BlueAir 403 HepaSilent Air Purifier Review

Blueair's contemporary but consistent design, quality construction, engineering (instead of marketing) emphasis, and good noise/performance ratios have built a sterling reputation as a particle-focused air cleaner.

I get lots of emails asking me to compare cheaper air cleaners to the pricey - typically $449.99 - 403 Blueairs.

It is true that some $150 air cleaners offer more features and similar particle-only efficiency to the Blue Air 403.

Blueair is a premium brand, with sales volume sufficient for deep and broad product support. Only the costlier IQAirs can better it in this respect.

While many import models come and go, taking their service and filters with them, the conservative European premium builders make careful incremental engineering improvements to successive generations of products over decades of experience.

Blueair continues to upgrade its entire line with improved fans, motors and filter media at regular intervals, leaving the styling largely untouched.

This is why Blueairs are a consistent market share leader in the premium air cleaner space.

For 2010, the product line added a complete electronic interface, the Blueair e-Series.

Blueair's 403, and it's predecessors 401 and 402, are based on the original manually-switched Blueair air purifier - there are no electronic sensors or automatic settings (for which see Blueair 450e).

There is significant incorrect information on vendor websites about the 403 by Blueair, in part because it differs from other members of the product line.

While 403 is an electrostatic HEPA-type filter system, it inhales through the rear and exhales out the front, using only 1 filter.

Bigger Blueairs, 500/600 series models, have an upflow design, drawing air from beneath, and three filters.

Solid steel construction, with fan/motor outsourced to world class Ebm-Papst Ab, of Sweden (not China), says "quality."

CADR

Blue Air 403 has four fan speed settings, NOT 3 speeds as very widely advertised on vendor websites (per Blueair customer service and owner reviews).

AHAM certified Clean Air Delivery Rates are;

240 Dust,
240 Smoke,
240 Pollen,
Room Size 370 square feet.

Blueair rates the 403 for mid-sized rooms of 365 sq. ft., for 5 air changes per hour (ACH).

To get my recommended 6 ACH install in a maximum of 300 sq. ft., less is better.

No prefilter

Cleaning dusts accumulated inside the device is not easy - both the manufacturer and I recommend routine cleaning

Vacuum the air intake grille from the inside when you remove the filters to inspect/replace them.

HEPASilent

Electrostatic filters. market leaders until recently (Oreck, Ionic Breeze, Friedrick, Ionic Pro...), have efficiency issues, especially as they age.

Traditional HEPA filters, while efficient even with age, have back pressure issues that create noise and use extra energy.

So Blueair's innovative hybrid filter design uses electrostatics and charged media filters to achieve HEPA-like performance with lower energy costs and high throughput.

HEPA is a filter standard, not necessarily a pleated paper element type.

Blueair's filter is the most successful HEPA-type filter, succeeding where many others have failed.

Incoming airborne particles are negatively charged by a brush-type ion emitter, then are attracted to the positively charged polypropylene filter media.

Three separate layers of fibers with progressively tighter spacing capture smaller particles in succession.

The Blueair 403s capture 99.97% of the 0.1 micron particles on low speed - very good efficiency.

I suspect this drops on higher speeds, and maybe with filter age, but no data is available.

This is called a "3-stage Progressive Filter."

Confusion has arisen since Blue air added a light carbon layer to the filter for improved odor control, and used the term "2-Stage" filter. The two terms are unrelated.

402 filters did not have this carbon cloth layer.

Since polypropylene does not absorb moisture water or encourage microorganism growth, no antimicrobial chemicals are added to the filter (as are often found in bargain air cleaners).

Electrostatic filters generally require very frequent user cleaning, but the HEPASilent never has to be cleaned.

It will clog in about 6 months and need replacing.

Blueair does not seal their filters as tightly as I'd like, sometimes letting a little air bypass.

This makes filter replacement a snap, but is a weakness inconsistent with the price class.

Included with the new 403 is a magnetic count-down 182 day (6 months) filter timer.

This is just a little clock which reminds users to change filters on schedule, with no relationship to actual filter condition.

Blueair recommends running the 403 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, making the timer pretty accurate.

Blueair owners buy 403 filters, for around $60, at least twice a year.

Non-pet, nonsmoking, relatively particle-free households have found they can go a year on a set.

