The next step was sealing up our 150-square-foot testing room and filling it with smoke by burning paper and other testing materials. We monitored the air with a Dylos air quality monitor; once the room reached our desired level of airborne particulate pollution, we kicked on the BreatheSmart 75i for an hour. After 30 minutes, there were only 16.62% of the original particulates left floating in the air, .003% after 45 minutes, and 0 detectable particulates after an hour. While the odor from the burnt paper wasn’t entirely eliminated, it was severely reduced.
Its intuitive design, whisper-quiet operation and a lights-off mode for sleeping make it a superb choice for large bedrooms as well as open concept rooms. Child-friendly features include a locking control panel and child-safe vent guard make it THE choice for homes with kids or grandchildren. The unit is whisper-quiet at its lowest speed, but in automatic mode I found the unit rather aggressive at ratcheting up the speed, even when particulate levels were low.
To you and me, that ranges from a whisper on the lowest level to a box fan on the highest. This was the same time as the Levoit Core 400S and the budget TaoTronics AP-003 but 3 minutes quicker than the Mila Air Purifier. The 45i has great performance for a smaller to a medium-sized room but would not be the best choice for a larger room, which is why the Alen 75i exists, which managed to clean our test room in 24 minutes. The Alen Air mobile app offers all of the onboard features and more, at least once you manage to get to them. The lengthy setup process includes more onerous security than my bank account, but while the process is a hassle, I completed it without any hiccups. This gargantuan purifier is best suited for commercial environments, but it really shines when it comes to power.
Ranging from $69 for a basic filter to $119 for the premium option, this is a notable expense to be paid out and should be seriously considered before purchasing. Running this air purifier will cost less than you think, thanks to its Energy Star-rated efficiency – even if you leave it running on auto mode around the clock, as Alen recommends. During the day, with the purifier set to auto, it occasionally alen breathesmart ramped up the fan speed to higher levels. This creates a lot of noise and can be distracting, especially if working or even watching TV or listening to music. Of course, this can easily be adjusted to suit the user and limited to lower speeds when needed. His apartment has become a de facto HouseFresh test lab where he pits the latest clean air technology against the perils of city center life.
You have to drill down to an individual device to access its controls and a detailed graph of both indoor and outdoor air quality history. When testing each machine’s ease of use, we looked at a couple of key features. First, we timed how long it took to get the device out of the box and set it up. It took our testers about five minutes to get the BreatheSmart 75i up and running, which is pretty average when compared to most other models.
Noise is based in instrument measurements with the model running at a low speed. The lowest speed may provide even quieter operation but will not be as effective at cleaning the air. The amount of electricity the device uses and how often you have to replace filters.
Ultimately, this means that this is an exceptional option for large rooms. I’m pleased to say it has lived up to the expectations of an Alen product. With four fan speeds to choose from, the noise of this purifier can easily be curtailed to suit the user while still vastly improving the air quality in your home. This lets you alen breathesmart turn the machine to “auto” and will kick on if the room’s air quality dives below a certain measurement. This function works in tandem with an LED light ring that changes color as the air quality improves or worsens. It can be set to run in increments of two, four, and twelve hours and has five different speed options.
By putting it through its paces in various real-world tests, it proceeded to tick all the boxes. Working well at eliminating odors from cooking and nearby breweries and noticeably reducing allergies to pollen and dust while being extremely simple to operate and maneuver around the home. Alen states the sound levels of the purifier are 39 dB at speed 1, 42 dB at speed 2, 49 dB at Speed 3, and reaching 55 dB on turbo.
This is quite a long lifespan for a HEPA filter, with many other manufacturers suggesting replacing the filter after 6 months or a year if used infrequently. However, as the replacement filters cost up to $119, I hope it proves true. In reality, the power consumed will be much lower as the purifier operates on the lowest setting 99% of the time. Each of Alen’s True HEPA filters can capture 99.99% of airborne contaminants down to 0.1 microns, which are certainly impressive figures and was something we saw for real in our performance tests. However, these results reflect controlled lab testing, so I was keen to see how these figures translate in the real world. Once everything is unwrapped, open the front hatch via the air inlets on the side of the machine and slot in the HEPA filter, with the pre-filter facing towards you.