Vital 200S

Can you return it still? Your square footage is the max a 100s may be able to do while running full blast if you’re dealing with an active smoke situation. You’d be better off with a 200S Vital. Look for something with a CADR number at least equal to your square footage. Also, if you have a central air forced HVAC, you can put a MERV 13 filter temporarily into the return and run it on fan mode only for additional filtration.

I think this gets overstated. The Core series pre-filter just comes with the filter. It’s not much harder to vacuum those than the separate ones in the flat panel units. I say this an owner of Cores, Vitals and an EverestAir.

I have the Vital 200s and I like it. I have an older Core model that isn’t nearly as powerful

I have the Levoit 200s’s and I like them. They’re powerful, app works good and you can get decent discounts on the filters on the app.

We’ve got a Vital 200S and three Vital 100s along with some 300S and 600S humidifiers. They all work great with the VeSync cloud integration. I’ve been meaning to check if anybody has found a way to convert these and just kept forgetting to look so thank you for posting this! I like the idea of adding a second ESP32, especially if the new ones with 5Ghz WiFi get ESPHome support. We live in a dense urban area and 2.4Ghz can be problematic.

Hey I just wrote this out for someone who was real unhappy with their Dyson purchase. Thought it may be helpful for you also: Reddit forums quickly advise against super cheap China brands as well as overhyped and gimmicky machines such as Dyson, Shark, etc. Pretty quickly people start recommending brands like Levoit, Winix, a few others, and if money permits, Coway. Most of these units are very simple in design. Motor and fan, intake and outtake, mechanical filtration, and some buttons to operate. Many now also have wifi, apps, and so on. Like with anything, the more bells and whistles, the more things there are that can break or fail. It is also really easy to get caught up in the marketing and gimmicks with these things. Almost everything I read essentially said that AUTO modes are mostly useless, and things like ionizers, such as on Winix units, are best avoided. Many people feel they do not offer much benefit compared to the risk of introducing ozone and similar byproducts into the environment. That said, these features can often be turned off or unplugged. With all my reading, it became very clear that the most important factor when buying a purifier is sizing it correctly. I suggest spending some time with ChatGPT going over the calculations. Without diving too deep, this is what I aimed for. Four ACH minimum. This means the unit can turn over the air in the room four times per hour. Using the room dimensions and your target ACH, you calculate the minimum required CADR in CFM. For example, if my room needs a CADR of 150 CFM, then the unit I buy should have that as an absolute minimum. Good engineering practice says you should never size something right at its maximum rating. You do not want to be blasting the unit at 100 percent just to achieve your required filtration rate. That means you should really be buying something closer to 200 to 250 plus CADR CFM for that same example. This allows the unit to run at lower speed while still hitting the target, which is quieter, uses less energy, and preserves motor life. Obviously massively oversizing it has little benefit and mostly just wastes money. A very important consideration here is that manufacturers are quite dishonest in how they report performance. Brands often advertise coverage in square feet. So a unit might say up to 1000 square feet, but that usually assumes only one ACH, meaning the air is turned over once per hour. Our target is four. So in reality, that unit would only be appropriate for about 250 square feet. Even a top tier brand like Coway advertises square footage based on only two ACH. So again, the most crucial part is doing your due diligence, figuring out your required CADR in CFM, and buying a unit sized appropriately. I will briefly touch on filters. The vast majority of air purifiers use HEPA filters. When I really went down the rabbit hole, I realized there is a lot of marketing behind this, and it has become one of those buzzwords that caught on. People have been heavily conditioned to think that if a unit does not have HEPA, it is complete garbage. That said, almost all units do use some form of HEPA anyway, so it is not really an issue. The reality is there are different filter ratings from MERV 1 to 20, and then a separate classification for HEPA. From what I understand, MERV 17 to 20 is closest to HEPA, although I am still a bit fuzzy on the exact overlap. The main takeaway is that the vast majority of particles relevant for residential and commercial spaces are captured by MERV 13 to 14. This includes allergens, dust, mites, and so on. I encourage you to look into that as well. The key point is that HEPA is not a scam per se, but it is often misunderstood. HEPA is critical for single pass filtration systems. Things like face masks, semiconductor manufacturing, high end labs, and vacuum cleaners, where you absolutely do not want particles passing through even once. For almost all real world air purifier use, what matters most is that the filter is adequate, the motor is properly sized, and the air turnover happens multiple times per hour. In most cases, this will give better results and cleaner air than an undersized HEPA unit struggling to keep up. This is because contaminant levels decay over time based on how quickly clean air is introduced into the space. Multiple air changes per hour create an exponential reduction in particles, meaning even a slightly less aggressive filter that is moving enough air will reduce overall exposure much faster than a perfect filter that simply cannot move enough volume. ⸻ What I ended up doing. I was heavily leaning toward Coway models, but went down a rabbit hole around the controversy with their green HEPA filters. There is a lot of back and forth about the patent and the chemicals used to prevent mold, which are classified as pesticides. Some people complain about smells. I read plenty of opinions defending both sides, saying it is either a real issue or completely overblown. In the end, I decided against it. It just did not sit right with me. I went back and forth on the forums between Levoit and Winix for my two bedrooms. I ended up buying a Levoit S100 and S200 for each room based on size. Because of what I learned about how filtration actually works, the HEPA controversy around Levoit did not bother me at all. To me it is a non issue. If I am not mistaken, it does not even apply to the S100 and S200 models anyway. Those units also have a three part filter with a washable mesh, HEPA, and carbon, which is great. It has only been less than a week, so I am not the best source for long term experience, but I did enough due diligence that I am already happy with the purchase. No major complaints so far. The units look good and work as expected. For my main living room and kitchen, I have decided to build a slightly more refined version of a Corsi Rosenthal box, which you can see all over YouTube and is often suggested in these forums. These boxes often achieve two to three times the filtration of very large and expensive units for a fraction of the cost. The downside is they take up more space and can look very DIY if not done nicely. If built a bit cleaner, they still cost a few hundred dollars, but performance wise they are hard to beat. I will not dive too deep into that here. Cheers

