Fellowes AeraMax 290 air purifier reviews – is it good for large room?

Fellowes AeraMax 290 air purifier reviews

Utilizes a True HEPA Filter with Antimicrobial Treatment to safely remove 99.995 percent of airborne particles including pollen, ragweed & other allergens, viruses, germs, dust mites, mold spores & cigarette smoke. Carbon filter removes odors and captures large airborne particles. Ultra quiet performance. Reduces odors in rooms from 300 – 600 square feet! Auto detecting technology senses and purifies the air. Get details in Fellowes AeraMax 290 air purifier reviews.

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Specifications – Fellowes AeraMax 290 air purifier

  • CADR Rating – Dust196
  • CADR Rating – Pollen188
  • CADR Rating – Smoke191
  • Certification: AHAM Certified, CARB Certified, Energy Star Certified, UL Listed
  • Color: Black
  • CRC92862
  • Filter Type: Carbon, True HEPA with AeraSafe™ Antimicrobial Treatment
  • Item H x W x D (inches)25.13 x 16.00 x 8.13
  • Material TypeABS
  • Model NumberAERAMAX 290
  • PlasmaTrue™ TechnologyPlasmaTrue™ Technology
  • Qty Per Pack1
  • Retail Pack Weight (lbs)18.10
  • Room Size (Sq Ft)300-600
  • Aera+™ Mode
  • AeraSmart Sensor
  • PlasmaTrue™ Technology

Features

  • 4-stage hospital-type filtration
  • Cleans 300-600 square foot spaces
  • Detects air quality and automatically adjusts the fan speed to keep your air purified
  • True HEPA filter with antimicrobial treatment safely removes 99.97% of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns, including allergens, viruses, and cigarette smoke
  • Proven to capture the airborne flu virus
  • Carbon filter removes odors and captures large airborne particulates
  • Aera+™ Mode for allergy and cold/flu seasons
  • Ultra-quiet operation

Compare Fellowes AeraMax 290 air purifier vs AeraMax 300 Air Purifier

AeraMax 290 Air PurifierAeraMax 300 Air Purifier
Square Footagelarge rooms 300 – 600 square feetlarge rooms 300 – 600 square feet
AeraSmart Auto-detect
# of fan speeds44
Quiet Operation
Filter Indicator Lights
Filter LifeTrue HEPA – up to 12 months, Carbon – up to 3 monthsTrue HEPA – up to 12 months, Carbon – up to 3 months
Energy Star

Fellowes AeraMax 290 air purifier reviews

Design

The Fellowes AeraMax 290 is a well designed and well-built product. The materials used seem solid and well manufactured. The air purifiers use a touch panel that detects the pressure of your fingers. It works well except perhaps when you wish to disable the ionized field. It does get sometimes hard to disable it. We love the design of the AreaMax. It is a beautiful machine.

Weight & dimensions

Typically, we wouldn’t recommend moving your air purifiers around the house. It is just not practical to unplug it, carry it around the house, re-plug it. If you can afford it financially, get yourself one air purifier per room where you spend the most time in. Weight is around 6lbs (2.7 kgs) which is pretty light and easy to move around the house.

The  Fellowes AeraMax 290 is 25″ or 63 cm. Due to the fact that it is black and elegant, displaying it a living room shouldn’t be too much of a problem 

CADR

The CADR stands for Clean Air Delivery Rate. The CADR of the Fellowes AeraMax 290 is 196 (dust) and 188 (pollen). It is suitable for large bedrooms or regular size living rooms.

Room coverage

The Fellowes AeraMax 290 is recommended for 500 square feet (46 sqm) rooms maximum. That means that you can pretty much use it in any room of your apartment or house.

