Core 600S-P

Search high CADR purifiers. My recommendation is if you are ok spending the money on an iqair unit, to look at other options since you have multiple rooms. What I see right now is the levoit EverestAir on clearance for $299 from Bestbuy. It is an excellent choice with a high 350 CFM CADR. (I just got 2 more at this price) a “comparable” unit is the levoit core 600s-p(sale price 299 410cfm CADR) if the Everest is not on clearance. I would buy the core at the sale price. Owning both the Everest is better in my opinion. As others have stated multiple units will provide more benefit than one large unit. However again if you are spending that money and like iqair please consider the Atem-X as it has a very high CADR. Another option is the SmartAir blast MKII. This is a beast of a unit that targets commercial applications but is generally at the same price point as the larger IQAir units but proving a much higher CADR. I have one sitting in my 600sqft Great room.

I just ordered 2 of the Levoit 600S-P.

I personally hate round purifiers since they typically have built in pre filters that you cannot vacuum. That’s why I really prefer Coway (except the 350 and 450 same reason no separate pre filters) as without a separate pre filter you can clean you’ll be changing your filters twice as often. The levoit 600 is otherwise a great purifier. Levoit does have a pre filter but it’s harder to clean imo. The 1512 is a screen you pop off and take a vacuum too with really easy access

With the 1512 for example the HEPA filter is what catches that, not the odor filter or the pre filter. You can vacuum the pre filter with no worries, only things that will be on that is hair lint and dust :)

Air purifiers work remarkably well.  We have a cat and dog and I sometimes suffer a bit with cat hair giving me a persistent sickly cough. I bought a small Levoit air purifier for the bedroom and was amazed at how much better I slept at night. I ended up buying a larger whole house air purifier, (same brand). On a normal setting they run silently and barely use any energy. Not sure about other brands but the Levoit purifiers have reusable filters which you just take out and vacuum clean every week or so.  I'd buy one if the single room air purifiers and see if it makes a difference. As far as visiting other people's homes, there's not much you can do about it.

True HEPA is not necessary for good performance. You can look into how a CR Box works and it just uses regular furnace filters. Levoit purifiers perform well in independent testing. They shouldn’t have been advertising HEPA filters when they weren’t technically HEPA, but they are still high quality filters. The biggest mistake people make is not buying one large enough for their space, which is why people complain they “don’t work”. You bought a big purifier for a big space, so it’s appropriately sized and is working to clean your air. I’d run it on a higher setting overnight though. At least level 2 if noise is a consideration. A good rule of thumb is just to pick the highest level you can deal with noise-wise and leave it there.

There’s no need to get a new purifier just to have a HEPA filter. I would stick with the Levoit.

Levoit is quieter. People get a little hung up on the no HEPA thing and I get it, but these filters still preform really well like you said. You are probably looking at a filter change every 4 months to keep the allergens down. So just take a look at the replacement costs for three filter changes a year. I think both of those units probably have cheaper aftermarket filters available. There’s no reason to avoid Levoit unless you hate the look or really want a HEPA filter. I will say that while the purifiers will help, they’re not going to solve being allergic to a cat and owning one. You also need a good bagged HEPA vacuum and probably some ongoing antihistamines. Anything the cat sits on needs to be dusted/vacuumed super regularly. Good luck. I love cats, but am very allergic too. Hope you can find some solutions that work for you.

Please see the stickied thread in this sub about dust. Purifiers are not designed to get rid of dust. Shark sucks. Don’t under any circumstances buy one. BlueAir is fine, but overpriced and the filters are expensive. Levoit is a good, cost effective brand. It is on par with Coway and Winix. You cannot go wrong with a unit from any of those manufacturers.

Levoit 6000s is what finally helped maintain good humidity over, also , one tank lasts entire day on full setting. Thus, just saying, levoit is pretty cool for me so far (and I tried few others)

The regular/Core 600S (not plasma pro) is a beast, and you can run it on low in a bedroom and still get a good CADR. Highly recommend for the price point (~$250)

The Levoit 600S series is quite powerful for the price and is a good choice. If you want quiet, you want to oversize - get a unit for medium to large spaces and run it on low when sleeping and high when not in the room. If you can stretch your budget a little or hunt for a sale, the Coway 240/250/250s or Levoit EverestAir (US only model) are great options.