I did the same two days of research last week and bought two air purifiers myself for the first time. Just a few minutes in, Reddit forums quickly advise against super cheap China brands as well as overhyped and gimmicky machines such as Dyson, Shark, etc. Pretty quickly people start recommending brands like Levoit, Winix, a few others, and if money permits, Coway. Most of these units are very simple in design. Motor and fan, intake and outtake, mechanical filtration, and some buttons to operate. Many now also have wifi, apps, and so on. Like with anything, the more bells and whistles, the more things there are that can break or fail. It is also really easy to get caught up in the marketing and gimmicks with these things. Almost everything I read essentially said that AUTO modes are mostly useless, and things like ionizers, such as on Winix units, are best avoided. Many people feel they do not offer much benefit compared to the risk of introducing ozone and similar byproducts into the environment. That said, these features can often be turned off or unplugged. With all my reading, it became very clear that the most important factor when buying a purifier is sizing it correctly. I suggest spending some time with ChatGPT going over the calculations. Without diving too deep, this is what I aimed for. Four ACH minimum. This means the unit can turn over the air in the room four times per hour. Using the room dimensions and your target ACH, you calculate the minimum required CADR in CFM. For example, if my room needs a CADR of 150 CFM, then the unit I buy should have that as an absolute minimum. Good engineering practice says you should never size something right at its maximum rating. You do not want to be blasting the unit at 100 percent just to achieve your required filtration rate. That means you should really be buying something closer to 200 to 250 plus CADR CFM for that same example. This allows the unit to run at lower speed while still hitting the target, which is quieter, uses less energy, and preserves motor life. Obviously massively oversizing it has little benefit and mostly just wastes money. A very important consideration here is that manufacturers are quite dishonest in how they report performance. Brands often advertise coverage in square feet. So a unit might say up to 1000 square feet, but that usually assumes only one ACH, meaning the air is turned over once per hour. Our target is four. So in reality, that unit would only be appropriate for about 250 square feet. Even a top tier brand like Coway advertises square footage based on only two ACH. So again, the most crucial part is doing your due diligence, figuring out your required CADR in CFM, and buying a unit sized appropriately. I will briefly touch on filters. The vast majority of air purifiers use HEPA filters. When I really went down the rabbit hole, I realized there is a lot of marketing behind this, and it has become one of those buzzwords that caught on. People have been heavily conditioned to think that if a unit does not have HEPA, it is complete garbage. That said, almost all units do use some form of HEPA anyway, so it is not really an issue. The reality is there are different filter ratings from MERV 1 to 20, and then a separate classification for HEPA. From what I understand, MERV 17 to 20 is closest to HEPA, although I am still a bit fuzzy on the exact overlap. The main takeaway is that the vast majority of particles relevant for residential and commercial spaces are captured by MERV 13 to 14. This includes allergens, dust, mites, and so on. I encourage you to look into that as well. The key point is that HEPA is not a scam per se, but it is often misunderstood. HEPA is critical for single pass filtration systems. Things like face masks, semiconductor manufacturing, high end labs, and vacuum cleaners, where you absolutely do not want particles passing through even once. For almost all real world air purifier use, what matters most is that the filter is adequate, the motor is properly sized, and the air turnover happens multiple times per hour. In most cases, this will give better results and cleaner air than an undersized HEPA unit struggling to keep up. This is because contaminant levels decay over time based on how quickly clean air is introduced into the space. Multiple air changes per hour create an exponential reduction in particles, meaning even a slightly less aggressive filter that is moving enough air will reduce overall exposure much faster than a perfect filter that simply cannot move enough volume. ⸻ What I ended up doing. I was heavily leaning toward Coway models, but went down a rabbit hole around the controversy with their green HEPA filters. There is a lot of back and forth about the patent and the chemicals used to prevent mold, which are classified as pesticides. Some people complain about smells. I read plenty of opinions defending both sides, saying it is either a real issue or completely overblown. In the end, I decided against it. It just did not sit right with me. I went back and forth on the forums between Levoit and Winix for my two bedrooms. I ended up buying a Levoit S100 and S200 for each room based on size. Because of what I learned about how filtration actually works, the HEPA controversy around Levoit did not bother me at all. To me it is a non issue. If I am not mistaken, it does not even apply to the S100 and S200 models anyway. Those units also have a three part filter with a washable mesh, HEPA, and carbon, which is great. It has only been less than a week, so I am not the best source for long term experience, but I did enough due diligence that I am already happy with the purchase. No major complaints so far. The units look good and work as expected. For my main living room and kitchen, I have decided to build a slightly more refined version of a Corsi Rosenthal box, which you can see all over YouTube and is often suggested in these forums. These boxes often achieve two to three times the filtration of very large and expensive units for a fraction of the cost. The downside is they take up more space and can look very DIY if not done nicely. If built a bit cleaner, they still cost a few hundred dollars, but performance wise they are hard to beat. I will not dive too deep into that here. ⸻ As for furniture and off gassing, this is a very real concern. I have become much more aware of it over the past few years since having my two young kids. I built furniture for my daughter’s room and it smelled so strong for months. At the time, I did not understand why. Now that I am more educated on it, I honestly kick myself for letting her sleep in there for weeks until the smell finally faded. Do not even get me started on trying to buy a truly non toxic mattress. I went down that rabbit hole for a week and still did not feel confident in any decision. In the end, it is either spending very big money to reduce harmful chemicals as much as possible, and even then there are usually compromises, or allowing days, weeks, or even months for items to off gas in a very well ventilated space. Unfortunately, that is the reality we live in now. Profit and convenience driven consumerism often outweigh human health. As a side note, if you really want to improve indoor air quality, try to eliminate artificial scents as much as possible. My new rule of thumb is that if something smells really good or really strong, it is probably not great for you. Candles, air fresheners, dryer sheets, and similar stuff. Cheers

