Review: Honeywell HPA-150 Air Purifier

When I’m not asleep, most of the time I spend at home is spent in front of our TV. I may be using the computer, watching TV, playing video games, or watching a movie, but it all happens in one room, from one general location. With a full size PC and two laptops always on and running, and the Xbox 360 spending quite a lot of time active, dust from case fans becomes a real concern. As an avid gamer, Internet hipster, and media enthusiast, I like my environment to be as comfortable and conducive to my experience as possible. That’s where the Honeywell HPA-150 air purifier comes in.

You all have an area like the one I described, of this I have no doubt. If you’re here reading anything, then you’re a nerd in one way or another, and all nerds share some common behaviors and environments. Ensuring that those environments are healthy and comfortable is important to our long term enjoyment of the entertainment options contained within said environments. The HPA-150 statistically claims to capture up to 99.7% of airborne particles, fight germs, reduce unpleasant odors in the air, and cycle a 170sqft room’s air around five times per hour.

I have no way of verifying any of that information.

What I can verify is that, with regular user over the last three weeks, the air quality of our entertainment room has become much better. I am able to breathe easier, and the cooling effect of being in the path of the purifier’s air output was very nice during the heat of the first week of use. Oddly enough, the output is at more of a 45 degree angle from the front of the purifier, so if you do want to be in the path of the fresh air, make sure you angle the purifier accordingly.

Now, all is not sunshine and daisies. Because of the dust gathering nature of the air purifier, the area around the device may be vulnerable to dark stains of excess dust. It is recommended that the purifier be placed three feet away from a wall or furniture, and if you are placing it on a light colored carpet, to make sure you stand the purifier up on a rug that you don’t mind staining from any excess dust. The three foot radius does make finding a good place to set up the purifier fairly difficult, especially in a room potentially as cluttered as an entertainment room.

I’ve seen a wide range of prices for this particular device across the Internet, from $149 to $199, depending on the seller. While it may seem like a high cost for something that doesn’t really have much of an entertainment value, you have to balance that cost against the long-term effects of the device. It does what it means to do, and for any product, that’s a definite accomplishment.