The IQAir HealthPro Plus is one of the best, if not the very best, home air purifier on the market. That’s a bold claim, but one fully justified by the outstanding design, performance, and real-world user reviews of this remarkable machine.
Construction
The IQAir HealthPro Plus is a moderately large unit at 16″ wide x 15″ deep x 30″ high (with wheels attached) and weighs 35 lbs (with filters included). The caster wheels on the bottom make it no major effort to move from place to place, though.
The small downside is the rectangular case, which means corners are your best bet. However, that design helps it push a lot of air: up to 240 cubic feet per minute.
The HealthPro Plus is rated to cover a 900 square foot room (that’s about 30 feet x 30 feet) and it lives up to that rating in real-world tests. It does that in part by pulling air from around the bottom through an arched base and pushing it out the exhaust vent at the top.
Input and output vents are well separated to prevent the unit simply recycling too much of its own output. Dusty air goes in at the bottom and pure air is expelled out the top along all four sides.
The fan housed inside the case can push up to 700 cubic feet per minute. Filters reduce the actual output to the 240 cfm stated above. It’s also cleverly placed between the filter cartridges, making its operation quieter. The proprietary 3D UltraSeal system ensures no internal leakage.
But pushing all that air efficiently would be worse than useless unless it were well cleansed. That effort is performed – and performed superlatively – by the HealthPro’s unique filter system.
Unique Filter System – 4 Advanced Filtration Technologies
Stage 1. The pre-filter catches the largest particles – such as ordinary dust and some pollen carriers. The mini-pleat design offers a large surface area to carry out that task well and for a long time before needing replacement.
IQAir’s PreMax pre-filters remove 90% of particle mass, compared to the 20% of many others. This first stage also helps lengthen the life and increase the efficiency of the next stages.
Stage 2 + 3. One of the most important steps is then done by IQAir’s patented V5 filtration unit. This wide-spectrum gas and odor filter unit soaks up odors and many common household gases – paint fumes, ammonia, and more.
This filter unit combines two types of media – tiny carbon pellets and an aluminum substrate that is infused with potassium permanganate, a disinfectant. That means it not only scrubs odors but kills microorganisms, too.
In fact, this filter is so efficient that some buyers mistakenly believe the unit performs poorly. Behind that paradox lies an interesting tale.
When a filter like this one picks up odors, it eventually becomes saturated. Then, those odors get pushed back into the air by the force of the machine’s ample air-pushing ability. If stored for a long time in an environment where those fumes are present, the filter can become half-filled before you buy.
That leads in some cases to buyers believing the unit produces a foul smell. It doesn’t. It’s simply been so efficient before being turned on that the filter needs replacement. Regrettably, unlike some units, the HealthPro’s filters are not wrapped in plastic before being packaged inside the housing. The solution, if the problem occurs at all, is simple. Get a spare carbon filter and have one on hand.
The bottom line is that the V5 filter not only works, it works so supremely well that the odors are in the unit, not your room, long before you know you have a problem.
Stage 4. The HEPA filter installed is, in one sense, “standard equipment” these days. But that standard is so high today that people naturally take it for granted. The HealthPro’s version goes beyond the norm, though.
This HyperHEPA filter, as the Swiss company calls it, is tested and certified to filter particles down to 0.003 microns. That’s 10 times smaller than a small virus. This particular HEPA filter has been through European Norm EN 1822 testing and passed with flying colors. And, believe me, Europeans are very attuned to air quality and health issues.
Those filters’ actions combine to ensure your room gets cleared of dust and dust mites, pollen, animal dander, mold spores, and a whole range of other allergy-inducing compounds. You also won’t suffer the ill effects of common household gases nor the irritation of cat litter smells, cooking odors, and more.
Filter Replacement
Another fine feature of the IQAir HealthPro Plus is that each of these filters is entirely separate, though they work together inside the purifier. You replace them one at a time, as needed. Other units, while good in many respects, have integrated filters that force you to buy the whole thing when only one aspect is saturated.
Also great, you have to replace them very seldom even in the most frequent case. The average lifetime/replacement ratings are:
- PreMax Filter: 6-18 months
- V5-Cell Filter: 1-2 years
- HyperHEPA Filter: 2-4 years
Filter Life LEDs indicate the state of the individual filters in the system and thanks to a built-in Filter Life Monitor you know at any given time how much time is left before you need to do a filter replacement. So, you need never keep track of when you bought the unit or last replaced a filter.
IQAir HealthPro vs IQAir HealthPro Plus
IQAir also sells a standard HealthPro unit. The biggest difference between the 2 models is that the HealthPro features the same advanced filter technologies as the HealthPro Plus, however without the V5-Cell filter unit.
Thanks to a spare compartment the HealthPro model can be upgraded to include this filter stage. After upgrading, the HealthPro will filter gaseous pollutants and odors, in addition to allergens, dust and other airborne particles just as its HealthPro Plus cousin.
What’s In the Box?
- Air Purifier
- HyperHEPA filter module
- V5-Cell filter module
- PreMax filter module
- Set of casters
- Remote control + batteries
- User Manual
- Quick Start Guide
- Certificate of Performance
Does it include a Warranty?
The IQAir HealthPro Plus is backed by a 5-year warranty against defects in parts and labor. Filters are consumables and exempt from this warranty.
What Are Others Saying?
You can rest assured that all the good comments (including mine) about the IQAir HealthPro Plus are not hype. Each unit is tested by the manufacturer and certified as it comes off the assembly line.
The HealthPro Plus has received numerous awards showing that those manufacturing efforts have been successful. The HealthPro has won:
- Allergy Buyer’s Club: Category Winner
- Wired Magazine Test: Best Air Purifier
- Reviewboard Magazine: Product of the Year
- Consumer Digest – Best Buy
Conclusion
The IQAir HealthPro Plus has a well-deserved reputation as “the king of the home air purifiers”. Far from being an exaggeration, this model has proven itself in real-world applications. It carries a hefty price tag, but if you want one of the best air cleaners on the market, you can’t go wrong with this model. You definitely get what you pay for: clean air and plenty of it.