I love my Levoit 300! I don't run it at max often and it doesn't squeak at all. I loved it so much I got myself the Vital 200S since I have a cat, it runs very smoothly too.

We bought one Levoit 300S and were so happy we bought two more Levoits. One small one and the Vital 200S. Super happy with all of them: [https://levoit.com/collections/air-purifiers?srsltid=AfmBOooDHlU1wtSjCRMHJFi7yoUZvhp\_ocAZnA7-uugEN9IwtE\_8X3nG](https://levoit.com/collections/air-purifiers?srsltid=AfmBOooDHlU1wtSjCRMHJFi7yoUZvhp_ocAZnA7-uugEN9IwtE_8X3nG) The app is pretty sleek and easy to use. Can't recommend it enough.

For me, it's hands down the Levoit Vital 200S. I got it last month (my third Levoit air purifier) and I'm really happy with it. Beyond the sleek app, it has a pet setting. It can run quietly or you can turn on turbo mode. I think you'll be happy with it.

\+1 for the Levoit Vital 200S. I have it and it eliminates a lot of smells and can take care, to some extent, some car hair.

I would recommend the Levoit Viral S200. Works great for me. The app is simple yet elegant.

the Vital 200s actually does a pretty good job if sized right for your space.

Levoit Vital 200s gets great reviews. I read a ton of this stuff and I don't see people reporting those units malfunctioning. Over the years, yes, I've seen reports of issues with a whining noise on some units (the 300 and 400) but that was years ago and Levoit addressed it and also offered replacements. They also have good service. I have a Core 300 that is still going from 2020. A Core 300s. And most recently a Vital 100s and Vital 200s. If sized right, these latter two are what you should look at - not the Core units. Those were good in their day, but the Vital units are superior. As for the Hepa question, yes the Vital units are, on sleep mode, and the "scandal" about all of that was drummed up by a competitor - who makes inferior units.

Levoit 300? Vital 200s? Or? Provide specifics so we can help you. For your space a Levoit Vital 200s would be a good start.

I have the small one and it's great. The filter lasts for like 6 months so it's a tiny expensive yearly.

I was gifted a Levoit Vital 200S and put it in my bedroom, it picks up soooo much hair. It has a washable pre-filter specifically for pet hair. In contrast I got another one from sterra in my living room and it hardly traps any hair.

If you get levoit gotta get the 100S or 200S 200S is better just pricer tho we had wild fire smokes for months in Ontario and I am allergic to dust the 100S served me well, I wish I had gone with 200S but was just to much at the time

No since they don't have hepa filter, the core are just reg dust with active carbon, you need ether 100s or 200s id go with 200s if you can

These units similar to the one I have become saturated really quick. I personally use a levoit 200s and it's awesome, but after the first week the carbon stops doing its job, but I'm okay with that, if I get cooking odors etc I'll usually just open my windows.

I have three levoit 200s units on my upper floor. One in living room, one in kitchen and one in main bedroom. I also have a smaller clone of a core mini or something similar in another bedroom upstairs and the air is fresh for an older home. Definitely recommend the 200s on sale. I also recommend only buying OEM filters. They're much better but if you're in a pinch financially you can grab the cheapies occasionally and they do still work okay.