In-Depth IQAir Purifier Reviews

Our In-Depth IQAir Purifier Reviews for 2022

IQAir History And Achievements.

IQAir started its humble beginning in 1963, when Manfred and his brother Klaus introduced a simple home filter system in Germany.

In the subsequent years, their home filter systems were perfected and adapted to various applications. However, not until 1998 that they produced their first home air purifier product, IQAir Health Pro in their Swiss headquarter. Because of its effectiveness, this product quickly became a favorite among allergy and asthma sufferers and received recognition from various governmental and health organization.

In 2003, for instance, IQAir was the only air purifier company contracted by Hong Kong Hospital Authority to supply room air cleaners to more than 150 hospitals in the fight against SARS. One year later, IQAir air cleaners received top ratings from Consumers Digest Magazine, Reviewboard Magazine, Allergy Buyers’ Club and Consumer Search. In the same year, IQAir was contracted by ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition to provide the extreme makeover’s families the healthiest home in America.

Following the success of its portable home air purifier series, IQAir introduced the much-needed line of whole-house purification systems in 2005, which also proves to be a success.

You may ask, what makes IQAir purifiers so effective. The answer is: technology and engineering.

Reviews on IQAir Air Cleaner Technology

In all of their home air purifier products, IQAir focuses on filter technology and engineering. This company, unlike a lot of other companies manufacturing home air purifiers, refuses to have shortcuts which can compromise their air purifier performance

Let us take a look at the air filtration technology first.

Every IQ Air purifier has at least two types of filters:

  • Micro-particle prefilter.
    This prefilter is of high quality and can filter particles up to 0.3 micron in size, including pollen, pet dander, dust mites and mold spore. Although IQAir competitors have prefilter in their air purifiers, IQAir prefilters are actually one step ahead since it performs in a similar manner as its competitor’s HEPA filters.
  • HyperHEPA filtration.
    Most air purifier’s HEPA filters only filter particles larger than 0.3 microns in size. But do you know that actually 90% of all ultra fine particles in our atmosphere are smaller than 0.3 microns. This means that most air purifiers are only filtering 10% of the particles in your air. IQAir’s HyperHEPA filters are the first HEPA filters which can filter down to 0.003 microns with a guaranteed minimum efficiency of over 99.5%. This means that bacteria, viruses and certain gases and smoke, which are missed by other HEPA air purifiers, are captured by IQAir purifiers.

So, you see that in terms of filtration technology, IQAir is ahead than most air purifiers in the market today.

How about the engineering aspect ?

IQAir perhaps is the only air purifier in the market which does not have any internal leakage in the housing.

It means that the housing is tight and there is no way the dirty particles bypass its air filter. Discount air purifiers, in contrast, often have a leakage in their housing. Therefore, some of the dirty particles actually bypass the filter instead of passing it. It means that although cheap air purifier manufacturers claim a 99% efficiency on its HEPA filter, in reality, a good percentage of dirty air never passes the HEPA filter, which means that dirty air is circulated back into the house. This does not happen with IQAir.

So why don’t some manufacturers make sure that the housing is tight in the first place ?

The answer is because the quality of their motors are not very good.

You have to understand, that in a tight casing environment, motor gets heated up quickly. Cheap motor is not strong enough to stand this condition, and therefore the housing cannot be made tight.

Secondly, in a tight environment, the fan motor has to work extra hard to pass the air quickly to the filter, especially if the filter is like IQAir’s hyper HEPA filter. Most cheap air purifiers cannot afford not to bypass some air since their fans cannot pass sufficient amount of air quickly in a tight environment.

In short, IQAir air purifiers work beautifully because of the top-notch air filtration technology and engineering they employ in their machine.

IQAir History

Other Features of IQAir Air Cleaner

Apart from the superiority of its technology, all IQAir purifiers have the following general features which propel them miles in front of their competitors:

  • It’s safe.
    None of the IQ Air air cleaners produce undesirable products such as ozone,chemicals or charged particles. Many electronic air purifiers (i.e. air purifiers which use ionization to clean air)sold today in the market today emit such byproducts. In addition, the casing and the paint of IQAir air purifier is made from material which does not outgas. It means that people suffering from chemical sensitivity will not react to its presence.
  • It’s easy to use.
    The IQAir purifier series can be operated using remote control and can be programmed easily for automatic on/off daily.
  • Filter sensor.
    All IQAir purifier series has filter sensor which tells you when the filter needs changing. This is not the cheap sensor which basically works based on clocking or counting time of usage. This is a real sensor which intelligently knows when a filter really needs changing. It’s also easy to change the filter.
  • It’s quiet enough for a bedroom.
    Although not the quietest in the market, IQAir purifier series, at lower setting, are quiet enough for bedroom use. This is as a result of their double-wall casing and rubber pads which absorb the noise of the fan motor.

