Alen - BreatheSmart 45i HEPA

After literally weeks of research, I purchased three Alen Air, 45i units. The Black Friday bundle was a buy two, get a third one free. Alen was very easy and responsive, shipped quickly without a hitch, they're very quiet and attractive, fully wi-fi featured, energy-efficient, and are incredibly effective. While I'm only a few weeks into using them, I am very satisfied and my research was worth the time I spent doing so. (Alen's new units are the 35i's, slightly smaller units than the 45i and 75i larger units.

We just bought 3 45i using the bundle deal. One with each filter “Pure, Fresh, and Odor”. We really like them.

We got Odor for the basement with the cat box, Fresh for the one in the kitchen and the regular Pure for the bedroom. I will say they all did come in the “pure” box, but they had the correct filters inside

I have two 45i Alen purifiers (First had an issue that doesn’t really affect usability other than it’s always on high speed and they replaced it for free, without asking for the original back. So I bought another front cover and now have two!) Love them. Filters are replaced about yearly for me.

Alen is the best of that group by far. And especially since this is r/BIFL - they offer a lifetime warranty as long as you buy your filters from them (or authorized 3rd party) Remember, get a unit bigger than you think you’ll need so you don’t need to run it on full blast constantly and be overwhelmed by noise - another plus for Alen is that they are insanely quiet. I have a 45i and 75i and they are excellent. The VOC filter has a crazy amount of carbon in it too to help with smoke. I believe they are also one of the few manufacturers that publish their carbon numbers in their filters. A lot of others don’t.

Have you considered 2 medium sized units placed strategically? For a space that size it may be more effective. 2 Alen 45i’s + the VOC filter may be worth considering as well. And I believe they are buy 1 get on 50% off right now.

If you want BIFL the only answer is Alen. They offer a lifetime warranty as long as you buy filters from them or from an authorized 3rd party. The 75i and 45i are excellent depending on your space. I’d get the VOC filter as well.

I have an Alen BreatheSmart 45i. It was in the $450 range. I move it between our living room and master bedroom. The 35i is around $250.

I use Alen air purifiers in my apartment. It’s made a huge difference. I’ve wanted to become a “windows shut” apartment for a while, but whenever I would try it, I always found the apartment getting too stuffy. Now though after I put two Alen 45i units on opposite sides of my (large) living room/dining area, and one in the bedroom, the air now feels breathable and not at all stuffy when all the windows are closed. I got the VOC filters, though as others have said, that will only do so much. It’s definitely satisfying though when I start cooking and all of the air quality indicators go red on each of the units, but then they kick into high gear and within like 10 minutes the air quality starts to improve quickly, even when still cooking.

I have Alen air purifiers… a 75i and two 45i. I notice sleep better when I run one at night & I vacuum the filters weekly since I have dogs. My neighbor’s new born always has a runny nose- they have three dogs & a smaller place. The Mom loves cleaning- place always looks great, vacuums pretty much daily. I loaned the 75i to her for a month… the filter came back completely matted with dog hair- and her baby had been sleeping a lot better…

I moved last year and replaced all my Winix purifiers with Alen HEPA filters. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made. My spouse is allergic to pet dander (we have two cats and two dogs) and we're both very sensitive to wildfire smoke (we're in California), so we needed something heavy duty. The Winix ones did an okay job, but the Alen ones are incredible. We have a 75i in the open living room/dining room/kitchen area and a 45i in my spouse's office, our bedroom, and one of the guest bedrooms. The 75i and all but one 45i have the fresh filters and the office 45i has the VOC/smoke filter. They're surprisingly quiet, even on turbo mode. Not inexpensive, but the investment in our health was worth every penny. And the filters last 9 to 12 months, unlike the Winix ones that we were replacing all the time.

Hmm. Have you asked about a more effective litter? I’m not saying litter is everything but wonder if someone in a similar situation would have suggestions. Do you think the vet would recommend a probiotic to potentially help? The Alen BreatheSmart 45i might help. It has two pounds of carbon pellets. Obviously you’d want to have it in close proximity of the litter box. It’s suited for rooms around 450 square feet https://housefresh.com/air-purifiers-for-litter-box-smell/ I use Rocco and Roxie litter box deodorizer when one of my cats has a particularly stinky deposit. The air purifiers help but the ones I have don’t always completely eliminate the smell, at least not quickly enough for me.

Alen. Just bought 2. Had Levoit previously. I absolutely love them! True HEPA. Super quiet even on high settings. Emit "pink noise" at the high level. Zero odor. Ionization is optional. Has a functional app and alerts you if there's poor air quality. Customer service is top notch.

I did a sage burning test. I burned sage throughout my house to see how long it would take to clear. It took one hour. I even left for a few hours and came back. Nothing. I had 2 levoit air purifiers (core 200s and LV-H133) and I had a residual smell for DAYS afterwards. My friend thought I was smoking bad pot. I bought both the 75i for the main floor and the 45i for my bedroom and upgraded to the odor removing filter. I have 3 cats. I have a deviated septum that often leads to a sinus infection. I can breathe out of that side of my nose now. They have bundles for a discounted price. This past Memorial Day they were 30% off so you might wait and watch to see if they have a Fourth of July sale if you can wait that long.

