Customer Reviews

Blueair 402 Air Purification System

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading reviews a number of places online, I decided to buy the Blueair products. In ended up sampling the 402, 501 and 601, and ultimately returned the 501 and 601 and replaced them with 402s.

The 402 is truly quiet. This was an important consideration for me; the reason I returned the 501 and 601 was because they were noisy. The 402 has four fan speed settings. The fastest is unpleasantly noisy; I would not want to be in the room while the unit is in this mode. The next fastest, though, is *much* quieter. We usually leave the units in this mode. Sometimes we use the next-to-slowest mode, for example when I'm watching a movie and sitting in a chair right next to the 402. The middle two speeds are sufficiently quiet that I never feel like I need to use the slowest speed. (The 501s and 601s are unbearably noisy at any but the slowest setting - which is slower than the middle speeds of the 402. For 2/3 the price you can move more air, more quietly. Go figure.)

The only downside to the unit is size. It is about the same size as a tower PC. It's tall enough not to easily fit under furniture, and it's airflow pattern (in one of the skinny vertical sides, out the opposite side) means that the best placement is with one of the long sides against a wall. If wall space is at a premium, it can be hard to find a place to put it.

I haven't had the units long enough to replace the filters yet, but I have taken out the filters that came with them, and put them back in. It was very easy to do. After two months, only one filter is showing any visible dirt - but the house is *much* less dusty.

I did a ton of research before deciding on the BlueAir. You'll find that the Blueair, although maybe making a bigger dent in your pocketbook than other big-name air cleaners, is your best bet for a quiet room with clean air. I've tried many other brands who claimed to be "whisper-quiet" and the like, and so far, only the Blueair has lived up to its claim.

If you put it on the HEPAsilent mode, you'll have to look twice to even see if it's on. And that's not an exaggeration! Even in this mode, you can see particles going into the intake, so it's still effectively cleaning the room. It also takes very little electricity, so it's no strain on your utility bill to leave it on all the time to maximize room air quality.

The unit is rather large, as other reviewers have mentioned, but once you get it against a wall, or under a console table, you're good to go. The only other potential issue you may have is the blue LED which tells you the unit is on. I'm a light sleeper (hence requiring a very quiet air cleaner) and the LED was so bright that I had to cover it so I could sleep. A very minor issue which will only bother the most sensitive sleeper.

The filters are very easy to change, and are also conveniently available on Amazon! They require a switch-out every 6 months, in addition to a quick vacuum of the ionizing brushes inside the machine. If you deal with odors, then try the SmokeStop filter. It's quite a bit more expensive, but it works wonders. My neighborhood had a methane gas leak, and the SmokeStop filter took all the odor and toxins out of the air. The room with the BlueAir was the only "safe" room I could be in. So I'm sure it handles cigarette smoke with ease.

You won't go wrong if you invest in one of these. Oh, and a sidenote, I have 2 cats, and a cat allergy (as well as a myriad of other allergies), and the Blueair allows me to keep my kitties close, and get a good night's sleep!

I read a number of articles and opinions on air purifiers before choosing the Blueair 402. There are a number of quality machines on the market, but for the price and performance, this one seems to be the best. I have been satisfied with my purchase after 2 months.

I don't have any miraculous stories about allergy relief, but do feel the the air quality has improved despite 2 cats and a dog.

Fan noise: settings 1 and 2 are virtually silent. 3 produces a calming and constant whitenoise (I leave this setting on all the time, with no trouble going to sleep). 4 is a bit loud (best for maximum exchange, but while out of the room).

Indicator light: basically a blue night light.

Simple operation, just pick the speed setting. Only drawback is no change filter indicator.

Well packaged and quick delivery from Amazon.

I was initially very disappointed after purchasing a factory refurbished 402 unit. It was very noisy which surprised me after what I had read online. Then I was in a local store with same unit on display and found it was much quieter. So I returned the "refurbished" unit and got a new 402 to replace it. Wow, what a difference. I literally can not hear the new unit on setting 1 (hepa-silent) and setting 2 is barely audible and does not disturb this very sensitive sleeper. In contrast my "refurb" unit was as loud on hepa-silent as the new unit on setting 3. So beware of getting a refurb unit as the quality control in their refurb department appears lousy. Additionally the refurb unit I received came with a torn filter. I will say however that the company was easy to deal with regarding problems. My only concern now is how well these units hold up. If my new unit becomes as noisy as that bad refurb unit over time I will not be happy.

After having had a typical inexpensive air cleaner you can buy at most department stores for years, I was concerned about having a filter that was noisy. Our old filter was too loud to leave on even on the lowest fan setting. In fact we would sometimes turn it on for the sole purpose of providing background noise when our kids were sleeping.