IQAir Purifier Series

The followings are the IQAir home purifier product series:

  • IQAir Healthpro and IQAir Healthpro Compact.
    It captures anything bigger than 0.003 micron: pet dander, mold spores, dust mites, bacteria, virus, and limited amount of gases. It’s upgradable to the Plus version (below). Suitable for allergy sufferers.
  • IQAir Healthpro Plus
    This is basically IQAir Healthpro with addition of carbon filter which is essential if you need to control heavy smoke and large amount of odor-causing gases. It’s suitable for allergy and asthma sufferer.
  • IQAir Multigas.
    This is the heavy duty home air purifier which enables you to control much more types of particles and is suitable for people with multiple chemical sensitivity issue.

IQAir Healthpro
And IQ Air Healthpro Compact Reviews

If you are an allergy sufferer and have been looking for an air purifier which really works to alleviate your condition, you should give IQAir Healthpro HEPA air purifier consideration

IQAir is a famous manufacturer of home HEPA air purifiera and their products are literally the Cadillac of air purifiers. They do what they’re supposed to do, effective and more importantly, making a difference in the life of people with specific issues which need their indoor air to be clean. Even the Department of Health in Hong Kong trusted IQ Air back in 2003 to supply them with air purifier in fight against SARS, a lethal respiratory disease.

IQAir Health Pro Reviews

1. Filter Capability Reviews

Both IQ Air Healthpro and IQAir Healthpro Compact air cleaners have two high-quality filters:

  • First, is the micro-particle prefilter (6-18 month life span, $59).
    The word ‘prefilter’ does not do the this filter justice, because really, the IQAir prefilter is comparable to other brand’s HEPA filter. Like HEPA filter, IQAir prefilter filters particles up to 0.3 micron in size, which means that it captures mold spores, pollen, dust, dustmites and pet dander. To prolong the life of this prefilter, especially in areas with an elevated level of dust, IQAir offers optional installation of IQAir PF40 Coarse Dust Pre-Filtration Kit for $139. When need replacing, the coarse dust prefilter can be bought for a mere $10.
  • Second, is the Hyper HEPA filter (17-35 month life span, $189)
    This Hyper HEPA filter is essentially HEPA filter on steroid. It is capable of filtering particles up to 0.003 micron in size, or 100 times smaller than what other brand’s HEPA filter is capable of filtering of. Therefore, it basically captures 99% of airborne ultrafine particles, including smoke, odor-causing gas, and smaller size of dust, pet dander and dust mite’s dropping.

2. Filter Efficiency Reviews.

When we talk about filter efficiency, including HEPA filter efficiency, we should talk about the practical value, instead of the theoretical value of filter efficiency. Yes, HEPA filter is theoretically supposed to filter out particles higher than 0.3 micron at the efficiency of 99%. However, in practice, this efficiency would not be achieved if there’s an internal leakage in the housing. This leakage occurs when there is a space between the filter and the housing. This causes a fraction of the dirty air to bypass the filter. As a result of this less-than-perfect construction, dirty air from the air purifier can escape back into the room unprocessed.

Therefore, if a HEPA air purifier allows the bypassing of a fraction of dirty air, then it means that the efficiency of that air purifier is no longer 99%.

Premium air purifiers like IQAir prevent the bypassing of dirty air by constructing a tight housing to ensure no air escapes its filter.It means that the efficiency of that purifier remains the same as the theoretical value at 99% or close to it.

Indeed, the efficiency of IQAir Healthpro to reduce the number of particles in the air is confirmed by several independent reviewers which used a laser particle counter to detect the number of particles in a room before and after treatment with the IQAir HEalthpro. All air-purifier-america.com, aircaresystem.com, air-purifier-power.com, Reviewboard magazine and allergybuyerclub found out that 99% of particles were removed at within 24 hours.

