A couple of years ago, I had been shopping around for a good air purifier and finally decided to buy the Alen BreatheSmart 45i. The 45i cleans 800 square feet of air every 30 minutes (great for a small apartment) and Alen Breathesmart has a number of different True HEPA, antimicrobial filters you can choose from. I chose to go with the Heavy Smoke filter which filters for allergies, smoke, chemicals, mold and bacteria. The 45i comes in at $429-$459 depending on the filter you choose at purchase, and additional filters range between $69 and $119.
The 45i has a smart sensor which is used to tell you the status of the air quality. It uses this sensor for auto-mode which automatically adjusts the fan speed depending on the air quality. This is great for keeping it quiet.
Alen BreatheSmart air purifiers also come with a lifetime guarantee. More on that later.
Why did I make this purchase?
I started shopping around for an air purifier because the apartment I lived in at the time was incredibly dusty. There was an endless amount of dust despite vacuuming every day. I don’t know where it came from (the vents, maybe?). I would wake up feeling tired and have a sore throat every morning which lasted for a few hours. So, it was a purchase I was making for my health. Coincidentally, I bought the air purifier shortly before a large amount of wildfires broke out in Northern California where I live.
My goal with his purchase was to wake up feeling refreshed and without a sore throat. The other goal was to improve the poor air quality inside of my apartment due to the wildfires.
It should be noted that my girlfriend was very skeptical about whether an air purifier would actually help. After doing a lot of research, I purchased the Alen Breathesmart 45i with my fingers crossed, hoping it would work well.
Restful Sleep and Morning Sore Throat
It is easy to say that I immediately noticed a big improvement here. I no longer woke up feeling tired and with a sore throat. I had a lot more energy in the morning and didn’t feel like I was getting sick. I didn’t notice this the first time I went to the Alen BreatheSmart site, but they state that in a peer-reviewed study from SleepScore Labs, the 45i was found to help people fall asleep faster, sleep sounder, and wake feeling more refreshed. I found this to be true.
Wildfire Smoke
My Alen BreatheSmart 45i arrived about 1 week after the wildfires in Northern California started in 2018. When I plugged it in and turned it on for the first time, the smart sensor light was red, indicating that the air quality was very bad. After running for about an hour, the light changed to blue, meaning the air quality was now good. My girlfriend (the skeptic) noticed a huge improvement. She developed a serious cough during the previous week before the 45i arrived. A few days later she stopped coughing. She was now a believer, and put our air purifier in a location that she could sit closer to while working. When I would go into work I would cough throughout the day due to the smoke, but after coming home I would feel better within an hour. I decided to work from home until the smoke cleared up.
The 45i definitely helped keep our air quality better during the wildfires.
The Filters
An important point is that this is not a one time purchase. The filter should be replaced every 10 to 12 months . The filters range between $69 and $119, and the filter that handles smoke in addition to everything else is $119. So that is an additional $119 every year if you want the best filter and replace it every 12 months. It is expensive but justifiable considering this is for the health of you and everyone living with you. I do wish they were less expensive though.
Replacing the filter is also easy. The front panel easily detaches allowing you to to pull out and replace the filter. It takes less than a minute.
Customer Service and Lifetime Guarantee
A couple years after my initial purchase, I noticed the indicator light was always red despite running at full power. Surely the air quality couldn’t be that bad. I looked this up online and found that this was a somewhat common issue with the earlier version of the 45i. So, I called customer service.
They were easy to get ahold of and very kind. I explained the problem with the light indicator, and their solution was to send me a brand new 45i. After the new one arrived, I was instructed to call them back to arrange a pick up of my old one. The new 45i arrived a few days later, and the old one was picked up a few days after that. No hassle. A+ customer service.
Do I recommend it?
Yes, and I have purchased another one for myself since I moved into a bigger place. I have recommended this to a number of friends and family who were researching air purifiers to buy, and they have all been happy making this purchase.
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