Kaz Honeywell HEPAClean HHT-081 Tower Air Purifier

I purchased this unit for my son and his wife. We are all smokers, but don't smoke inside the house. Since winter hit this year, it was decided to allow smoking in my son's home office, with the window open. Needless to say, this was much more comfortable, but with the window open it was still pretty cold and didn't do much to rid the room of smoke. This unit is perfect, gets rid of both the smoke and the odor without having to open the window. The ability to vacuum clean the filters and wash the separate smoke filter is a definate plus as far as economy goes. It works great for that one small room, but I found that I did need a larger unit for my own apartment, which consists of a large living room/kitchen area and very large bedroom. I'd definately recommend this product for smaller enclosesd areas.

Before you buy into these glowing reviews, read up to see who is posting months after the purchase to see if this thing is reliable. Why did I bother to give this brand another try? About 8 years ago, I purchased two different models of Honeywell HEPA filters from a store in town, and the motors on both started rattling like a dying helicopter within a month of purchase. Returned and bought a Holmes, and it worked 24/7 for over six years without incident until the exterior was just so funky, I tossed it and bought another, larger Holmes, which also worked 24/7 without incident (and which I still use in another room). For a larger area, I purchased this item thinking, hey, it has been years. Surely Honeywell has gotten their motors fixed by now. Nope. A month and a half after I started using this item, the motor startled me awake with its extremely loud death rattle. I shut it off, checked to see that everything was in place and that the filters were not choked with dust, and later turned it back on. It worked quietly for another week, then of course it waited until 4am to die again in rather loud fashion. Overstock.com has told me they do not take direct return of this item, so I have spent loooooooooong hold times on the phone with Kaz Honeywell just trying to raise a human. As this is a rather large item, you can imagine it's a pain in the butt to return. Thankfully Kaz is allowing a return, having asked me to cut the cord off and mail it in (strange, I know). We'll see how long it takes for the replacement filter to arrive, but I'm guessing weeks. Then we'll see how long that one takes to die. If that one dies, forget it, Kaz, I will only buy Holmes from now on.

On low this hepa filter is quiet and non intrusive, on medium it is noisy and high it is extremely loud. The air it blows is COLD while filtering the air in the environment. The design is good, the tower works well. Overally, compared to the early Honeywell Hepa filters this is an improvement. But i am disappointed as I was early on in the first designs. The noise factor is great on any level but low. The COLD air is prominent that it blows back out in its cleansing the air . 3 stars

The two fans started rattling after 2 weeks of night use only. Then on the lower speeds the fans would not run at the proper speed and still made strange noises. This maybe a good product when it works properly.