Reviews from satisfied IQAir Health Pro allergy customers in amazon.com and allergybuyersclub.com also corroborate the findings from independent reviewers above. Many even report significant reduction in their allergy symptoms only hours after using the IQAir HEPA air purifier in their homes.

3. How The IQAir’s Filters Work

  • First, air is sucked up to the bottom of the air cleaner. It is then passed through the IQAir’s prefilter.
  • The unretained air particles are then routed to the IQAir Hyper HEPA filter which is located on top of the prefilter.
  • Clean air is circulated back into the room through side opening just under the top of the machine.

4. Quietness

IQAir HEPA air purifier has six levels of fan speed. While it has a double-wall casing and rubber pad to help curbing the fan noise, IQAir air purifier can still be considered pretty noisy if the fan speed is set to the high setting (level 4 thru 6). However, if the purifier is over-installed (meaning, it’s installed in a room with the area much less than the maximum recommended area, or 1000 sq feet for IQAir Healthpro), then the fan does not have to be set to the high setting. In fact, for maintenance, the fan speed of three, which is the highest level you can go if you want it to be quiet enough, is sufficient. Moreover, the newest IQAir HEPA air purifier release now has the ‘red label’ fan which is a huge improvement from the previous fan. As a result of the improved fans, these new IQAir HEPA air purifier are more quiet than the older siblings.

5. Other features

Here are other nice features of IQAir Healthpro air cleaner:

  • Completely safe. No offgasing from the material or paint. And it does not emit questionable particles, like ozone and other charged particles.
  • Intelligent filter sensor. This filter sensor will let you know when the filter or prefilter needs changing.
  • Remote controlled-operation.
  • Ability to program the air purifier to be on or off at certain hour.
  • It’s easy to change the filters. No tools required.
  • The two filters are independent of each other, which means they can be changed individually.
  • The newest IQAir air cleaner release now has ‘red label’ fan which improves air delivery, so that it uses less energy for the most fan speed levels (level 2 thru 5).
  • Manufacturer’s guarantee on performance. IQAir tests each and every one of IQ Air Healthpro going out of their warehouse to ensure that only quality products get to the customer’s hands.

6. Reviews on Potential Drawback of IQ Air Healthpro.

  • At high setting, it’s not quiet enough for a bedroom. However, a setting from 1 to 3 can be used in a bedroom.
  • High price.
  • No automatic sensor which determines whether the machine needs to be on or off.
  • Heavy to move around. It’s also not a purifier which will win the beauty contest.

In addition, it is important to mention that IQAir purifiers are not rated favorably by AHAM (Association of Home Appliance’s Manufacturers) and Consumer Report Magazine. However, AHAM and Consumer Report measures effectiveness of air purifiers based on the clean air delivery rate (CADR) or the rate of air changing, not the efficiency of the air purifier in capturing airborn particles This means, the one who has the strongest fan capable of both sucking up and delivering the air quickly gets good rating, even though the machine might not effective in removing the particles it’s supposed to remove. For more discussion on this, see our article on air purifier consumer report.

So, who is the best candidate for IQAir Health Pro ?

Since IQAir Healthpro is expensive, it’s best to be reserved for people with real health problem. IQ Air Health Pro and its compact version is adequate for addressing the needs for people with allergy problem since it removes virtually all allergens:

  • pet dander.
  • mold
  • dust mite and its dropping.
  • pollen.
  • various size of dust (up to 0.03 micron).
  • bacteria and viruses.
  • some smoke and gases.

Some asthma patients which do not react strongly to gases and smoke can also use the Healthpro air purifier.

IQAir Healthpro Compact and IQ Air Healthpro – What’s the difference?

At close to $800, Healthpro air purifier is obviously not cheap. For people who want to save a bit of money and do not think will need to upgrade to the plus version of Healthpro (the Plus version has V-cell carbon filter aimed to control more gases and odors) can buy the IQ Air Healthpro Compact for at least $50 less. IQAir HEalthpro compact is also ….. compact, which makes it a better choice for small rooms or apartment.

IQAir Healthpro Plus
And IQ Air Healthpro Compact Plus

Whilst almost all air purifier’s manufacturers claim that their air cleaners are suitable for alleviating allergy and asthma, or to remove odor and gas, in truth, most of them are only capable of removing a small amount of those harmful particles in the air.

