AllerAir - AirMedic Pro 5 Plus

Allerair, Airpura, Austin Air for both Hepa and Voc's.  What I use: AllerAir AirMedic Pro 5 Plus Vocarb Air Cleaner   What I used before I purchased the Allerair: Two Winix 5500-2 air purifiers  I have an Allerair with a Super Hepa filter .001 microns and 18pds Carbon for Voc's. Works very very well for "cleaning" the air. Cost was $637. I had two winix 5500-2 purifiers but they weren't doing the job especially for Voc's. Three people came over and commented how clean the air felt and tasted.   Our area isn't polluted at all, quite the opposite, yet there was a noticeable difference in air quality. I would highly recommend just buying a very good air cleaner like an AllerAir or one of the others mentioned and one Winix or no winix. We both sleep better due to the Allerair cleaning any and all toxic fumes and smells from our 750 sqft apartment. 

Love my Allerair 5 pro plus 18lbs vocarb. The air feels and breathes like I'm walking in the woods..super clean and clear.  My girlfriend also commented that she has noticed a huge difference in the air quality inside our apartment.  Its a little louder than the ones without carbon but that is mainly due to the hollow sound where the fan is located. I get 38 decibels low and 60+ decibels on high. 

Allerair is excellent as well and cheaper than many if not all of the others with as good or equal in build and performance.  

I use AirMedic Pro 5 Air Purifier. 14LBS of carbon. Commercial grade fan that should last forever. Made of metal. Anything with a thin carbon sheet isn’t doing crap. Pro 14LBS Pro plus 18lbs Pro hd 23lbs Pro ultra 28lbs

I use AirMedic Pro 5 Air Purifier. 14LBS of carbon. Commercial grade fan that should last forever. Made of metal. Anything with a thin carbon sheet isn’t doing crap. Pro 14LBS Pro plus 18lbs Pro hd 23lbs Pro ultra 28lbs

I use AirMedic Pro 5 Air Purifier. 14LBS of carbon. Commercial grade fan that should last forever. Made of metal. Anything with a thin carbon sheet isn’t doing crap. Pro 14LBS Pro plus 18lbs Pro hd 23lbs Pro ultra 28lbs

The first recommendation for new builds is **exhaust ventilation**. This is way cheaper than multiple sorbent media purifiers. You can do this by opening windows, building DIY Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs), or installing ERVs or Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) as part of your HVAC system. ERVs or HRVs trade indoor air for "fresh" (oxygenated) outdoor air. This can reduce VOC and CO₂ levels. But the *non-DIY* versions may not be enough to counteract high levels of VOCs. Another problem is the exact mix of VOCs. The issue is that plain/untreated sorbent media do *not* have high removal efficiencies for all gaseous "species". You would need to modify something like plain activated carbon increase removal of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetylene, ethylene, for example. See [American Hakko Products, Inc.'s Activated Carbon Capacity Index](https://kb.hakkousa.com/Uploads/Attachments/584400cf-c9f4-4201-99bf-33c4.pdf). If you wanted a more exact answer, you could hire an environmental consulting group to do gas testing. A cheaper option is a home test kit you send away for gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. If you only use plain/untreated sorbent media in purifiers, you may still have high levels of other VOCs. There's also the issue of competitive adsorption as the sorbent media begins to saturate. Potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) is an impregnating compound for activated carbon and activated alumina. It's a strong oxidizer that breaks down gases and often used to increase formaldehyde removal. But in highly complex air chemistries, it can produce new compounds. And KMnO₄ itself can off gas as it saturates or becomes spent. As far as actual purifiers are concerned, I would tend to suggest **AllerAir** over Austin Air and the IQAir HealthPro Plus. **Airpura** is another worthy alternative, although their units tend to be more expensive. Austin Air has about 15 lbs. of sorbent media for several models, but also particulates filtration. The [HealthPro Plus](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0065/4780/0182/files/Tech-Specs_HPP-NE_120V_120924.pdf) only uses 5 lbs. of activated carbon pellets and KMnO₄ impregnated activated alumina spheres. This could saturate very quickly in a high VOCs environment. Certain [IQAir GC](https://cms.iqair.com/sites/default/files/documents/Tech-Specs_GC-NE_120V_130723.pdf) or GCX models have more sorbent media (especially the [GCX series](https://cms.iqair.com/sites/default/files/documents/Tech-Specs_GCX-NE_120V_130723_0.pdf)). AllerAir does offer some lower weight models. The [AllerAir AirMedic Pro 5 Plus (VOCARB option for VOCs)](https://allerair.com/products/airmedic-pro-5-plus-exec?variant=42969221454) has about 18 lbs. of carbon for $637.98. The model with the most carbon is the [AllerAir AirMedic Pro 6 Ultra Air Purifier (VOCARB for VOCs)](https://allerair.com/products/airmedic-pro-6-ultra?variant=42969115470) with 32-34 lbs. carbon at $1,019.98. **Important:** Exec and VOCARB blends are *plain/untreated carbon*. AllerAir does offer over 40 blends of carbon. You must contact them first to do this. But obviously you'd need to know the VOCs in your airspace first.

