IQAir - HealthPro Compact XE

IQAIR is the answer, what I love is that I can take the whole thing apart and wipe every surface clean between filter changes. I think that helps a lot with keeping it clean.

IQAir. Have had the same one for 6 years now

These are the 3 air filters I personally have. Most air filters only get down to 0.3 microns; these get down to 0.003 microns, which captures mold - which is my main concern - as well as viruses, bacteria, etc.  AirDoctor IQAir AirOasis I also have a Levoit that I like but doesn't capture as small of stuff as the ones above.

I’ve had air purifiers around my reptiles for a few years and I’ve had no problems. Air purifiers just clean things from the air and make it cleaner so I don’t think there’s much risk for reptiles? I’d wait for other replies to see what other people have found. The ones I use are Honeywell and the HealthPro, given I use them for health reasons and not for my pets. But I’ve never had any problems

I run a small dog boarding business out of my home and the dust and dander that the extra dogs added was mind boggling. I tried a couple of smaller air purifiers first (I think they were Honeywell brand) and although they certainly picked up a lot of dust in the filters it just wasn't making a big impact on the overall dust in the house. So then I got a couple of bigger more robust Idylis air purifiers from Lowe's and those actually did work well enough that I noticed a reduction in the dust in the house. One of them quit working within a year however the other one is still going strong almost 8 years later. But then I got lucky and a friend offered me his IQAir Health Pro purifier when he no longer needed it and that one has made the most amazing difference in the entire house (my house is small though at 1100 square ft ). It filters out dust, dander and odors amazingly well. The filters are pretty pricey though. It is a 3 filter system and if you buy all 3 together they are about $200. But I do run the air purifier all day every day and a full set of filters last about 1.5 - 2 years for me. I highly recommend the brand.

If cost isn’t an issue, look at IQ Air Health Pro. Works great! EDIT : I just noticed the budget constraint. This costs around 1000 dollars.

I've had an IQAir Health Pro running non-stop for about 15 years now, and the only maintenance performed were regular filter changes. It's big and the filters can get expensive, so every couple years I'll sniff around for alternatives, but I haven't found anything better thus far.

I can clearly tell when my IQAIRs are running, I sleep so much better. You might already have good air quality Fixing your furnace filter and central filtration will make a bigger difference than buying an air purifier

I keep my IQAir on medium 24/7 and kick it up to the highest setting after housework or during weather advisories (smoke, wind, high particulate, etc). When I lived in the house I was exposed to toxic mold—after I found out about it, of course—I had several (different brand) purifiers on the highest setting 24/7, and though they looked like hell after switching out the filters about once a month, did an extremely good job with professional AQI tests in the interim before the landlord let me out of the lease.

No idea about Merv 16 since I just buy what they have so I don’t have to think about anything, lol, but I use and travel with their car filter—bringing it into hotel rooms and letting it filter in different areas before going inside. Not sure how well it filters all the air in the room, but it’s a relatively small space, so I’m willing to take the chance since otherwise there would be no filtration. I am thinking about buying one of their large round models for the same reason since it would be easier to store at the side of the car instead of a bulky IQAir and would know the filtration would be on point. We actually have two IQAirs: one upstairs and one downstairs. The lower level is far larger than the second level, but they both seem to do a good job, especially on the highest setting (it does an incredible job filtering after-dinner “food smells” from the kitchen, too!).

I run 3 filters, Austin and IQAIR, in each of 2 spaces - one 300 square feet the other 600 square feet. If the air is poor outside my Purple Air sensors will still show green. However there are so many chemicals in wildfire smoke, particularly if structures have burned, that they don't get everything. I am sensitive to terpenes and right now they don't help with the Camphor tree flowers. So they can greatly improve air quality but don't expect all VOCs to be removed from the air.

For best VOC removal, such as mycotoxins, you need a lot of absorbent media. Checkout Airpura, Allerair, Austin, IQAir. All are in the $1k range. I'm unsure whether any filter will eliminate mold sensitivities. Did see an improvement when upgraded my Austins with Immunity Machine filters but molds still aren't totally controlled. There are clinics which can treat mycotoxin sensitivities. Can be quite expensive.

Running both IQAir and Austin Immunity Machines in my major rooms particulates run from 0 to under 10.

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