Aprilaire 5000 Media and Electrostatic Whole-House Air Cleaner with Digital Control

by Aprilaire

Product Description

Aprilaire 5000 Combination Electronic and Media Ducted Whole-House Air Cleaner has been rated #1 three years running by a leading products ratings magazine for some very good reasons: It electronically charges particles and traps them like a magnet better than any other air cleaner - using 72 square feet of Aprilaire-branded Model 501 filtering media. Aprilaire 5000 Air Cleaner is tried, true, and tested - delivering the highest efficiency possible. When installed by an HVAC professional as part of your central heating and cooling system, the Aprilaire 5000 Air Cleaner can help give you the cleanest, healthiest air in every room of your home. Through patented technology, particles entering the air cleaner pass through a control electrode, which focuses and intensifies an electrical field generated by ionizing wires. The particles are charged in the electrical field and then collected on grounded micro-fiber media. There is no monthly cleaning of collector plates like with other types of electronic air cleaners, in fact, in some homes the Aprilaire 5000 Air Cleaner's media needs to be changed only once a year. The Aprilaire 5000 Air Cleaner captures over 98% of airborne contaminants down to one micron in size. The Aprilaire 5000 Air Cleaner kills bacteria and spores and permanently traps particles, leaving absolutely no chance of them being released back into the air. The Aprilaire 5000 Combination Electronic and Media Whole-House Air Cleaner requires as little as once a year service that takes as little as 20 minutes and yet it will work silently and invisibly so you'll dust less often. The Aprilaire 5000 Air Cleaner works throughout your whole home cleaning every room. The Aprilaire 5000 Air Cleaner keeps dust and dirt from building up on your heating and cooling equipment which helps ensure the equipment runs at peak efficiency which will maximize the life of your valuable asset. This is a post recall unit with a current manufacturing date.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 31 x 12 x 19 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B004PDLFG6
• Item model number: Aprilaire 5000
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,850 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Installed Inside At Primary Filter, September 12, 2011

By 

The One (Huntsville, AL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aprilaire 5000 Media and Electrostatic Whole-House Air Cleaner with Digital Control (Misc.)

In my case I needed to install the Aprilaire 5000 inside the house, just behind the primary air filter. I have one of those "package" A/C units with everything outside the house except for the filter for the return air. So I really needed to install the electronic air cleaner inside away from the elements.

The Aprilaire 5000 was install by removing the existing ducting behind the primary filter and fabricating a new duct to allow the air cleaner to be installed in the path of the air flow. I already had power in this location and the thermostat was just above the filter location. Hookup was simple and without incident. The only issue was that the power for the air cleaner needs to be switched depending on the A/C unit fan operation.

Instead of using the Aprilaire fan switch as recommended by Aprilaire, which assumes your electronic air filter will be installed near the A/C components, I decided that a "sail switch" would be preferred as it could turn on the electronic air cleaner when it sensed air movement in the return duct. In the end what I selected was pressure differential switch, White Rodgers 770-1 Differential Air Pressure Switch (I found one on EBay for $25). This switch is ideally suited to this type of application. It comes with a small 1/8" tube that you connect between the switch (low side) and a 1/8" brass barb (Home Depot for a couple of bucks) connected to the return air duct. If your not electrically handy you may want to get an electrician or HVAC guy to hook this up.

The unit has been working for a couple of weeks now. Allergy symptoms cleared up within an hour of powering it up. I'm currently running with the 30 min per hour cycle and all is well. I can breath and sleep once again.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great air cleaner (don't call it a filter!), September 27, 2011

By 

MK "MKOSU04" (Farmington Hills, MI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aprilaire 5000 Media and Electrostatic Whole-House Air Cleaner with Digital Control (Misc.)

ha... I suppose you can call it an air filter... but they say Air Cleaner...

I ordered this to add to my old furnace, but then decided to upgrade the furnace too. So I had the HVAC guy put it in when they installed the new furnace.

Then we had the ducts cleaned too.

All the HVAC guys and the duct cleaner guy made comments about this being a great air cleaner.

We've been using it for a few weeks now and it seems to work just fine. Our new furnace has the variable speed blower so we just leave the blower on 24-7 (it runs at very low speed till the furnace or AC kicks on)

Because of this, we aren't using the fancy air cleaner control right now... so I can't comment on that.

I also can't comment yet about filter life.

But one interesting thing... the filter comes in a little box... its not in a cardboard frame like you might be used to seeing with standard filters (when I first opened the air cleaner I thought they forgot to include the filter!)

The filter is all collapsed (like an accordion) and you have to install it into the plastic frame. This is pretty easy to do - you just snap on the top and bottom and then insert a bunch (6 maybe?) of plastic combs between the filter pleats to hold them in the proper position. The filter is about 4" or 5" thick... which creates a lot of surface area for collecting dust and whatnot. standard filters are only 1" thick)

Once you have it in place, you snap the ends of the plastic box shut... they have foam or something on them so they seal up tight against the ends of the filter medium to prevent any air from "bypassing" the filter.

I mainly mention this for those that might wonder why replacement filters are only like $25 (last I checked)... I think the low cost is because the filter isn't in a cardboard frame which would require more assembly and shipping costs.

Anyway, this is rather expensive - but it seems to be one of the more affordable options for a better air cleaner. Plus if these filters really do last a year then there is some savings on buying filters... I probably replaced my old style filter 3-4 times a year at 12-15 bucks per filter. If you want to upgrade your current filter then this seems to be a good way to go.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Been a 1 year = works great and worth every penny, July 25, 2011

By 

David Zablocki - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aprilaire 5000 Media and Electrostatic Whole-House Air Cleaner with Digital Control (Misc.)

We moved into a new house and had to replace both furnaces (yes - both - so cost was X2). A much respected HAC company recommended these Aprilaire 5000. I was a little reluctant given the cost (especially x 2) - but, my wife had bad allergies at our old house. I knew it would be expensive, but if it worked, then it would be worth every penny.

Well........... it did !! Her headaches and overall allergies have been gone for the past 1 year. However, her allergies have returned, but I am 95% sure its my fault since I have not changed the filter in 1 year (since we bought them). I remember the guy telling me that you have to change them at least once a year, and if you don't, then you will know it !! I know it now - just ordered new filters.

I normally don't write reviews, but I know I was VERY reluctant at the time, and there were not many reviews.......... plus, these units are not cheap ......... but I am happy to say, I love both our units (they cycle every half an hour - I have not noticed any material change in the electric bill). If you have allergies, I would give it a try. Worse case, and if does not work, then you spent a little more, and just leave the unit turned off, and just use it as a "regular" passive filter (that is the other thing I like - at the end of the day, you can just leave it off and run as a regular filter).

FYI - ended up buying the unit from someone else who was not familiar with the these units. Have your contractor review the wiring carefully. This are not normal airlifters in that they are passive, instead they control your furnace, which is different than what most HAC contractors are use to. Took my guy about 3 tries to get it right !!