Austin Air - HealthMate Junior

You can't really compare the two. The Austin HealthMate Plus Jr. CADR isn't published, but it's believed to be about 120 CFM, lower than the Levoit 300. But it has at least 6.5 lbs of Activated Carbon, Potassium Iodide Impregnated Carbon and Zeolite. It's much more than a particle filter, it's "designed for the chemically sensitive (MCS), removing the toughest contaminants and broadest spectrum of VOCs" and is "also recommended for allergy and asthma sufferers sensitive to VOCs, or for those in high smoke, particle or gas contamination areas." As with any unit with sorbent media, you want to run it on low to maximize "dwell" time, so the CADR will be a tiny fraction of 120 CFM. The odor reduction is a function of the meaningful amounts of carbon. With the Levoit, even if you upgrade to the Levoit Core 300-P 4-Stage Smoke Remover Replacement Filters, you get a trivial amount of carbon in a mesh. The reduction in allergy symptoms would suggest that you are more allergic do things that are captured by the "Activated Carbon, Potassium Iodide Impregnated Carbon and Zeolite" rather than by the particulate/HEPA filter(s).

I love my Austin air. I have a Jr with HEPA and it’s so quiet.

I have an Austin Air Systems Healthmate and Healthmate Jr. Bought both in 1995 and each is still going strong. Filters are not cheap but they last 5 years.

I have an Austin Air Systems Healthmate and Healthmate Jr. Bought both in 1995 and each is still going strong. Filters are not cheap but they last 5 years.

tough, for odor you want strong carbon but given cats would be a particulate issue, you want strong hepa. super quiet and powerful enough to notice any improvement at under $600 may be challenging, especially with a fan that'll just add to it. I'd avoid Dyson. If you want to stick with Canadian-made, I'd consider the Airpura R414 or Airpura V414, both strong quiet models. We don't have cats but we have a homestead with many quail and chickens and live in a 150 yr old house. We have an Airpura V414 in our bedroom and throughout the years have had bats in our attic, flooding, etc, and Airpura keeps the smell and particulates to a minimum. If expanding beyond Canadian made, I'd consider Austin Healthmate JR. We have that in our nursery room, very quiet. I'd say quieter than Airpura. Austin also gives 5 yr warranty at least when we bought the unit maybe 10 yrs ago. So durable, I have 2 friends that have units from....1997!! Hopefully ours lasts that long. Best of luck mate!

I ended up getting an expensive Austin air purifier appropriate for medical use because all the cheaper brands i looked at intentionally or accidentally produce ozone, which is not healthy to breathe.

If you are looking to filter primarily VOCs I would look into the AustinAir Healthmate line. They come with 15 lbs of activated carbon filters. Most regular air purifiers don’t have that much carbon in them that you will have to replace the whole filter much more quickly to work against VOCs.

Austinair healthmate is good.

We have an Austin Air Systems Healthmate that runs 24/7/365, and has done since 1998. No lie. We only switch it off to change the filter (every five years or so). 

The very best one is a PM1 unit. You will have to have a commercial contractor come out and give you a personalized quotation. And once you find out the price, you will likely back off your price doesn't matter bravado as the unit will cost as much as your car. You are not asking a BIFL question, so quit trying to shoehorn it as such. An air purifier is purchased based on sq ft of use and since we don't know if you want a room or whole house done, zero people here can give you advice worth a damn. Austin Air is the hive mind BIFL unit and is a PM 2.5 AKA HEPA unit. A HEPA unit is a HEPA unit, but Austin's killer warranty and filter period puts it in the top spot.

1. Step zero or purchasing this product is finding/posting the sq ft of the area served. You have not done so, so you are not ready to buy. 2. View 5 air purifier buyer's guides to gain knowledge. https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/air-purifiers/buying-guide/ is one and google will find you others. 3. Your root cause is likely NOT dust as that is your assumption. You are best served by visiting a doctor and discussing allergies. 4. You do have a price range as a PM1 unit costs more than your car. 5. Silence is not a factor in any unit that conditions the air as you will either accept it or return it. You cannot ask about this metric online ever as that comes from dB and Hz. Makers may list dB using an unknown distance and unknown dB meter which means literally zero and they never list Hz which is a critical annoyance factor that varies to you...my unit may be whisper quiet to me as I was raised in a sawmill and when you buy it based on my recommendation it sounds like an annoying screech. 6. LEDs are not a metric as zero people know how many/what brightness will annoy you and they can all be solved with pieces of electrical tape. Austin Air is a BIFL brand when you factor in sizing, the 5 year warranty and 5 year filter replacement cycle. Which flavor of them is right for you....dunno as you didn't state the sq ft served.

I have had my Austin, IQAir, Honeywell and Whirlpool machines for as much as \~20 years and have had no problems with filter replacements.