Some report vacuuming filters periodically to extend life.

The user manual recommends vacuuming the ionizing brushes and inside the machine with every filter change.

I haven't worked with the Blueairs yet, but when I get one, I'll work up a low-restriction prefilter for coarse dust and try to cut into Blueair's replacement filter sales and internal dust accumulation.

Even with the added carbon layer, the $59.95 Blueair standard HEPASilent filter has scant odor/chemical control.

SmokeStop Filters: Blueair 403SS

I warn my readers that everybody has gas phase pollutants in their home.

But with so many folks buying air cleaners based on the incorrect perception that their purpose is collecting the visible dust that accumulates on floors and furniture, it's understandable that Blueair made the carbon SmokeStop filter optional to hold price down.

403 Smokestop filters contain about 3 pounds of activated coconut shell carbon impregnated with added oxidizers for tough chemicals like formaldehyde.

SmokeStops have a pretty good reputation for grabbing fumes and odors, but can last even less than 180 days in tobacco smoking environments.

There is a light break-in odor from new SmokeStops, subsiding in a few days.

Blue Air 403 uses the same 400-Series filters as the 402 and 450e.

Genuine Blueair filters are best, there are numerous inferior knockoffs on the market - watch for bait-n-switch.

Blueair 403 SmokeStop Air Purifier typically runs around $529.95.

Blue Air 403 Emissions

Some users report it is quieter than the bigger Blueairs on similar output settings, despite similar decibel readingsin the 32 to 58 dB(A) range.

High speed is too loud for close use, but will clean a room pretty fast.

Speeds 1-3 are very quiet. A 403 running on speed 3 puts out 240 cubic feet per minute, plenty of capacity. This may be the most cost effective Blueair.

Blueair uses a electrical current and brush style emitters to cut ozone output, common in other electrostatics, to near zero.

Blueair's powder coat finish and steel construction does not out-gas, though I would not select it for the chemical sensitive.

Like many purifiers, Blue air 403 has not solved the too-bright-at-night problem. Users often cover the blue LED light at night.

Utility

This can be an issue where the air cleaner is carried up/down stairs or frequently moved.

The 5 foot detachable cord is too short for the price class and impedes placement. Since the 403 moves air back to front, users often place it sideways along a wall, but the cord limits available wall locations.

Energy Star qualified at a respectable 4.45 Dust CADR per Watt, 403 uses 30 to 80 watts of power through the speeds.

Corporate

Blueair Inc.
17 N. State, Suite 1830
Chicago, IL 60602

Consistent with the premium image, calls to US customer service (1.888.258.3247)are answered promptly by friendly, intelligent Americans.

A 10-year warranty was standard on Blueairs for years, but has been reduced, first to 5 years, and now to 1 with an option to extend to 5 by registration.

Many vendors still advertise the 10 year warranties.

Warranty is contingent on 6-month-or-better filter replacements with proof of purchase.

Despite the attempt to cut warranty claims costs, I regard Blueair as among the very best in the air purifier business at supporting what they sell. Buyers do not need to worry about filters disappearing or service becoming unavailable as may be the case with newer entrants to the premium air cleaner space.

Conclusions

403 shoppers should also check out the sensor-automated Blueair 450e, selling for only about 50 bucks more.

I suggest the 403 as the entry-level Blueair, the lower cost Blueairs have low CADRs and the price/performance ratio falls.

Also Blueair shoppers with under 300 square feet to clear, and who are noise sensitive, may want to consider the 403 as an alternative to the 500/600 models.

While I was prepping this review, in March 2010, Best Buy had a sale on the Blue air 403 at $404.95.

Blueair 403 Rating

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

Score: 10 of 10, clean and relatively green.

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

Score: 8 of 10, add 2 points with Smokestop option.

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

Score: 8 of 10, some bypassing suggested by filter arrangement.

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 filters, monitor is a stick-on.

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

Score: 7 of 10, Achilles heel of the design is filter replacements.

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

Score: 10 of 10, quiet air cleaning.

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: 9 of 10, warranty has been shortened.

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, good value with little price flexibility.

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

Score: 10 of 10.

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

Score: 8 of 10, manual interface.

Air-Purifier-Power Numeric Rating; HepaSilent 86 (SmokeStop 88).