Honeywell AirGenius5 Air Cleaner Review

This is my first air cleaner and quite frankly, I wasn’t too sure how I was going to check it out.  However, thanks to Mother Nature and the mother of all pollen seasons, the AirGenius5 from Kaz USA was working overtime, and it did just fine.  If you think this is an endorsement of the product, you might be surprised.  Read on……What I needed at my home was a device that would help with pollen accumulation that was causing runny noses.  I suppose we could have air-conditioned the whole house, but that was a little beyond my budget.  An air cleaner seemed to be the best option, so reviewing the AirGenius5 seemed like a good idea.

Specs:

• Features: Odor Filter, Easy Filter Change, Reusable Filter, Automatic Shut-Off Timer, 1-Touch Operation
• Room Size: 100-300 sq. ft.
• Allergens Captured: Mold Spores, Pet Dander, Tobacco Smoke, Pollen, Household Dust
• Filter Type: True HEPA
• Number of Settings: 5
• Wattage Required: 40 Watts
• Certifications: AHAM Certified, CADR Certified Rating
• Includes: Filter

The top of the unit has touch controls for the functions.  These were hit or miss for activation.  The 5 “purification” levels simply run the fan at incrementally increasing speeds, pushing air through the permanent filter.  The air coming out of the cleaner is passed through an ionized field.  Touching the oscillate button rotates the air cleaner about 15 degrees side to side on the base.

The heart of the device is a permanent washable HEPA filter.  This is augmented by a foam insert in the back cover which can be replaced with a charcoal impregnated pre-filter.  The pre-filter is claimed to remove odors, but I didn’t notice any difference between the two.  Then again, my house doesn’t stink 🙂

The above shot shows the unit with full ambient lighting.  I suppose there are individuals that need their air cleaner to have adjustable lighting.  It doesn’t add anything to make the device work any better, cheaper or faster.

Because of communication issues with the supplier of the device, I had two months of use before I could write a review.  We really put it to the test.  This year in New Hampshire, we have suffered one of the most intense tree pollen seasons ever.  This is the yellow stuff that comes from pine trees.  It leaves layers on the cars, driveways and any horizontal surface in the house.  It was in full swing about a week before the AirGenius5 arrived.

Before we fired up the air cleaner, we did a fairly deep cleaning of the house, especially the surfaces that attracted the pollen.  Normally it was only a day or two before the dust was noticeable.  After running the AirGenius5 for over a week, we noticed there was hardly any visible dust/pollen on the horizontal surfaces.  What was more surprising is that the unit is only rated to work for a room size of 100-300 sq ft and we were using it in an area of  over 500 sq ft.  We did take the advice given in the manual to run it 24/7, which begs the question: why is there a timer?

The unit runs quietly, even at the highest setting, which is what we leave it at.  Although the filter indicator on the panel was only 3/5 lit, we decided to clean the permanent filter.  This was accomplished by running it under the faucet until the water came out clear and then letting it completely dry in the sun.  The odor filter can’t be cleaned.  It has to be replaced.

Our in-house critic, my wife, gives the AirGenius5 a thumbs up, but I have a couple of reservations about this device.  Firstly, although it is called the Honeywell AirGenius5, the only thing Honeywell provided this product was their name.  It’s imported by Kaz USA and the name is licensed.  I realize this is a common practice, but I think it would be less deceptive if the device was named the Great Wall Genius, or something of the like.  Secondly, today this is a single source product.  It’s only available from Target.  This makes it hard to price shop and you might end up with an orphan product if Target gets tired of selling it.

Update 01/08/15

Power supply stopped working after about 6 months.  I trashed it.