I bought the 75i for the main floor and the 45i for my bedroom. They had a Memorial Day sale with 30% off and they also sell them in bundles. The 30% off included the bundles. There's a lifetime warranty if you subscribe to the filter program. You'll need a new filter every 9-12 months. They have 4 different filter options. I did a sage burning test. The smell was cleared in an hour. I left and came back and there was no residual smell. With my levoit (I had the LV-H133 and core 300) there was residual smell for days afterwards. And, I'd have to replace the filters every 3 months for the core and 4-6 months for the H133. And I even vacuum daily with my Roombas. Hope it helps.

Thanks! I ended up purchasing 3 units from Alen, settled on the 45i for all 3 of them. The buy 2 get 1 free sale definitely swayed my decision lol.

Everything. I’m stuck on everything. Lol. I think I’ve settled on Alen, but now I’m trying to figure out which size or sizes for each room and which filter. Alen is having a sale on bundles and buy 2 get 1 free, so I might just settle on one model that’s big enough for each room. I really like the fact that they have a lifetime warranty if you use their brand filters.

Welp, the bullet has been bitten! 3 45i’s otw! I got a different filter for each one- odor for cats’ bedroom, fresh for one, and pure for the other. I appreciate all your input and quick responses to all my questions!

The Alen BreatheSmart 45i has a lower overall CADR of 245 CFM in comparison to the 75i. Note this is a composite or averaged CADR, **not** a Smoke CADR. I also don't know the activated carbon weight in the 45i's "Fresh" filter. You would need to ask Alen for these values.

Oops, yes, I missed the [45i's VOC/Smoke Filter](https://alen.com/products/alen-breathesmart-45i-hepa-filter?variant=40426841342017). The illustration is made to show more activated carbon. But I still don't know the weight in ounces or pounds. Regarding the linked post with a chart, unfortunately it's a bit out of date. I believe Alen updated at least one of its purifiers and there's no 45i VOC/Smoke Filter listed as such. I didn't mention a 75% rule. It's a CADR 2/3 rule for room area under normal circumstances. *This doesn't apply, as you are treating for wildfire smoke.* **The rule that applies to you**: for wildfire smoke, Smoke CADR should *equal* a room's area, assuming an 8 ft. ceiling. Your ceilings are 8 ft. high. The info you gave me: * **Main Room**: 11.5 ft. x 25 ft. = 287.5 sq. ft. Smoke CADR: 288 CFM * **Bedroom**: 11 ft. x 11 ft. = 121 sq. ft. Smoke CADR: 121 CFM **But you would still need to get the Smoke CADR from Alen for each purifier model you are considering.** **When you are given the Smoke CADR for each purifier, it is likely it will be for the top speed only.**

+1 for Alen air. I got a levoit first since it was so much cheaper, ended up returning it and getting an Alen air. You get what you pay for in this case. If you go that route make sure you upgrade to the filters meant for smoke. Edit: we have 2 45i’s, have had them for 3 years now and replace the filters once a year. They’re well built, easy to clean and have a great app interface.

Longtime allergy sufferer. Alen air purifiers are the gold standard. Choose the BreatheSmart model that is one level ABOVE whatever your room's square footage is, and chose any filter designed for allergens or wildfire smoke. Keep the fan on the thermostat running (with or without A/C) and buy the best filter for your HVAC.

Levoit core 600s, coway airmega 300/400, medify ma125, dyson tp10, alen air breath smart, winix t810/5500. Any of these are great, so you can pick based off of design preference and location. Ones that intake from all sides work best in center of room, others are fine up against a wall. Dyson works well as a fan or circulator too. I also live in a larger open air loft style apartment with a cat. I have a Dyson in the upstairs bedroom for the fan feature, levoit 600s in kitchen for cooking because that thing moves alot of air at max, winix 5500 in bathroom and by litterbox because it is best bang for buck, having carbon pellets for odor at low price.

Alen is the best. True hepa (yes, this matters), absolutely silent, legit CADR. Coway and Winix are right behind them. Anything with true hepa (h13) is worth your money. Everything else is not.

We have an Alen breatheSmart. I like it. It’s sensitive to changes. It reacts as soon as we light a candle or cook. We change the filter once a year.

We upgraded to a shark matrix robot vacuum with 45 day auto empty tank (10 day) after researching which one was best on pet fur. It runs every day. I still use my Dyson animal once a week to get where the robot can't. Lint rollers everywhere 😅. "Control" is the right phrase, as there's still a lot of fur. And we have Alen Breathesmart for air purifier. Which also needs to be vacuumed off a couple times a month. And brush corgs several times a week. (We have 2 fluffy pems and 1 not so fluffy cardigan)