Bionaire Permatech Tower Air Purifier Reviews

How These Bionaire Tower Air Purifiers Work.

Bionaire Permatech is a series of tower air purifiers equipped with a permanent HEPA-type filter, so that unlike the other brands where you need to change the filters every 6 months, it does not require replacement of the filters. However, to maintain the efficiency of the machine, you need to vacuum clean the permanent filter 4 times a year.

It is important also to note here, that although Bionaire Permatech uses a HEPA-type filter, the filter is NOT a true HEPA. This means, it has a much lower effectiveness than a HEPA filter.

A true HEPA has a theoretical value of 99.97% efficiency of getting rid of air particles sized 0.3 micron or more. A HEPA-type filter, in the other hand, is only good for trapping air particles sized around 2 micron or more. This means, that an air purifier with a HEPA-type filter will miss out particles sized 0.3-2 micron greatly.

Incidently, air particles of that size range (0.3-2 micron) is very important to be captured, since they are among the lung-penetrating particles. They are too small to be sneezed out of the nose, but too big to be coughed up from the lung.

Fortunately, this machine employs other air purification mechanism which can help a bit in capturing small particles. Thus, apart from employing mechanical filtration through the use of a filter, this machine also uses electronic means to clean the air, namely ionization.

An ionizer uses negative ions to charge suspended air particles. When charged, these particles will fall down or attach themselves to wall. Those fallen or sticking particles can then be sucked up by the machine and retained more easily by the filter. Therefore, the presence of ionizer in these Bionaire tower air purifiers helps clean up the air.

Types of Bionaire Permatech tower air purifier.

There are 3 types of Bionaire tower air purifier currently on market today:

• Bionaire BAP1412 mini tower air purifier (replacing the Bionaire BAP1400) with permanent HEPA-type filter and optional ionizer. It's suitable for room 81 sq.feet and it cost around $ 50. It's very ideal for cubicle.
  
  
• Bionaire BAP1700 tower air purifier. It comes with HEPA-type filter, ionizer (optional), timer, air quality sensor and filter sensor. It's suitable for room 170 sq. feet and cost $159.
  
  
• Bionaire BAP1525 tower air purifier (replacing BAP1500). This tower air purifier has HEPA-type filter, optional ionizer, and filter sensor. It's suitable for room 170 sq. feet and it cost $139.

The Positive Features of The Bionaire HEPA-type Air Cleaner

• The permanent HEPA filters mean that you have less expenses since you do not need to buy filters every 6 months.
• The Bionaire Permatech are very versatile, easy to blend into a room, and very stylish. Also, because they are tower air purifiers, you get slim designs that are both compact, modern, and sophisticated.
• Some models come with bells and whistles: a built in timer, air quality sensor and convenient auto reminder to let you know when you need to clean your filter.
• It comes with a good 5 year warranty.
• At less than 16 lb, the air purifier is lightweight and easy to move around.

The Drawbacks of The Bionaire HEPA-like Air Cleaner

• You need to clean your HEPA filters every 3 months, or even sooner if you live in a highly polluted area. This can be inconvenient and something that may be hard to schedule if you are a busy person. Additionally, the HEPA-type filter is a delicate part of the Bionaire HEPA air cleaners, and so you need to be extra cautious about cleaning it. If it breaks, you will need to buy a replacement HEPA filter which retails for about $63.95. The problem though can be availability of this filter.
  
  
• Air purifiers with ionizers tend to produce static charge which can cause the unit to become grounded, and if you touch it, you could get jolted by an electric charge.
  
  
• Some Bionaire Permatech air cleaners cannot operate in certain temperatures such as too hot or too cold weather.
  
  
• After sales service is at best inconsistent, and this means that you take your chances that your concerns, if any, will be given the proper attention by the company.
  
  
• The access doors to the filters tend to break down, and have been known to break down even during the 5 year warranty period. Getting a replacement may not always go as smoothly as you would want it to be, but Bionaire has honored their 5 year commitment, albeit it may take some patience to get a replacement unit.
  
  
• The Bionaire Permatech is currently being challenged by studies that show that it can only clean the air by 65%, and not 99% as advertised. The reason for this is the inability to process particles smaller than 2 microns since it uses HEPA-type filter as opposed to true HEPA filter (NOTE:if you want to get an air purifier with true HEPA filter from Bionaire, try Bionaire Galileo instead.) This means that lung-penetrating particles which most often causes allergy and respiratory problems (sized 0.3-2 micron) are missed by Bionaire tower air purifiers.
  
  
• There have been quite a bit of complaints regarding the noise of the Bionaire tower. But generally, the low setting is bearable since it sounds more like fan. The medium and high setting are not suitable if you want a quiet room.
  
  
• As with all air purifiers with ionizers, there is a distinct smell of ozone that is released into the air when the ionizer is being used. But this feature can be turned off. However, because this air purifier releases ozone (albeit within the safety limit as prescribed by EPA), it's not suitable for people with lung problems.
  
  
• Some customers complain about the oscillating sound of the ionizer. These customers are mostly annoyed because the clicking sound of the ionizer when it oscillates.
  
  
• There has been some complaints about the durability of Bionaire air purifier products across the board. If you decided to buy these air purifiers (and they are cheap, by the way), recognize that they might not be durable and therefore, it's very important to not misplace the guarantee slip . You *will* need it.

What Kind of Particles Are Trapped With The Bionaire Tower Air Purifiers and Who Needs This Air Purifier The Most?

Since the Bionaire Permatech use HEPA-like filters and ionizer to capture air particles, its efficiency is not high. However, these air purifiers are good for all around cleaning and are priced right, especially with the fact that these air purifiers employ permanent filters. Some customers have also reported a relief of their allergy symptoms and as long as you're allergic to bigger particles like pollen or some types of molds your symptoms will be alleviated when using these air purifiers.

These air purifiers release ozone, so they are not suitable for people with respiratory problems. Also, these air purifiers lack ability to get rid of smaller particles (smaller than 2 micron), so don't expect it for getting rid of odor, smoke, fumes, and smaller allergen such as suspended dust, some types of molds as well as bacteria and viruses.

As such the Bionaire Permatech is best for people who just want cleaner air or allergic to pollen, and are not suffering from any respiratory problems.

Other Bionaire air cleaner: Bionaire Galileo HEPA Air Purifier

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