Not so with IQ Air purifier. IQ Air Healthpro Plus has been proven to make a difference in the life of allergy and asthma sufferers. It’s also very effective in cleaning up air from cigarette smoke.

In fact, since all IQAir home air purifier series are so effective, the IQAir company has been chosen by Hongkong Department of Health to supply hospital-grade air purifier during the height of SARS (a lethal respiratory disease) back in 2003. Also, due to its high quality product, American Lung Association has asked IQAir to be its partner in promoting cleaner indoor air.

IQAir Health Pro Plus Feature Reviews

1. Filter Capability Reviews

Both IQAir Health Pro Plus and IQAir Healthpro Compact Plus have these high-quality filters:

  • First, is the prefilter (6-18 month life span, $59).
    Unlike most air purifier’s prefilter, IQAir’s prefilter is a serious high efficiency filter which can arrest particles up to 0.3 micron in size. This means that IQAir prefilter’s performance is actually comparable to other brand’s HEPA filters. It filters out pollen, dust, pet dander, dust mite and mold. To prolong the life of this prefilter, IQAir offers optional installation of IQAir PF40 Coarse Dust Pre-Filtration Kit for $139. Later, the replacement coarse dust prefilter itself can be bought for a mere $10.

  • Second, is the Hyper HEPA filter (17-35 month life span, $189).
    IQAir’s Hyper HEPA filter is literally a ‘hyper’ HEPA. It’s capable to filter out particles 100x smaller than what other brand’s HEPA filter is capable of filtering off. Therefore, it can arrest airborne ultrafine particles not normally retained by standard HEPA filters, including cigarette smoke, odor-causing gas, and smaller size of dust, pet dander and dust mite’s dropping.

  • Third, is the dedicated HiFlow gas and odor filters (V5-cell, 10-21 month life span, $89)
    This third filter’s component of IQAir Healthpro Plus is unique to the Plus version of the Healthpro series. It contains 6 lb of carbon (2 lb for the IQAir Health Pro Compact Plus) which gives this air cleaner additional capability to remove volatile organic compound gases, including foul-smelling odor and smoke. This feature is very important if you have a lung disease and are sensitive to gas.

It is also important to mention that while there are three independent filters in IQ Air Healthpro Plus (the prefilter, Hyper HEPA filter, and gas filter), the prefilter and gas phase filter are combined in IQ Air Healthpro Compact Plus, resulting in two sets of filters for the compact version.

2. Filter Efficiency Reviews

IQAir’s filters is proven to exceed the HEPA standard in that they are capable to retain the air particles up to 0.003 micron versus 0.3 micron of the usual HEPA filter standard. Coupled to this superb ability to filter out ultra fine particles is the excellent efficiency in retaining air particles.

Efficiency measures the percentage of particles arrested in the filter. In various independent testing, IQAir filters live up to its claim, which is 99% efficiency. This means that within 24 hours of treatment, 99% of air particles were removed. This is an excellent achievement, considering that most of its competitor are lucky enough to get even a 50% efficiency.

This efficiency is not only achieved because of the filter itself, but it is also due to the triple seal design of IQAir Healthpro Plus air cleaner. This design prevents internal leakage that decreases the efficiency and is so rampant in other air purifier brands.

It is not surprising then that customers, many of whom are serious allergy and lung disease sufferers, stated in independent customer review sites, such as Amazon, epinion.com and some online air purifier vendor sites that IQAir’s air purifier really makes a difference in their lives. Many report on major allergy relief only hours after switching the machine on.

3. How Does The Filtering Work ?

Filtering works as follow:

  • Air sucked up to the bottom of the air cleaner is passed through the bottom stack of the filters, which is the prefilter. This removes the bulk of air particulates.
  • It then passes the gas-phase filter consisting of carbon to remove gases. The gas filter itself is located on top of the prefilter.
  • It subsequently passes through the HEPA filter to remove the rest of particulates. (You can see here if HEPA air filters really work)
  • Clean air is delivered back into the room from the side opening just below the top of air purifier.

