Honeywell HPA300 Air Purifier Review

We previously reviewed the BEST SHARP AIR PURIFIERS. Honeywell is one of the leading brands in Air Purifiers. It offers a wide range of models to cater to consumer needs and space variations. If you are in the lookout to buy an air purifier, then we strongly suggest going for one with True- HEPA filters only. Asthma or allergy patients and households with pets or smokers must have air purifiers. Consider the Honeywell HPA300 Air Purifier. It is one for extra large rooms up to 465 sq.ft. Read on as we review the important features of the Honeywell HPA300.

Honeywell HPA300 Air Purifier Review

THE HIGHLIGHTS

The Honeywell Air Purifier HPA300 is the top of the line air purifier from Honeywell. Still this model is one of the cheapest ones around. Other air purifiers like from IQAir cost are a lot dearer. Nothing to take away from IQAir air purifiers which are simply the best money can buy.

• Caters to room size of around 465 sq.ft.
• Effectively reduces allergens.
• You can check the condition of your filter and pre-filters.
• You can set 2/4/8 hours timers
• Choose from Allergen, Germ, General and Turbo Mode speeds.
• Dim the lights on the control panel for disturbance free sleep.
• May seem noisy on all speeds except the lowest fan speed.

The Honeywell HPA300 air purifier can remove 99.97% of PM 0.3 particles. It uses two filtration stages for cleaning the air. The outer filter or pre-filter is an activated carbon filter followed by an inner True HEPA filter.

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LOOKS & DESIGN

All HPA models from Honeywell, be it HPA100, HPA200 or this HPA300 sport an all-black body. Truthfully saying, these air purifiers do less to add value to your interior aesthetics. A little harsh to say but the color could have been more attractive. If seen from the top-view the control panel does has a sprinkle of steel and blue colors. The build quality is good and the front-grille which is removable fits well. As is quite common, the body material is ABS plastic. The edges have a clean finish which suggest good quality.

Just a note here. Do not miss removing the plastic packaging from the filters before using the air purifier! If you have purchased spare replacement filters in advanced, keep their plastic sheets intact. Cleaning the pre-filter and interiors with a vacuum cleaner is essential.

The air purifier is stable and does not topple. The Honeywell HPA300 is a fairly big device weighing around 9.5 Kgs. This makes it a spot device not fit for frequent moving or shifting. This does not mean that it cannot be moved. Infact, there are niches at the two sides to stick your fingers in to lift it. A Kilogram or two more and the company would have been compelled to provide castor wheels.

Dimensions

24.02″ * 22.05″ * 12.99″

How Does the Honeywell HPA300 Work?

The Honeywell HPA300 produces powerful air suction to draw surrounding air through its filters. The fan should be so designed as not to re-circulate the captured particles. The first set of filters remove odors and harmful gases from the air. The pre-filter also helps trap larger particles and save the costlier HEPA filter from choking. Activated Carbon filters are well known for their affinity for gaseous pollutants. You can buy a roll of activated carbon sheet and cut it out yourself and fix it in front of the HEPA filter. This can save you a good amount.

Boost Oxygen Canned Oxygen for Endurance

Activated Carbon filters are washable and hence reusable. Wash it under running stream or vacuum clean it. Frequent cleaning ensures healthy air and better air circulation. HEPA filters do not offer this luxury and must be replaced when they exhaust their filtration capacity. For a filter to qualify as True-HEPA a filter must remove 99.97% of particles larger than 0.3 microns. These are the same high quality filters used against biological attack threats! In a way, your Honeywell HPA300 is a medical grade air purifier.

How Do You Use the Honeywell HPA300?

This Honeywell HPA300 Air Purifier Review lists out the most important considerations. Still, if you are one who likes to delve in details then read the users guide. This will help you to confidently operate your air purifier.

FAN SPEEDS

You see buttons labelled “Germ,” “General clean,” “Allergen,” and “Turbo” on the HPA300. These are actually speed settings from lowest to highest. You’d want to keep the setting at Germ mode while sleeping since it is the most silent of the modes. At the next level i.e the General Clean mode, the air purifier makes a non-irritating white noise. The Allergen and the Turbo mode convert the machine into a beast to clean up the air fast. And beasts do make loud noises. On the Turbo mode, the HPA300 completely recycles the volume of the room’s air 5 times in an hour!

