Air Flex Air Purifier and Room Fan

I own 4 of these now. I have used many different filters in the past 20 years, mostly 3M and Honeywell. The Lasko box fan filter is the most value for your dollar. Before they even made these I use to tape a 20x20 filter onto the back of my original Laskso fan. Pros The design is simple and very easy to change the filter. You can use filters from many different companies so there is a huge secondary market instead of being pigeon holed into using a specific filter designed only for your model. Despite complaints about airflow, depending on the type of filter you are using, it moves a lot of air. I use a MERV 14 filter and leave it on low. No complaints. It's easy and convenient to clean, transport and store. Cons Loud, even when on the low setting. The higher the MERV rating of your filter, the louder it gets. It's not designed for cooling. Unless you remove the filter which defeats the purpose, this is not designed to provide a cooling effect. The airflow is weak and turbulent. You will get breeze from it but this is primarily for being left in corner to constantly clean the air. Conclusion If you're looking for an inexpensive yet very effective way of cleaning the air in your home or office then this is the best value on the market. If you are looking to cool yourself off in the summer consider a regular Lasko fan or just removing the filter temporarily. Suggestions For everyday use and to get the most out of your purchase, use a MERV 14 filter. When cleaning your home or office, to effectively collect all the dust being kicked up, switch out the filter for a MERV 8 or 11 to significantly increase airflow.

I bought this combo box fan with filter tray attachment because I've actually been doing the DIY version for 5+ years. The DIY version isn't really that attractive, but it works to circulate moist basement air and clear out the cat dander. I wanted the nice version to put in my guest room/office. I've included pictures of both the Lasko fan + filter and my DIY fan + filter as comparison. You can see in my cheap version, I had to carve a hole out of the center back of the filter to make way for the plug. I just bought a cheap box fan from Target during all of the back to school sales. The plug helps keep the filter on, but I've seen a lot of people tape the filter to the fan to get it to stay nicely. The most noticeable difference between the Lasko and my DIY is the air throughput. The Lasko on setting 1 still very visibly moves air and feels like a pretty steady breeze. If I want that same feeling on my DIY version, I have to crank it to setting 3. Though the Lasko filter is MERV10 and my DIY version has a MERV14 filter. I assure you, there IS a difference. I will switch to the MERV14 after this fan has had a year of use. I also included a picture of the last time I changed out my MERV14 filter on my DIY solution. That filter actually represents 2 years of use. My box fan is on a timer to run daily from 10am-2pm. So 4 hours a day for 730 days equals out to almost 3,000 hours of runtime. It was pretty filthy. I recommend once a year if you run it as frequently as I do. But many people run theirs all night, so that'd shorten the filter life to more like 6 months. I have 2 long fur cats and frequently keep my windows open rather than use air conditioning. My DIY version has helped tremendously in my basement to cut down stale moist air and cat litterbox smell. People cannot smell my cat boxes even though I only clean them twice a week. My friends who are allergic to cats are 100% fine in my home. I look forward to the nice Lasko version freshening the air in the upstairs of my house too!

