A1260C Carbon Air Filter - $16.95

Bionaire Air Cleaners

The BAP1300 air purifier is the company's biggest, “quietest” HEPA/carbon two-stage air purifiers. Consumer Reports likes the Bionaire air purifier: May 21, 2005 consumer reports tests rated BAP1300 one of the best, and the BAP1250, a sister unit, placed 9th in the Oct, 2005 tests.

With a 315 CADR (clean air delivery rate) rating from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), the Purifier by Bionaire is recommended for purifying closed rooms up to 488 square feet in size. Those who stay up late to study CADR reports know this is among the best. Only a few high priced air cleaners test higher. The Bionaire air purifier has a big fan!

The Bionaire air purifier has four air flow speeds, a digital control panel, filter monitor, and a remote control.

The prefilter has activated charcoal that removes odors from the air and captures larger particles ahead of the Bionaire's true HEPA filter. The Bionaire has slightly higher than average filter replacement costs; the prefilter should be replaced every three months and the HEPA element roughly yearly.

The air purifier manufacturer claims the Bionaire is “exceptionally quiet.” The noise citation; 30dB(A)/39dB(A)/48dB(A)/325cfm@57dB(A), confirms this claim. 325cfm at 57dB(A) is very quiet for a powerful HEPA air cleaning machine.

The Bionaire air purifier is ideal for airborne allergy relief, and is claimed to purify smoke, pollen, dust, animal dander, cat and dog fur, dust mites, and mold spores.

Weighing 26 pounds, the BAP1300 measures 24-1/2 inches high, 19-3/4 inches wide and 10-1/2 inches deep. The handles make the Bionaire air cleaner easy to move from room to room. Using 50/80/150/230 Watts the Bap1300 is not energy frugal. On this air purifier, Bionaire offers a five-year warranty against defects, which is long for the price range.

You can buy the powerful Bap1300 air filtration system, top rated by Consumer Reports and AHAM, at: Phony-Vendor-Link.com.

End mock "Bionaire Air Cleaner Review"

Note that the above review contains no falsehood, it just leaves out a few details.

Apparently there was some quality slippage at Bionaire, consistent with the notion of stressed companies in an overbuilt air purification market. It looks like they bought a couple of containers of flawed electronic air purifier controller chips and let lots of bad Bionaire product slip out the door.

Consumer comments (Amazon.com);

Positive, glowing. sunny, bogus, shill-for-the-house so-called customer reviews are industry standard, but these sufferers are genuine!

Check out the consumer outrage below, I love customer testimonials!

1. “If I try to set it to high, it makes a clunking noise and shuts itself off. I plan to return this lemon, and I will not be purchasing anything Bionaire makes in the future.”

2. “About a month after receiving this product it stopped working”

3. “My Bionaire BAP1300 was every bit as bad as the units other people are complaining about; temperamental on/off, no high fan, only 39% of filter life remaining right out of the box, etc.”

4. “This fan is a piece of junk; if you order one, you'll just end up returning it. Like I did.”

5. “worked for less than one day…..I finally got someone who agreed to ship out a new one. It arrived promptly, worked for one day but then would not turn off. After unplugging it and plugging it back in, it did not work at all! I called again. The third one has been working for two weeks now”

6. “I've had my Bionaire for 18 months, and it works great”

7. “Malfunctioned within the first week”

8. “it ran for three days and then stopped working. Returned the product with free shipping label and told Holmes (Bionaire) to cancel the order and issue a credit request. They balked and said they would not. I called my credit card and had them cancel payment. About four weeks later another unit showed up on my door. Called Holmes again. They said they would get back in touch with me, of course, they never did. Other unit still in the box never opened.”

9. “Our first unit showed a remaining filter level of 98% one day - and literally overnight - dropped to 37%....The 2nd unit all of the sudden quit working in any mode other than sleep. The off button doesn't work either.”

10. “it ran for 24 hours before totally malfunctioning. I returned it for a replacement and that too was defective after 24 hours.”

11. “.....really is quiet, especially after it shuts down and won't start again in a few days….sent me a replacement and this one lasted almost a whole week. So a $200 machine lasted about 168 hours”

12. “worst product on the market - and the VERY WORST customer service I’ve ever encountered on ANYTHING”

13. “So I ordered a replacement, this 2nd unit didn't work upon arrival…..surprised Bionaire would have such poor product quality as to allow these types of problems to go out the door!”

