Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I Was Skeptical, But It Works, September 23, 2003
I was extremely skeptical about whether this thing would work. But I was tired of waking up stuffed up every morning and I had to believe I'd sleep better if I wasn't so stuffy. I have a cat who sleeps at the foot of my bed, and I figured he was a big part of the problem, so I bought it.I saw drastic improvement after two nights. I was barely stuffed up at all. I set it up to circulate clean air over to me and suck in near the cat, and it worked well. Consumer reports says that you can get a lot of the same benefit from cleaning well and opening the windows, so I tried that the next night. I washed the bedspread, vacuumed, dusted, and opened the windows. I woke up completely cleared up. Better than with this unit. Now, do I have the time to do all that cleaning every weekend? Nope. So I'm keeping the Hamilton Beach. People complain about the noise, and it is loud. The "whisper quiet" setting is about as loud as a 19" box fan on medium, so it isn't at all silent. But the noise is pleasantly soothing and I got right to sleep the very first night and it never bothered me. I even thought the cat would be afraid of it, but the first night I set it up on medium and ran it for an hour before bedtime and when I went to look for the cat, he was sleeping in front of it. I thought I needed the automatic model 4162, and if I was home all day, that's the one I'd get. I live alone and you'd be nuts to leave any appliance on all day unattended, so this one is off when I'm not here. I blast it on high for an hour before bedtime and then run it on low all night. I don't want to be woken by the speed change, so the automatic feature that turns up the fan when the air quality drops wouldn't ever get used around here. Consumer Reports says the $600 models are great, but for this price point, it really does everything I want it to do, and the anti-mold UV light is just what us foggy San Franciscans need.
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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pros and Cons (just a couple) of a Great Air Purifier., July 26, 2004
Pros:
- Picks up where your AC filter slacks. Our AC filter is located right outside our bedroom, and the purifier still manages to trap a large amount of airborne material that air flow from the ac doesn't pick up. This is a significant quality considering that we also use the highest rated AC filters available.
- My wife's allergies have significantly decreased. We both wake up now with the ability to breathe through our noses. It's only when she ventures to the far side of the house that she starts sneezing.
- It must cut down a lot on animal dander. We have three cats that spend a good deal of time in our bedroom (it's the coolest and darkest room in the house), and were probably the main cause of her allergies. Not so much anymore!
- The main filter only needs to be changed once a year (so says Hamilton Beach), and are reasonably priced at around $40.
- The carbon pre-filter, which should be changed every three months, costs around $8.
- Altogether about $72 a year in filters - not too shabby.
- Even on the whisper setting this bad boy spits out a large volume of air, so the claim that it can cover around 350 sq. ft. is probably accurate.
- Traps mold spores, which is great if you have an issue with that.
- Lightweight, can be easily moved to and fro.
- We have never gotten the "high pitched" noise that another reviewer mentioned - his may be defective.
Cons:
- Somewhat noisy (like a rush of air), though the whisper setting isn't so bad, and I actually like it while going to sleep. I would suggest using the higher settings an hour or so before you are going to spend time in a particular room - then switch to whisper.
- Not sure how affective the UV light is...seems kind of gimmicky. I have not been able to find any documentation on its affectiveness towards bacteria/viruses, and I'm surprised that Hamilton Beach doesn't provide any info.
Advise: Be sure to read the manual before you plug it in and power on! The carbon pre-filter will need to be removed from the plastic wrap and placed appropriately on the Hepa filter. Also, the UV light will need to be removed from its box and then plugged into its bracket. This is located inside the purifier - under the top vent. Do a visual inspection of the inside of the purifier to be sure no packing material has fallen into the path of the fan.
I certainly recommend this purifier, and would have give it a full five star rating if it weren't for the two cons above.
Update (08/01/04): Just replaced the carbon prefilter for the first time...I couldn't believe how much crud had accumulated on the surface of the filter. What was once black became completely beige with air debris/dander/pollen/dust/etc. This only solidified our satisfaction with this product.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mom of asthmatic toddler, January 22, 2004
By A Customer
After researching various asthma/allergy web-sites, we bought this product for our two year old, who suffers from allergies, mild asthma and other respiratory issues. Quite frankly, we were skeptical as to whether an air purifier would help, and therefore, we did not want to spend a fortune on the products recommended by consumer reports, costing hundreds more. The Hamilton Beach purifier had strong ratings and was reasonably priced, so we decided to give it a try. From night one, we have observed marked improvements in our child's breathing and congestion. Thus far this cold and flu season, she is doing great. The only negatives are the size (a bit bulky) and it is a little noisy ("white noise" similar to a fan). Overall, we are very pleased with this product and recommend it to anyone with allergies/asthma.
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