TIMER

The timer function is an omnipresent feature in air purifiers, so the HPA300 too has it. You can set timers for two, four, and eight hours. Of course, you can also just leave it on all the time to run continuously. A great air purifier which has minimal convenience features but great air purification. The BlueAir Blue Pure Air purifiers look better especially with their colorful pre-filters.

BLUEAIR BLUE PURE AIR PURIFIER REVIEW

WHEN TO CHANGE THE FILTERS

There are Filter Change indicators as well. An LED light comes up when its time to change those dirty filters. The product manual states that the HPA300 can comfortably clean the air for rooms up to 465 square feet. For smaller rooms, its a waste to deploy an air purifier meant for larger spaces. So, we’d suggest to purchase one with optimum coverage.

DIM THE LIGHTS WHEN NEEDED

The Dimmer button on the console is useful when you don’t want distractions like during sleeping or reading. What this does is dim out the console lights. Press the same ‘DIMMER’ button to set  the LED lights to your comfort level. Just so you know, the lights aren’t very flashy.

PUT IT IN A CORNER

Air Purifiers pull the air for filtration from the front and sides. Most air purifiers pull air from the back and spit it out the front. It really depends on the model and design. The Honeywell HPA300 too pulls in air from the front and then spits it out the top after filtering. This is great because you can have it set aside and out of the way. You can even put it up against the wall.

MORE ON FILTERS & REPLACEMENT LIFECYCLE

Honeywell HPA air purifiers use ‘R’ TRUE HEPA filters. Don’t be confused by the letter ‘R’. It does not denote anything specific. The filters are made in China just so you know if interested.

The average life of the HEPA filters used in Honeywell HPA300 is a year. The Pre-filters get dirty quickly so would need cleaning almost every month. Do not be a Scrooge and do replace your pre-filters after almost 3 months. But it all varies as per your home’s nearness to pollution sources and your usage. So, use your judgement instead of blindly following instructions on this. Save money and go for buying sheets which can be cut out to proper size manually. New pre-filters are also readily available on Amazon. The HEPA filter is not washable, hence needs replacement when it loses its cleaning power. Frequent vacuum cleaning can help prolong its life. If you feel a burning smells emanating from the air purifier, check the filters first. Choked filters may be causing this.

When buying your HEPA filters, remember that Honeywell HPA300 uses three filters. Many sellers offer these filters in packs of one, two, and three, so make sure the one you buy says “3-pack” on the box. Complete filter set from Honeywell includes 4 pre-filters and 3 HEPA filters. However, the filter set from VEVA is available at a fractional cost.

WARRANTY ?

The warranty for the Honeywell HPA300 is five years. Honeywell is a large company and has the resources to honor its warranties.

CONS – Honeywell Air Purifier HPA300 ?

The one thing missing from Honeywell HPA300 is any sort of indicator of the room’s air quality. With an air purifier of this cost, it should show its performance to us. There are real-time PM2.5 indicators in other models even within Honeywell’s catalog. A  switchable ionizer would have been a good feature to have. Many users have complained of the loud noise the fans make. We have also pointed this thing out earlier. Most users have reported satisfaction with the build quality and the way it operates.

COMPARE OTHER MODELS

Honeywell HPA200 Air Purifier

The HPA200 is made for smaller rooms (310 sq.ft) and hence comes at a lower price. The HPA200 uses two HEPA filters, while the HPA300 uses three. There’s HPA100 as well for still smaller room sizes of 155 sq.ft.

Winix AM90 Air Purifier vs Honeywell HPA300

The Winix AM90 Air Purifier is another liked air purifier with smaller coverage area. It can cater to an area of about 360 sq.ft. It is cheaper than the Honeywell HPA300 but with a few Add-on features. The WININX AM90 has a timer and is a WiFi enabled machine. It displays the indoor air quality via colored LEDs. Four fan speed levels and Sleep mode which is analogous to the Dimmer function in HPA300 from lights standpoint. The Winix also has an Auto mode in which the air purifier starts, stops, speeds up or down based on ambient air quality. Plus Winix AM90 is an Alexa enabled device for voice control.

CONCLUSION – HONEYWELL HPA300 REVIEW

The Honeywell HPA300 Air Purifier is a Mean Machine which helps clean your rooms’ air quickly and effectively. If you can get over the loudness of the fan, then you’d not have any issues. The ability to put it against a wall saves space and maintains the ergonomics. Some users complained of a burning or chemical-like smell. This may be a due to some one-off defective batch or over-sensitivity of the user. We would suggest to go for the Winix AM90 if you seek more advanced features.