit. Easily fixed in a second or less, but if the bottom had a bit of “click into place”, this would not happen when moving the unit.It is so quiet in sleep mode that last night when we went to bed, after I had it running on high for a few minutes while we had our snack before bed, that even three feet from it, my girlfriend could not tell if it was running and asked. This was with the AC not active. That’s pretty darned quiet. It also was no issue for me to handle, and I am extremely sensitive to sound when I am trying to sleep.The top two levels of fan speed are relatively loud, with the highest speed being louder than my AC when it’s kicked in. It is, however, the most smooth and beautiful white noise I have ever encountered, and I am an audio engineer.So far my experience with this is almost entirely good. Here;s what I don’t like.1. The bottom unscrews too easily. No big deal, but irksome.2. The sensor didn’t work when I got it until I updated the firmware, which forced me to download the app, sign up, and then give the app location permissions and blue tooth permissions. I also naturally had to sign it into my wifi network. I didn’t want to use the app, or give the app these permissions. The app, however, will not run without them. Ostensibly, it uses location data to give you a report on local 2.5um particulate levels in your area (which it does), but I don’t know what else it is being used for, and I don’t much like having my location tracked by Google and every other company on earth these days.So far so good. It appears that particulates in my house are probably not as much of an issue as what those particulates are made of, and that I need to be more focused on reducing VOCs in the air in my house. But so far this unit has helped me breathe significantly better, and I’m very happy with how well it works.

Yeah, I bought the wrong ones because I’ve got bad mold sensitivities. However, I was just a little lazy about changing filters and my motor burned out. I’m one of those that take a good 20×20 Lasko fan and put one of these behind it. I filled the corners to make it a ducted fan and the sound level drops WAY down. But having the 1000 Merv 11, I’ve got loads of airflow, just crazy amounts. The fan itself wasn’t made to be ducted so the reduction in fine filtration made the airflow difference and will actually prevent this burnout from happening again, though I’ve only had it once. I think that was one of the water resistant motors which are closed. The open case motor is much cooler since air flows around the rotor and now it’s getting more air in general. So I’m not getting as good filtration, in mold and tiny stuff, but since these fans aren’t really made for pulling hard, even with my difficult to make duct, the 1000 is probably better in the long run. It blows really well on 1, so I will save some electricity and make my fans last a lot longer. These good Lasko fans aren’t cheap. I had one last 25 years but it didn’t have a filter behind it. I used it for a couple years with a filter and it seized an old dried up bearing. So I should have known that pulling air through filters with these heats things up and that will shorten the life, but it all connected when I got out my new filters and “Hey, It’s sure blowing like crazy. No wonder. I got the 1000s.” Now I remember making this decision on purpose for these very reasons, but before the motor burned out. So if there are others like me out there, I’d recommend the Merv 11, or 1000 because our fans will last longer. Maybe I just waited too long to change it. Well, that’s possible. Maybe if you’re better at changing filters, there’s no problem with the 1550, but another plus with the 1000s is that they’re cooler in the summer, blowing clean air at you from across the isle and on #1 setting. #2 is great and if I were to put the new motor into the ducted frame, the sound would pipe down. I guess it’s like everything. How much time and how good is your back to make or reuse a ducted fan? I’ll say this, If you want to make a ducted fan, get the pink or blue foam boards at Home depot. I found a purple piece of packaging foam and that cuts like butter. It’s great to work with and sound absorbing. Don’t use styrene foam, (brittle, crusty stuff). It’s hard to deal with in every way. I wish there’s someplace to buy these online. That makes it so much easier that it’s not such a dreaded task at all. Anyway, Merv 11 will allow better air flow and that might help make up somewhat for the difference in filtration but I know the 1000s are not going to ruin a Lasko in 7 years. They’ll last forever (essentially) on these Merv 11s. In this hot weather, I’m enjoying that better airflow. I also recommend the Lasko fan combo. Esp on these 1000s. They really keep the air in the house clean. I had my carpets cleaned and he said, “you’re gonna have a lot of dust here on the AC inlet louvres. Well? (he tries again.) Huh. These are completely clean. Not a speck.” He walks off mumbling “I don’t know why it’s so clean…”. It’s the Lasko/3m combination. It cleans SO MUCH air. I can go 2 years on a house filter and even then I don’t see dust, I just assume it’s there. It has to be. My inlet grates are spotless. Anyway, it really works and for so little money. I don’t even bother to tape it up. The vacuum of the fan pulls it into the fan. That’s the first thing I noticed. It barely pulled. That’s the difference between the Merv 13 and Merv 11. It is a matter of preference ultimately, so try one of each. Keep the one you don’t like because it’s a lot better than nothing. (Unless you’ve got loads of money, I guess. I’m more of a waste not want not. It’s not exactly true, but the saying has a point.) Anyway, I almost forgot. I prefer these filtretes over Filterbuy and others. They’re sturdier and I believe they filter better, the MERV ratings being equal, the 3M is better made and it filters better, though I’ll use a Filterbuy on the house system, for some reason. There’s a frame around the house filter. So sturdiness isn’t as important. These 20x20s for the Lasko fan are moved around, bumped into. They take the punishment and never get damaged. 3M really knows how to box these up, by the way. They’re glued everywhere and it’s very hard to open. Be careful.