Most common air purifier brands do not have enough nor the right type of sorbent media for gases, vapors, or odors. Sorbent media in air purification = activated carbon, activated alumina, or synthetic zeolites. Heavyweight sorbent media purifiers are very expensive, very loud, and clean the air more slowly than particulates-focused units. This is due to the need for ["dwell time"/"residence time"](https://www.airscience.com/carbon-filters) and the thick media beds. The two major heavyweight brands in the USA & Canada are **Airpura** or **AllerAir**. You want to look for models with 15 lbs.+ carbon canisters. Most standard options for these purifiers are plain/chemically untreated sorbents, which do *not* have high removal capacities for all gaseous "species". This sometimes presents problems where an odor emanates from the sorbent bed (possibly the not-well-adsorbed acetaldehyde) or there's a spike on tVOC monitors despite a reduction in odors. Assuming you don't live near a refinery or have really bad air chemistry otherwise (e.g., from fires), you may want to look into potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) impregnated activated carbon from Airpura or AllerAir. You'd have to contact the respective company first to specify this. KMnO₄ works in part via redox (reduction oxidation) reactions by breaking down certain gases. This can be problematic in unknown and/or highly complex air chemistries where resulting gases may be problematic. It can also off gas as it saturates or loses efficacy.

I feel for you, OP. I am an allergic-to-everything person to the point that I've needed to move homes to get away from paint, varnished wood, carpet, etc. The biggest trigger for me, though, and maybe for you is any centralized heating and cooling system. The systems' filters don't matter - the room's unfiltered air is also being blown in your face. I haven't found a purifier that can offset this problem. I don't use ACs and all my heat is water-based or electric. I experimented with Dyson - if it's the model that provides heating or cooling, there is a chemical in the device that can cause reactions. You can also be sensitive to the material in any carbon filter, like coal. The imperfect journey continues, but I ended up getting a custom purifer from Aller Air and I use it in the same room as a Coway HEPA. One for gas and chemicals, one for particulates. It still doesn't save me completely from my dusty old building, but I can now be confident that it's the only issue. Good luck!

I have a couple allerair I have been happy with. They have some of the largest carbon filters, work great for smoke and pet odors. I have one in a bedroom with a cat box. If the cat uses it at night the smell is gone in minutes. Allerair, airpura, Austin air are similar units. Metal cabinet, a switch, a fan and a filter. Very little to go wrong.

Check out Allerair they have models with large carbon filters specifically for wild fire smoke. I believe they are also made in Canada. Airpura is another similar one not cheap but I’m happy with the ones I have. I’m in Wisconsin and we have gotten a lot of smoke this year and don’t smell anything inside.

AirOasis is really good. It's one of the few purifiers that I have felt a noticeable difference in the air, despite trying almost every brand on the market now. I've been very impressed with their customer service also. If you're in a high VOC environment, you need a purifier with a very thick carbon bed in the filter like some Austin, AllerAir, and Airpura models do. I have an AllerAir in addition to the AirOasis unit for this reason.

Always remember to do your research, as the research confirms anything plastic off-gases, so its no good. Make sure the air purifier has a metal body (safest material), then dont fall for paper-thin carbon sprayed filters. The right air purifier will have pounds of carbon for odor, chemicals and VOCs. And finally it must have a Medical-grade HEPA filter for all the particles and dust. Only then it is a good enough air purifier and you will notice a difference. I have a few of the allerair units, have had them for years and works well for my whole home :)

Yeah, totally get what you mean. A lot of the "smart" purifiers out there do a decent job with particles like dust or smoke, but they kinda drop the ball when it comes to odors—especially the rough ones from litter boxes. VOCs and ammonia just don’t get picked up by most of those sensors. Check out **AllerAir** units. They don’t have fancy detection features, but their carbon filters are legit. Like, super thick, industrial-strength carbon that’s made specifically to handle stuff like VOCs and pet odors. I’ve had good luck with them cutting down litter box smells fast—even without any auto-detect stuff. Not the flashiest purifiers, but if you're really after odor control, they’re hard to beat.

I’m in Canada and unfortunately, wildfires have become part of life every summer. Last year was especially bad — the sky was orange for days, and even staying indoors didn’t help much. The smoke and smell would still find a way in, especially through my swamp cooler. I started waking up with headaches, a sore throat, and just feeling gross all the time. I tried a couple of those cheaper air purifiers from Amazon — the ones that say “HEPA” and “carbon filter” — but they honestly didn’t make a difference. The rooms still smelled like smoke, and I could still see dust floating around in the sunlight. Eventually, I bit the bullet and bought an AllerAir. It wasn’t cheap, but I was desperate. What really convinced me was how thick the carbon filter is... it’s like a solid chunk, not just a thin sheet. I didn't realize how important that was until I actually used it. Within a day or two of running it nonstop, the air in my room felt totally different. No more smoke smell, my throat felt better, and I wasn’t waking up with that weird heaviness in my chest. Now it’s basically my go-to as soon as wildfire season starts creeping in. It’s bulky and kind of industrial-looking compared to the sleek little ones online, but it actually works — which I guess is the point. I just wish I had bought it sooner instead of wasting money on cheaper units that couldn’t handle real smoke. Atmos C is also a decent brand, I have one of their units as well and it has been serving quite nicely over the last few years. Never had an issue with it! I hope this helps!

Allerair air purifiers are fantastic. Would strongly recommend. And they are local, so no tariffs!

Funny coincidence,,, I actually have an allerair unit running at home (we got it for smoke and allergens), and then my wife noticed the exact same brand being used at the salon she goes to. She said the air in there always feels super clean, even with all the hair dye, sprays, and product use going on all day. The salon’s around the same size as yours and also doesn’t have windows that open, and apparently it made a huge difference. What’s great about AllerAir is they’re specifically designed for stuff like chemicals and VOCs. not just dust and particles. They use deep carbon filters, no off-gassing, no plasticky smell, and they’re actually made in North America. If you’re looking for something that can really handle salon air, I’d definitely check them out. Cheers!

+3 for the AllerAir, I have 3 of them in my home (overkill along with hepa+UV in the furnace) but I love having localized air production for specific living areas. There are zero pollution or smoke smells (I live in smelting and forest fire area) and no cooking or other smells.