14. “After several weeks I decided to return the unit and get a replacement. You sent out the second (air purifier) and that unit worked great.. .for two days, after which it completely died….(the 2nd) replacement was a BAP1300. This unit worked fine, for one day as well, and now won't turn on. I believe that there must be a fundamental flaw in the design of these units. I am sending this letter as a last attempt at receiving some satisfaction.”

15. “BIONAIRE IS ONE BIG DISAPPOINTMENT AFTER ANOTHER! don’t fall for it.”

16. “Finally, we unplugged the Bionaire and woke up "without a headache" for the first time in a long time. It has been two weeks now since we unplugged the Bionaire and we are still headache free!”

17. “I bought this piece of junk last year…..100 percent filter life remaining, then 90, then ZERO within 2 months…. I’m at ZERO PERCENT….WARRANTY is crap - because YOU have to pay SHIPPING … a HUNDRED DOLLARS to send back …really an outrage …shoddy customer service is very devastating. Worst mistake I ever made getting this money waster.”

18. "My first Bionaire lasted a few days before the electronic controls gave out (unresponsive, flickered from low or off, etc...). Returned it for a new one, which lasted a week or so before the same problems arose...now collecting dust in living room instead of filtering it. Worst consumer product I've bought in many years."

19. After 2 weeks of use ... stopped working. The fan would not turn on at any speed. The display worked fine, but the fan would not turn on no matter what speed was selected."

20. "used this unit for a little under 2 days. The unit stopped responding to the controls and was stuck in the low setting. After unplugging ... it completely stopped responding."

21. "... stopped functioning after 5 days "

Bionaire Air Filter Consumer comments (epinions.com);

1. “it stopped working after 3 days. The unit kept giving me a "door ajar" notice”

2. “after 6 days, the unit shut off and I was unable to get it to restart.”

3. “Mine stopped working after about a week. I called for a replacement and they sent me a cheaper model, because they had run out of the 1300”

4. "I've used a variety of air filters including from Bionaire, but this one is so loud that I don't want to be in the room with it. I've moved it to the living room, where we spend the least amount of time."

5. "I got this unit (Bionaire bap1300) from a site in March 2005. The reviews I read seemed to be good at the time. Come June the thing stopped working @88% filter life. I couldn't return it to the website store because they have a 30day return policy, but it was covered under warranty. I paid an additional $10 for Holmes to send a new machine. That one broke down after 2 weeks. When I called Holmes again - they said they could refund the $10 shipping but not the $220 I originally paid since I didn't buy from them directly. The BAP1300 is now discontinued (thank goodness because it stinks) so now they're sending me a cheaper model replacement. I guess we'll see how this goes. I will never buy Bionaire/Holmes again!"

Update from a web vendor: “... For over twenty years, one of our most popular performers but the company was sold and many popular models are no longer available. The good news is that we still offer filters for units over 20 years old!”

Caveat Emptor!

Air-Purifier-Power Bionaire BAP1300 Rating: 59

Each of ten factors gets up to 10 points, 100 is perfect and very unlikely. Above 90 is rare and exceptional, below 80 avoid, below 70 "not recommended."

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

Score: 8 of 10.

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

Score: 5 of 10

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

Score: 6 of 10

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

Score: 7 of 10, filter monitor unreliable.

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

Score: 7 of 10, short filter life

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

Score: 8 of 10, actually pretty quiet for power level.

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

Score: 3 of 10, 5-year warranty, 2 week service life.

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

Score: 7 of 10, Bionaire Purifier is strong for the price, when it runs.

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

Score: 1 of 10, yikes!

10. Air purifying machine is stylish, portable, comfortable, and convenient for consumer use.

Score: 7 of 10, handy remote, easy interface.

Bionaire 1300 Air Purifier Rating; 59, worst air purifier.

I am pretty sure the company has this situation under control and that their Asian chip fabricator got ripped pretty well. Dealer ads say it is coming back this spring. I would be surprised if it did.

Buyer beware: this is not the worst thing I have found in researching air purifiers.

"What could be worse?

The Air Cleaner Easy Credit Rip-off. They (not Bionaire) sell, guaranteed satisfaction with a smile, you have carefully saved box and return product with supplied prepaid UPS shipping label, you wait for credit card settlement. You call customer service, spend hours on hold.....they have your money and a top selling product in a nearly new box.

Caveat Emptor (Latin: “let the buyer beware”), in the law of commercial transactions, the principle that the buyer purchases at his own risk in the absence of an express warranty in the contract.

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