I picked the Blueair 402 because of the great reviews that it got for being quiet and for the great ratings on how well it cleans the air. It arrived yesterday and I have been impressed beyond what I expected. I may have had low expectations because of my old filter, but when I first turned it on I had to check to make sure that it was even running because I could not hear it at all! On the lowest two settings the sounds is not even noticeable. On the third setting you can hear it running, but the sound has a much better quality than other filters/fans. Even on the highest setting the noise it not that objectionable (quieter than my old filter on the lowest setting.) I wouldn't leave it at this setting for sleeping, but I wouldn't have any problem leaving it at this setting during the day, especially in a room I was not in.

We left it on setting three all night without a bother (I may consider using setting two after our initial "cleaning" period is over. My wife and I both felt a noticable difference when we woke up this morning. Part of the reason for getting this is that we have a dog and two cats and we were both waking up in the morning all stuffed up and/or sneezy. This morning was noticeably better.

The filter is very easy to replace also. The one downside is that the unit is rather large. As long as you know this going in, it shouldn't be a problem. Unless you have a very large area you are cleaning, you may want to opt against the 501 or 601 as I believe they are even bigger. I may consider getting a 201 for my kids' rooms since they are smaller bedrooms.

Overall I'm very pleased and also like the fact that the filters are environmentally friendly compared with some of the filters used in other units.

I bought the 402 with the Smokestop filter as I smoke about 3 cigars a week in my apt in the wintertime. This model is good enough for my purposes, but if you smoke more than that I'd suggest the 501 instead.

As others have noted, the 402 is silent on settings 1 and 2 and produces about the same amount of noise as a tower PC fan on setting 3. Setting 4 is noisy so I switch to that setting just before I leave for work if I've smoked the night before. When I return at the end of the day there us usually little or no smoke smell.

I'd estimate the Smokestop filter to contain about 3 pounds of activated charcoal. Much more than the thin layer found in most filters.

The unit itself is very well constructed and for an air filter it looks stylish. Access to the inside for the occasional vacuuming and filter change is extremely easy (large hinged side door).

We've had several BlueAir purifiers for at least 5 or 6 years now and are very happy with them. They are quiet at low speeds and have very high ratings for the amount of air they purify. We bought ours based on recommendations from the Allergy Buyer's Club. My wife is allergic to our Norwegian Elkhound and is only able to tolerate him because of our BlueAir purifiers.

We like the two 402 units that we have more than the 601 unit. The 402 units have 4 speeds, the lower 2 of which allow us to sleep. The 601 unit only has 3 speeds, of which only the lowest is quiet enough to allow sleep or listening to music or TV in the same room. The 601 unit is good for a family room or living room as long as you turn down the speed while in the room. The 402 units are much better for bedrooms.

I have always had bad allergies. I've had several HEPA filters. Based on how well this is constructed, I can imagine it may be the last HEPA filter that I purchase. It is made of galvanized steel and is solid down to the speed setting dial. Filters are of average price for a unit of this size (about $50 every 6 months).

The unit is very, very quiet. Inaudible on the low speed. I keep it on 3 which you can hear, but it moves a lot of air. 4 is loud but good for quickly cleaning up the air if necessary. Air is electrostatically charged before moving through the filter media, which I have found is a worthwhile feature for HEPA filters.

If you have pets or a smoker in the house, you can purchase replacement filters with activated charcoal at an increased cost. Another nice feature. Filters are very easy to change and it takes only seconds to replace them.

Overall, I am most impressed with how well built the unit is. Nothing else I have ever seen even comes close. Most look like toys in comparison.

This is a great unit but it larger than I expected. If you have a small bedroom or office, it may look a bit imposing.

It runs very quiet at the two lowest settings and even at the third setting, I found the sound soothing enough to sleep with!

On the negative side, it has no electronic timer, remote or digital display like some of the other units have. It's also quite cumbersome and heavy to move and includes no caster wheels to make that easier.

On the plus side, it works very well and is more efficient and quiet than smaller units. The design is also more proven; I compared it with a smaller unit (the 250E) and the 400 series works a lot better for a number of reasons (better filter, it charges the particles so that they stick to the filter, larger, etc.) Also, because of the design, you can put things like books on top of it if you want to since it takes in and output air from the sides. You can also place it against a wall, something you cannot really do with the smaller 250E as it has the filter on the back.

All in all, this is a great unit as it performs very well is very quiet and well made.

So I decided a wanted a cat for my apartment here in New York, but allergies were mildly an issue with 2 of my 3 roommates. I promised to get an air purifier upon getting the cat, and I did. The first week without the air filter, the roommates had very mild symptoms of allergies, i.e. runny nose. I got this bad boy off craigslist and all symptoms subsided. Also, the air quality is noticeably better. I was lucky enough to get this at a steal of $60, so value wise, I am very pleased
I would say it is not noticeable in terms of noise unless on the highest setting, and even then it isn't bad at all. If you have the tv on very low, there is no way you could hear it. Every other setting is virtually silent.