Room coverage comparison

  • Fellowes AreaMax 290Recommended room size500 sq feet (46 sqm)
  • Germ Guardian AC4825Recommended room size165 sq feet (15 sqm)
  • Dyson Pure CoolRecommended room size400 sq feet (37 sqm)
  • Levoit 300 coreRecommended room size215 sq feet (19 sqm)
  • Coway AP1512Recommended room size361 sq feet (33 sqm)

4-stage filtration and costs

  • Carbon Filter : Removes odors and captures large airborne particulates.
  • • True HEPA Filter: Captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns, including ragweed and other allergens, viruses, germs, dust mites, mold spores, pet dander and cigarette smoke.
  • • AeraSafe™ Antimicrobial Treatment: Built-in protection from the growth of odor causing bacteria, mildew and fungi on the True HEPA Filter.
  • • PlasmaTRUE™ Technology: In the final stage of purification, Fellowes® PlasmaTRUE™ Technology creates an ionized field to help safely remove airborne pollutants.

The Fellowes AeraMax 290 Air Purifier uses a HEPA filter capturing 99.97% of dust and allergens as small as .3 microns in size. The HEPA filter needs to be replaced every 6 to 8 months and cost 40 dollars (HEPA + Carbon filter). The activated carbon filter is used to capture larger particles and eliminate smells from the air. The AeraSafe Antimicrobial Treatment on the Hepa filter which protects against the growth of bacteria on the True HEPA filter that mold can cause.

The last layer is what Fellowes calls the plasma true It generates a “plasma airfield”. These energized particles instantly purify the filtered air without producing harmful pollutants. The Plasmatrue can be turned off by pressing the lowest bottom for a few seconds. While Fellowes state that it does not produce any harmful ozone, we still like the option of turning it off.

Technology

– 3-speed fan

– Air quality indicator: Blue (Air is good), Orange (Air is average) and Red (Air quality is bad). Having this air quality is super handy and very useful in the long run.

– Auto mode. The auto mode works by using the air quality sensor. When the sensor detects that the quality is bad, the air purifier will purify the room faster which will also increase the noise level produced by the fan. No air purifier auto-mode is 100% reliable. That is due to the fact that it only analyses the air immediately surrounding the air purifiers.

– Filter change indicator

The Fellowes AeraMax 290 does not a timer.

Noise level

The noise level of The Fellowes AeraMax 290 is 35 decibels at the lowest speed and 55 decibels at the highest speed. This is not the quietest on paper but I can personally sleep very easily with the Aeromax running on my night table at the lowest fan speed. It produces a very light white noise that I really appreciate.

Noise Level comparison (lowest speed)

The less the better

  • Coway AP1512Decibels24 decibels
  • Dyson Pure CoolDecibels40 decibels
  • Fellowes AreaMax 290Decibels35 decibels
  • Germ Guardian AC4825Decibels40 decibels
  • Levoit 300 coreDecibels25 decibels
  • MI Air Purifier ProDecibels38 decibels

Noise level matters10 decibels: Breathing, 20 decibels: Whispers, 40 decibels: Bird calls, 60 decibels:

Power consumption

The Fellowes AeraMax 290 consumes up to 86 watts of electricity. When used 24 hours a day and 365 days per year, the utility cost of running the Fellowes AeraMax 290 at full speed is 90 dollars or 24 cents per day. However, I doubt that you will use it at full speed for more than a few hours per day.

The max power consumption appears to be higher for the Fellowes AeraMax 290  because it has a very high square feet coverage so it is important to take into consideration the max electric consumption and CADR ratio.

Power consumption comparison (max speed)

The less the better

  • Fellowes AreaMax 290Decibels86 watts
  • Dyson Pure CoolDecibels44 watts
  • Levoit 300 coreDecibels53 watts
  • Coway AP1512Decibels77 watts
  • Germ Guardian AC4825Decibels55 watts
  • MI Air Purifier ProDecibels66 watts

How to setup Fellowes AeraMax 290 air purifier (reviews)?

  • Remove protective film from the control panel. . Pull out drawer.
  • Remove bag from filters drawer.
  • Insert Carbon Filter first and then True HEPA Filter.
  • Fully insert drawer into unit until click is heard. Plug in the power cord to a wall outlet. Turn unit on. Unit will beep. Adjust louvers to direct air flow.

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