Lasko Air Flex 2-in-1 20-inch Box Fan and Air Purifier in One This product fills a niche between ordinary fans and HEPA air purifiers. I wanted something like this for years, since I tried putting a pleated furnace filter on an old Lasko box fan but after a few months of use could smell the motor starting to burn up. Family members are allergic to pollen, so with this fan on cool evenings I can finally open the windows and use this fan to blow in cool, filtered air. I substituted a MERV 8 filter that's enough to filter pollen and still provide decent air flow (enough to still consider it a fan!) The MERV 8 filters ("FPR" 4-5), rated to capture 70 - 84.9% of 3 - 10 Micron particles, were 3 for $10-13 at a local home improvement store. You can't get more economical than that. After 3 years using it 2-3 hrs/day in the summer I'm still satisfied with the air flow (I do vacuum out the filter occasionally using a bagged upright vacuum with a high efficiency dust bag). I recently tried it as an air purifier by putting in a brand new 3M Filtrete MPR 2500 (MERV 14) filter. 3M rates these as removing 77% of 0.3 - 1 Micron particles (compared to HEPA 99.97%), but the air flow is very low. Low enough that it's not really a fan any more; with this filter I can barely feel any air flow 2' from the fan. Lasko says the Air Flex has a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of 42; they don't specify if this is for pollen, dust or smoke. 42 is very low which is why I can barely feel air moving through with the MERV 14 filter. For comparison a Honewyell HPA-200 has a CADR of 180 for pollen and 200 for tobacco smoke. The HPA-200 is about 2.5 times the price, but it provides a much higher rate of filtered air, though it's pretty useless as a cooling fan since it blows straight up. I also tried the MERV 10 filter that came with the Air Flex. I think the air flow is a little better with the MERV 8, and the price is definitely better. For reference, here are filter efficiency specs from several internet sites: _____ MERV ___Micron particle size _______#_____ 0.3-1____1-3_____3-10 MERV _8_____ <20%___<20%___70-85% MERV 10_____ <20%___50-64%_>=85% MERV 14_____ 75-84%_>=90%__>=90% While the MERV 10 filter must capture more of something than the MERV 8, it's still not going to do much for smoke because "Particles from smoke tend to be very small, with a size range near the wavelength of visible light (0.4–0.7 micrometers)" (WILDFIRE SMOKE: A GUIDE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS, P. 12. EPA Aug 2019). HEPA air purifiers are overkill if you only have allergies and need to filter pollen. The cost of replacement HEPA filters in 1-2 years would be more than this whole fan. So if you want to save money, cool yourself off, and filter pollen, mold spores, and most dust, get this and put a MERV 8 filter in it. Once you have it, in a pinch if you need to purify a small amount of air because of smoke, airborne virus particles, etc. you can put a MERV 13 or 14 filter in and it will help a little bit. But if you really need to *purify* a lot of air, and don't need a cooling fan, buy a HEPA air purifier. I made two videos to try to demonstrate the difference in air flow, not knowing Amazon only allowed 1 video per review. The videos don't show the full effect you feel: with MERV 8 you can still feel a cooling breeze, not with MERV 14. I included the MERV 14 video, but you'll have to take my word for it that although the streamer (tissue) moving quite a bit, it's a wimpy breeze. P.S. if someone has had success taping a pleated filter to an ordinary box fan and it worked for years, please post the details (like which brand and model of fan & filter). 18 Jan 2022 update: added MERV 14 info. 4 Dec 2023 update: updated years of use and MERV 8 filter price. Increased rating from 4 to 5 because long term use demonstrates it still performs as it did when new. Reformatted the MERV 8,10,14 table for (hopefully) better readability. Also bought a 2nd one for my son, who requested it instead of an air purifier.

Très efficace. Surtout avec un filtre plus fin.

部屋が排気能力ばかりで吸気が足りないと思った為購入しました。 ベランダへ出る窓の前で回す事でしっかり換気できるようになりました。 二酸化炭素濃度としてはこの製品なしの時は 500 PPM 程度までしか下がらなかったのが、この製品を使うと簡単に 450 PPM 程度まで下がるようになったので数値的に効果を実感できています。 音は無音とは程遠く、しっかりと聴こえるのですが、不快ではない低い音が安定して聴こえているので自分は気になりません。 若干残念だった点は最初から何かにぶつけて外装の一部がはげている部分があり、そこに錆が生じていたことですが、さび落とし後にさび止めを塗って対処しました。 ベランダへの窓の前に配置しているので使う時に毎回少し移動させていますが、軽いので全く苦になりません。 とてもお勧めできる商品です。

This review comes a year after purchase. I was searching for a safe and cost effective alternative to the DIY box fan. It’s almost impossible to find a modern one made of metal but the centre frame of this one is. The filter is really easy to swap out and it stores away nicely when not needed. It is really loud, but during fire season it makes all the difference to the air quality in my 900sq ft suite. I use it when the kitchen fan can’t keep up and turn it on full blast while I leave the house for short errands. That way I can shut it off or leave it on low in the bedroom and it’s not too annoying. I can tell the difference immediately coming in from outdoors, the air smells clean and it helps keeps my sinuses clear. If you’re searching for the best air purifier, CBC’s marketplace did a great product comparison episode and the Blue one beats out Dyson and other expensive products. They also found that a well made box fan works at a very high rate too. You could probably improve this model by taping up the back edges for a tight seal around the filter. I wouldn’t be too rough with it, it is made with a lot of plastic. Oh and some people had issues with missing feet in the comments. I had to really look hard, they’re folded inside the interior cardboard which just looks like a piece of extra spacing, unfold it and there they are!

Moves the air well, but you should not rely on the higher merv filters that come with it. Those higher merv filters put extra strain on the motor which could burn out prematurely. A 20x20x1 merv 8 is just right, it cleans the air of animal dander, dust pollen and other pollutens and doesn't put much strain on the motor. The fan it self is not best quality and does vibrate especially at higher speeds but this is a minor inconvenience if you're seeking cleaner air. Great for a small or medium size apartment and you change the filter every 2-4 months depending on use. I give a thumbs 👍 up. Ronaldo.

I like that they made a special slot for the filter and it works wonderfully. The air feels lighter the longer it is on. The house is noticeably less dusty. I been doing this for years and glad they invented a nice closed unit that is easy to use. Was easy to setup and use. It puts out a fair amount of air. I keep it on the low setting for hours and move from room to room whenever I feel the rooms need it.