4. Other Features

  • Quietness. Although not the quietest in the market, customers of IQAir Healthpro Plus and IQAir Healthpro Plus Compact have reported that level one thru three setting, which corresponds to 43 thru 58 decibels, are tolerable in the bedroom. It is important also to mention that 43 decibel, which is the lowest setting of the purifier, has around the same level of noise as quiet conversation. If you can sleep in the library comfortably, chances are you can use this air purifier at night, at least at the lowest setting. However, the newly released IQAir Healthpro Plus has the ‘red label’ fan with revolutionary 7-blade design (in contrast to the previous 11-blade design) which decreases the noise.
  • Completely safe. This air cleaner does not emit questionable particles, such as ozone.
  • Filter sensor. This sensor lets you know whenever any filter has filter efficiency of 20% . It is intelligent in a sense that it does not work by clocking or counting the using time. Instead, it is capable of determining the real capacity of filters.
  • Convenient. First, it is programmable, so you can set it to be on or off at certain times. In addition, it’s operated by remote control.
  • Filter changing is reasonably easy and does not require any tools.
  • Independent filter change (for the non-compact version), which means that you can change each type of the filters independently. That way, when one filter needs changing, you can just change that particular filter. Many cheaper air purifiers often combine all filter types together as an effort to prompt customers to buy their products more often and expensively (combined filter is more expensive than replacing each component one by one).
  • Energy saving (85-215 watt). As explained before, the newest release of IQAir Healthpro Plus has the ‘red label’ fan which improves air delivery, so that it now uses less energy for the most fan speed levels (level 2 thru 5).
  • Manufacturer’s guarantee on performance. The manufacturer’s test each and every one of IQ Air Healthpro Plus going out of their warehouse to ensure that only quality products get to the customer’s hands.
  • Five years warranty.

5. Reviews on IQ Air Healthpro Plus Air Cleaner Potential Drawback

  • It’s not the quietest around. But it can be reasonably be used in a bedroom when set between level 1-3.
  • High price. (almost $900 for the IQAir Healthpro Plus).
  • No automatic dust sensor which determines whether the machine needs to be on or off.
  • Heavy to move around and bulky.
  • The plastic casters used for moving the air purifier are easily broken when air cleaner is moved around.
  • Some customers reported that for the first few days, the V5 carbon filter of this air purifier will outgas. Therefore it’s recommended to run the purifier for several hours prior to using it to let the carbon filter outgas.

Whilst IQAir delivers the best air cleaner around, unfortunately their purifiers are not rated favourably by AHAM (American Home Appliance Manufacturer) and Consumer Report Magazine. However, the way AHAM and Consumer Report measures effectiveness of air purifiers is by measuring the clean air delivery rate (CADR) which means that the one which has the strongest fan gets the best rating, no matter whether they actually deliver the clean air or not. (For more discussion on this, visit our air purifier rating page). However, this purifier clearly does what it is supposed to do, which is purifying the air.

Who Should Buy IQAir Healthpro Plus ?

IQAir helps tremendously the people with real health problem, including people with the lung diseases (asthma, COPD, and so forth) and allergy . IQAir Healthpro Plus and its compact version remove all these contaminants:

  • pet dander.
  • mold
  • dust mite and its dropping.
  • pollen.
  • various size of dust (up to 0.03 micron).
  • bacteria and viruses.
  • cigar smoke and other volatile gas compound gases.

NOTE:The gas phase filter of this air cleaner doesn’t remove inorganic gases and formaldehyde. So people with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) issue should weigh in those facts when deciding to purchase the IQAir Healthpro Plus. However, IQAir has the multigas version which can address the multiple chemical sensitivity problems. Also, it is advisable to not put the machine in humid area since its gas phase filter can get clogged up easily with water moisture. If you need a machine which can curb out gases in humid area without getting clogged up quickly, it’s advisable to get the chemical air purifier which uses chemicals instead of carbon as the gas absorbent. IQAir Multigas is the best chemical air purifier in the market today.

IQAir Healthpro Plus Compact and IQAir Health Pro Plus- What’s the difference

At close to $900, you can tell that Healthpro Plus air purifier is not cheap. If you want to save a bit of money and are okay with the less powerful, smaller IQAir purifier, then you can instead get the IQAir Health Pro Plus Compact for $100 less. Please bear in mind that IQAir HEalthpro Compact Plus is suitable for smaller rooms only (800 sq feet cleaning capability vs 900 sq feet of the non-compact version).

Also, the prefilter and gas phase in the compact version are combined, so you will get a total of 2 filters: the HEPA and the combined prefilter and gas phase filter. In contrast, the non-compact IQ Air Healthpro Plus contains three independent filters: HEPA, prefilter and gas phase filters.

Other than that, they both perform brilliantly.

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