According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend an average of 91% of their time indoors. In many cases, we’re spending that time breathing air that is not healthy for us. Home air purifiers can treat your air so that it is healthier for you.
Table of Contents
Why we need air purifiers in our homes
The quality of the air we breathe can have negative effects on our health due to allergens and toxins that we don’t realize are present. The list of potential contaminants in the air inside our homes is much longer than many people suspect. Those can include hidden mold, pet hair and/or dander, secondhand smoke, and dust mites. VOCs (volatile organic compounds) can be present from products such as certain building materials, pesticides, and even some air freshener sprays.
A few years ago my wife and I moved from the city to a rural area approximately fifty miles away. We loved our new surroundings and still do. But one thing we hadn’t anticipated was the increase in dust and allergens that can be present in rural areas.
We live next door to a hay field and across the road from another one. Less than a quarter of a mile down the road is a cow pasture. Behind our property is farmland that can have a variety of crops throughout the year.
We absolutely enjoy the atmosphere and our surroundings. But during harvest time there are a lot more dust and allergens in the air. We also hadn’t thought about the additional pollen that would be present simply because there is a much greater variety of plant life around us.
It didn’t take us long to see that we needed some way to filter the air in our home. We looked into having whole-house filtering added to our heating and air conditioning system. We decided that, because of the way our home is laid out and how we use the space, it might be more economical and practical to look into room or area filtering systems.
Our home is arranged in such as way that one end is what we consider our living space. The other end is our home office and workspace. The two areas are separated by the kitchen, pantry, and laundry room.
Our experience with the Hathaspace HEPA air purifier – HSP-001
After a considerable amount of time researching our options, we decided to give the Hathaspace HSP001 Smart True HEPA Air Purifier a try. They are rated to cover a 700 square foot area, so we ordered two of them from Amazon. We placed one in the living area and the other in our work area.
The Hathaspace HSP 001 is big enough to do the job and small enough to move around easily. It weighs just twelve pounds and measures twenty inches tall and thirteen inches left to right. It is about seven inches deep and has a handy grip area built into the top rear to carry it.
They are quieter than we expected. Note that the noise level occasionally rises when the purifier detects something in the air that it needs to tend to and speeds up. Even that level is quite acceptable. Now that we’ve gotten used to it, we hardly notice when that happens. The rated noise level is 21dB(low) – 43db (high)
The unit comes with a small remote control. There are several lights and signals that come on the panel according to the commands you send via the remote. When the unit senses an odor that it needs to remove, you may see more lights come on, indicating what the filter is doing. There is a timer function which we’ve never used. The unit comes with an easy-to-read user manual that fully details what the lights mean and how to use the remote to control the unit.
The Hathaspace HEPA air purifier requires minimal maintenance.
There is minimal maintenance required. Hathaspace recommends that users change the internal filters every four months. In between, if you catch a good sunny day, take the carbon filter outside and let the sun refresh it once in a while.
The filters inside the Hathaspace HSP001 are manufactured in such a way that there are actually just two units that you have to replace.
The first filter unit contains:
- Cold Catalyst Filter – Removes larger particles like dust and pet dander, as well as toxic household chemicals like formaldehyde, ammonia, and benzene.
- Cellular Activated Carbon Filter – Absorbs and removes smoke, odors, gases, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in household products.
The second filter unit contains:
- Antibacterial Filter – Takes care of germs and bacteria.
- HEPA Filter – The manufacturer says it removes 99.97% of airborne pollutants down to 0.3 microns. This includes dust mites, pollen, allergens, mold spores, viruses, and bacteria.
The HSP001 Smart True HEPA Air Purifier has a built-in ionizer in addition to a four-stage filtering system. The ionizer helps neutralize odors by releasing negative ions that attach to positively charged air pollutant particles.
Be sure to remove the plastic wrap that ships around the filters before using the unit.
NOTE: Being a guy, I know how tempting it can be to open a new product and attempt to use it right away without reading the instructions. You should read the instructions that come with the filter. Even if you don’t, before using the unit, be sure you open the front of the filter and remove the plastic wrap that ships on the filters. I’ve read reviews that indicated the new owner ran their units for a while and weren’t pleased with the results until they discovered they hadn’t opened the unit to remove the plastic from the filters before they plugged it in.
The filters can’t do their job if air can’t pass through them. To remove the front, just tug gently on the lower part of each side until the magnetic catches release, then lift up. You’ll see the filters there. Watch for four small tabs—two on each side—that turn down to hold the filters in place. Turn them up to remove the filters. Take note of the order the filters are in. Be sure to replace them in the correct order. There are labels on the filters to tell you which goes in first.
The Hathaspace HSP001 air purifier is warranted for two years.
I’ve written my personal opinion of the air filter after having used it for nineteen months. Hundreds of other users have also given the Hathaspace HSP001 high praise, saying they are sensitive to new odors, help with cat allergies, and much more.
The Hathaspace HSP002 Smart True HEPA Air Purifier 2.0
Hathaspace also manufactures the HSP002 Smart True HEPA Air Purifier 2.0. I have not personally used this model, but I include it here for your information.
According to the manufacturer, it is capable of filtering the air for a 1500-square-foot space and carries a five-year warranty, three years longer than the HSP001’s two-year warranty.
The following are features the HSP002 has over the HSP001.
- Energy Star certified.
- A pre-filter to catch hair, lint, etc..
- A medical grade HEPA filter that filters down to .1 microns. The HSP001 filters down to .3 microns. The manufacturer makes it clear on their website that the HEPA filter meets medical specs, but the HSP002 is not medical equipment.
- An air quality sensor with indicators ranging from green to red so you can look at a glance to see the condition of the air in your home.
Weighing 25 pounds, the Hathaspace HSP002 is considerably heavier than the HSP001. It is also larger at 27 inches tall, 16.5 inches wide, and nine inches front to back. It is available on Amazon.com.
The Hathaspace HSP002 Smart True HEPA Air Purifier 2.0 uses a 1-piece filter that contains 4-stages including the medical grade HEPA filter, plus the prefilter for catching pet hair, etc..
With the HSP002’s noise level ratings at 30db(low) – 60db (high), it is slightly louder than the HSP001 which is rated at 21db (low) – 43db (high). One user compared the highest noise level to a ceiling fan running on high.
Published buyer reviews for the HSP002 are similar to those for the HSP001. Lots of happy Hathaspace owners.
Replace your Hathaspace air purifier filters regularly
It is important to replace the filters every four months or so. Hathaspace purifier filter replacements are available for the HSP001 and HSP002 at Amazon.com. We ordered our replacement filters from there. Wherever you order your replacements, as long as you order genuine Hathaspace filters, you will get the same results as your did from the originals that came with the filter.
To replace them, just remove the front of the unit, remove the old filters, and replace them with the new filters. The filters are labeled so you know which goes into the unit first. As I stated above, be sure to remove any plastic wrap from the new filters before installing them.
Final notes
As I stated in my review, I have not personally used the HSP002 air purifier, but I have two HSP001 units running in my home around the clock and would have no reservations about buying an HSP002 if we should need an additional unit in the future. My wife and I have been incredibly pleased with them and have found them to be trouble-free. If your experience is like ours, you’ll be glad you bought one for your home or office.
