New Air Purifier: Alen A350

Not recommended for smoke, gas and odor removal, the A350 Alen is an example of a good product struggling to get established in an overbuilt industry.

In tests by air-purifiers-america.com the A-350 removed 98% of the particles at the unit and 97% of the particles in the room.

This is very good efficiency.

The A-350 is good at dust and pollen removal, but is competitively priced only in the upper $300's.

Cheap to Maintain.

The single, combined Pre-filter, HEPA Filter and carbon filter makes filter changes simple: they are all replaced at the same time.

This would normally raise an issue, but the warranty-required 6 month change interval would cost $100 per year.

Rising filter prices have eroded the Alens cost-to-own advantage some.

Electronics include a digital display with simple button controls, filter change indicator, 4 fan speeds, and a 12 hour timer.

The A-350 has a built-in Ionizer that can be manually turned off,

The company asserts it is ozone free.

I heartily endorse the ozone free negative ionizer.

Alen air purifier noise levels are above average: 36 dB(A)on low, 65dB(A)@214cfm on high. 65dB(A) is not the loudest, but 214cfm is pretty weak for that much sound.

Mid-powered

Room size recommendation is up to 800 square feet, with 400 square feet recommended to achieve at least 4 air changes per hour. The company did not participate in CADR testing, so we'll use their room size rating to estimate air flow.

400 square feet in 8 foot ceilings is 3200 cubic feet, multiply by 4 air changes hourly equals 12800 cubic feet per hour. Dividing by 60 minutes/hr gives 214 cubic feet per minute.

So estimated CADR (for rough comparison to mid-priced mass market units without chemical filtering capacity only) is 203.

I recommend 6 or better air changes per hour, which would limit the Alen A350 to 268 square feet, still not a little room.

The A-350’s wall-mountable space saving design measures 18.5” x 8.23” x 17.48”, and weighs only 16 lbs.

Alen Corporation (formerly Alen Technologies Inc.), headquartered in Dunedin, Florida, drop ships units ordered on the web.

The company promises 95% of orders will be shipped within 24 hours, and has a hassle free return policy.

Market support for this decent unit has materialized, with air-purifiers-america.com, amazon.com, and sylvane.com picking it up.

The company does not sell direct, but drop ships air purifiers sold by resellers.

I continue to wonder if the privately owned company’s policy of 3rd party marketing create a lack of support in the future.

At the MSRP for this machine, decent VOC gas removal should be on the unit.

Lifetime Warranty!

They offer the industry’s first Lifetime Warranty coverage.

"Alen warrants your Alen Air Purifier to be free from defects in material or workmanship for as long as you own your air purifier.

Buyers must register and Participate in the Filter Replacement Program. Two replacement HEPA filters are shipped to you every year on your registration anniversary for as long as you own your machine."

Alen will repair or replace a defective a350 air purifier and pay freight costs of shipping the replacement unit.

Rating

Each of ten factors gets up to 10 points, 100 is perfect and very unlikely.

1. First do no harm; minimal out gassing, no ozone.

Score: 7 of 10, Company too quiet on ozone issue.

2. Serious gas and odor removal is a requirement if health benefits are expected: Units with real carbon VOC capability rank higher.

Score: 6 of 10.

3. Quality construction; case, gaskets, seals, and precision fitting eliminate bypassing and assure high efficiency at filtering sub-micron particles.

Score: 10 of 10, evidence of tight design from Air-Purifiers-America.

4. The design maximizes the lifespan of each filter stage by allowing independent filter replacement. Ideally this is combined with electronic filter monitoring.

Score: 8 of 10, combined filter is cheap to replace.

5. Unit has long filter life, low maintenance requirements, and reasonable operating costs.

Score: 9 of 10, cheap to operate.

6. Purifier produces low noise levels and meaningful air flow rates relative to noise.

Score: 8 of 10, below average on noise.

7. Manufacturer has a track record, with many units in the field and a reputation for supporting what they sell. Warranty period and average service life are long.

Score: 8 of 10, newer company, super warranty.

8. Purifier is a value in terms of price/performance ratio. Every price range should be included, “models above $1,200 are best”, while true, is not useful to most consumers.

Score: 8 of 10, needs VOC at this price.

9. No dirt; unit and manufacturer should be devoid of class-action suits, high returns, recalls, consumer complaints, and legitimate negative consumer reviews.

Score: 9 of 10,

10. Unit is stylish, portable, comfortable, and convenientfor consumer use.

Score: 9 of 10, easy interface, convenient wall mount for tight spaces.

Air-Purifier-Power Rating; 82