Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought one of these because my wife, daughter, and I had stayed with a smoker relative while waiting to move into our own home. Fortunately, our bedrooms were on the lower "non-smoking" level, so this filter had a fighting chance against the tobacco smoke that made it through the central air/heating system. In addition, the basement had flooded years ago, and although there were no visible signs of mold, the HEPA filter sure couldn't hurt. We ran this thing constantly and there is NO QUESTION that this filter made a substantial difference in air quality over what we experienced the first few days. The filters were downright nasty in just a few months. Be sure to budget for the filters, which are going to run you 50 dollars for the HEPA filters (2x25), plus about 3 bucks each for two carbon filters. Obviously, the life of the filter will be based on the dirtiness of your air and/or how much you run the unit. UPDATE 2/11/12 The air filter is still going strong since my review in 2008, and I've ran it pretty hard. I work on home improvement projects in our new home and often start this filter running in the room while I'm working and then overnight while the dust is settling. Also, our basement gets dusty and I run it when I'm sweeping up. It is no substitute for proper ventilation and damp dusting, but it sure helps. UPDATE 6/6/2015 Raised rating to 5 stars. The air filter is still running strong after 7 years. It must be a proven design because it is still available, and the filters are easy to find. In fact, the filters are less expensive than they were when I bought the unit.