Arrived and fit as advertised.

OVERVIEW:We had an AC tech out to view our AC and he recommended a thickness similar to these filters. They are not so thick that no air gets through, but not so thin that it allows particulates through.PROS:-Desirable thickness for a good balance between air flow and air filtration-Easy to insert-Sturdy! They don’t bend back and forth like some other filters do-Cost is fair for the quality you are receivingCONS:-None really!RECOMMENDATION:We have been using these filters for a few months now and really like using them. They work much better than some of the other, thinner filters we have purchased from the local hardware store. They are easy to install and my husband and I recommend them for purchase.TIPS:The AC guy that came to look at our AC unit recommended changing out air filters often, sometimes once every 2 weeks if you have pets or if you keep your windows open often. We have two dogs that are constantly in and out, live in a dusty area (new construction) and have our windows open almost daily! While these filters last a good 2-3 weeks, we can notice a considerable difference when we change them every two weeks instead. Others that don’t live in a high dust zone can easily have these last 3-4 weeks before having to change them.

I can tell that these filters are high quality. However, they seemed bigger than the stated size, as referenced in other reviews. I had issues getting it to slide into place. My previous filter was able to glide in and out easily (same stated size). However, when I tried to insert this filter, I had issues getting it to go all the way in. I had to really work it in. When I pulled it out to make sure there was no damage, I unfortunately noticed that some of the cardboard had been torn. I was still able to use it. However, it was a little frustrating that the product itself did not hold up due to it being larger than expected. Overall, they do look like they are a better quality than my previous filter and I have not noticed any issues. I bought the 4 pack because of the value. However, had I known there would be a size issue I probably would have just bought 1 and tried a different brand. Just not looking forward to pieces ripping when I put in a new one again. The price point is great but just a little misleading on size.

Seem to be perfectly fine filters. Exactly as described in the listing. Well packaged and quickly shipped. My only question is that I cannot determine whether the MERV 8 rating has been verified. But I bought these anyway, so …..

I like having them delivered to my home. Very easy to slide in my furnace filter opening and to remove. The old one was dirty so we could tell it worked. This is my second time to order these. I’m 80, a woman, and change them myself.

After considerable research and reading many reviews, I purchased this unit to help me rid my room of smell from my hedgehog’s habitat. Despite regularly cleaning his home and changing the wood chips, there was a persistent smell. I’m happy to say that it is now totally gone! The room is about 12×16 and the smell was gone within a few hours running in high, since then I’ve left it on low to maintain it and the smell hasn’t returned.To me, this unit is inaudible at the low setting, barely audible if standing close on medium, and only a low-moderate hum on high. At 6 feet away, even the high setting tends to blend into the background.It is affordable, super simple to use, and works extremely well. I’m happy with my purchase and am glad I bought it!

I have two other ones already in addition to this and they are the perfect air purifier for those with pets and allergies. I have not had to clean this filter yet, but my other ones were covered when I emptied them. I can feel a difference in air quality because I have this running almost 24/7 at the 3rd speed setting.Noise level: Settings 1-3 have minimal noise, but at speed 4 it is a little loud. In a living room or bigger the noise is hardly noticeable.Filter replacement: You don’t have to replace it right away when you get first filter change notification. Just vacuum or air blow the dust off and re-use it again until you see discoloration in the filter.Other notes: Ionizer feature helps attract dust/hair, can be moved (no wheels), no extra filters, and you should occasionally dust the outside grills because dust, debris, and hair can accumulate on it.

I purchased this air purifier to help with cat odors around the litter box area in the basement where we keep the litter boxes. There was an immediate improvement in air quality with no smell that I could detect, unless a cat had just moments before used the box. A quality cat litter is also important, but I think no litter exists that ends in zero smell. And that’s where this purifier really helped.And then one of my cats got sick with diarrhea and kept having accidents upstairs on the carpet in one room. She couldn’t make it downstairs to the litter box in time. And while I thoroughly cleaned all of the impacted carpet spots, an odor still seemed to linger. And I added a litter box in this room too to help the poor cat out. Thankfully no more accidents! But I couldn’t get rid of the smell until I moved the air purifier to this room. Within 25 minutes on high speed, the smell that had been lingering for a week was entirely gone! Incredible! Needless to say, I ordered a second purifier. You won’t regret your purchase!High speed is a bit loud, but not bothersome. And the instructions say you usually don’t need to leave it on high long term. I do leave it on high in my basement cat room where the cats stay at night and when we’re out, but in the upstairs room the middle speed should be sufficient and the sound is barely noticeable. I think I will probably purchase more smaller units of this brand for bedrooms to improve air quality further and help with seasonal and dust allergies.