Holmes HAP750-U Review

Holmes Air Purifier

Holmes Harmony HAP750-U: msrp: $124.99 to $159.99

HAPF600 HEPA filter: $ 24.99, $39.99 for 2

HAPF60 Carbon/Odor filter: $12.99

Consumer Reports (Oct 2005) ranked this air purifier by Holmes eighth in a field of 30 sales leaders. But information on all Holmes products is scarce, HAP750 has no consumer reviews at Amazon.com or Epinions.com. The company'swebsite is brief.

Simple product descriptions are repeated verbatim acrossthe web. Save yourself the hours researching the Holmes air purifiers, when you see one vendors' display you have seen them all.

This is Holmes strongest air purifier, now that HAP-675RC has been discontinued.

Here, at the lower end of the market, is where AHAM's (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers) clean air delivery rate (CADR)comes in handy.

Certified CADR is 275 dust, 270 tobacco smoke, and 230 pollen.

HAP750 is certified to purify air in rooms up to 418 sq. ft. As usual, these AHAM room size ratings need to be deflated substantially.

Air-Purifier-Power suggests a room size equal to the lowest CADR number, 230 square feet. Reading customer reviews of other Holmes purifiers, I notice many are disappointed after installing a small Holmes or Bionaire (a sister brand) in a room too large.

Modular Filters

Like several other vendors, the company is reducing its model lineup. They have designed some security into the Harmony line of air purifiers, both for themselves and for consumers. The entire product group uses a modular filter arrangement.

Holmes Air Purifier

The HAPF600 HEPA filter fits the whole Holmes Harmony series of air purification devices, doubling, tripling, or quadrupling to match the machine's size. In the photo above, a 675 model, you can see the 4 separate filters through the front grill.

This lowers costs on their end. For the consumer the risk of a discontinued product with no filters available is reduced. However, the net effect is a less credible air purifying performance.

The Harmony purifiers from Holmes air use a filter confusingly described as "99.97% HEPA....99.97% efficient at removing airborne particles."

Is this a true HEPA?

A proper filter specification shouldsay "captures 99.97% of particles .3 microns in size." Further obscure generalities complete the picture: "... is quieter than other traditional 99.97% HEPA air purifiers and performs 20% more efficiently."

Here they have crossedthe line into deceptive advertising.

Efficiency, in an air purifier is a technical term, it refers to the ability of the machine asa whole to remove pollutants from the air passing through the air purifier, not just through the filter.This modular filter arrangement has more cracks for air to leak through, I think "20% less efficient is more like it.

I am sure this product is quieter than at least one "other traditional 99.97% HEPA", but where are the decibel measurements to back the claim?

The modular filter layout on the Holmes air purification machines, with separate "odor" prefilters loosely covering the individual HEPA cartridges, seems designed to sell more filters.

The Holmes brand is notorious for frequent filter replacement at high prices. Try as you might, you won't find the fact that HAP-750-U needs four of these $25 filters anywhere on the web. See my "Cheap Air Purifier: Holmes HAP-242 Review" for discussion of inadequate prefiltering and main filter life.

Cheap Air Purifiers: Holmes HAP-242

The Holmes purifier is reasonably stylish, has four fan speeds and a convenient remote, and can sit vertically or sideways to match decor. The filter change indicator is a timer, not a proper sensor.

The unit is Energy Star qualified, rated at 2.37 dust CADR/watt. This is just barely above the 2.0 threshold, but indicates reasonable energy costs.

Holmes air purifier products have been around for over 10 years. Their corporate location in the Asia transshipment warehouse district in Los Angeles suggests that the product is imported.

A 1 Year limited warranty is typical of air purifiers in this lower price range.

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: 8 of 10.

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

Score: 4 of 10, don't expect real carbon in this price range.

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

Score: 3 of 10, born to bypass.

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

Score: 9 of 10, modular filter system gets good marks here.

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

Score: 5 of 10, notorious filter hog.

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

Score: 8 of 10, users of other Holmes Harmony purifiers report acceptable noise on lower speeds.

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, warranty could be longer.

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. The list is generally in order of descending price.

Score: 7 of 10, I would buy this brand only at fire sale prices.

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

Score: 7 of 10, obscure marketing.

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

Score: 9 of 10, handy remote.

Air-Purifier-Power Numeric Rating;72, acceptable at lower end of price range: $130 and under.