Review on 🌬️ Aprilaire True HEPA Air Purifier 9550 - 3-Stage Filtration, Eliminates Allergens & Odors, Ozone-Free, Ideal for 495 sq. ft. Rooms by Cynthia Taylor

While I like this air filtration system, as of recently (2019) replacement filters smell strongly of toxic chemicals, making me and other members of my home feel bad, recently purchased filters smell like chemicals that previous filters had no such smell). This problem isn't unique to Aprilaire though, as I've encountered the same problem with Honeywell HEPA filters for the past few years (a problem never encountered with Honeywell filters; in fact, I just got the Honeywell air filtration system for Aprilaire this is because those Honeywell replacement filters were starting to smell toxic and Aprilaire filters, at least with the first filter that came with the kit, didn't smell; when you buy replacement filters they are very smelly). Both companies currently manufacture their filters in China. I suspect it's the same manufacturer as the toxic smell is the same on both companies' filters and the Chinese manufacturer appears to be using a substance that emits gases in the manufacturing process. . An air filtration system is great by itself, but if you render your system useless due to the wrong choice of filter manufacturer, then the filtration system is worthless and deserves this rating. My Aprilaire tip: find another manufacturer, or better yet, make them yourself in America using non-gas-emitting materials. My advice to potential buyers: until the manufacturer fixes this problem, find another filtration system as you might be lucky enough to find filters that don't stink throughout the house with chemicals that make you feel bad. I called Aprilaire Technical Support and the rep pointed out that he had never heard of this issue before and tried to reason with me that the filters were made in Wisconsin, where their company is based, though it actually says on the box that i received the filter in , it said 'made in china'. (It wasn't a third-party knockoff; I bought the filter here from Revain and it had a large "Aprilaire" logo on the front of the box). I explained that this is a new phenomenon with both Aprilaire and Honeywell filters (and possibly others) and he seemed unconcerned and only interested in hanging up. I'm assuming this is a typical customer service representative, so perhaps the company will take the issue more seriously with this public review. I have already returned the other to Revain). Update (February 29, 2020): I still haven't received a response from Aprilaire to this review. However as it has been a few months since I posted above I thought I would purchase two replacement filters (Allergy + Pet model) here at Revain to see if the chemical smell would be a problem. After receiving the filters, I removed the packaging, held the filters up to my nose and tried to sniff them to see if I could detect a chemical smell. They had a slight odor, but it wasn't strong and not as "chemical" as before. As a precaution, I decided to leave them outside under a canopy for a few days (so they don't get wet when it rains) to air them out. At that point, I installed them in both of my filter systems, turned on the units, and sniffed the air coming out of the unit. It smelled slightly but negligible and didn't have a strong chemical odor (in other words it smelled like a new filter but not chemically toxic). I decided to leave those filters in place and run the unit to complete the residual gassing while I left the house with the broken window. After 12-24 hours I can say that there is no noticeable odor coming from the filters. This is reassuring and I will buy filters again in the future as the nasty chemical smell doesn't come back. I'd like to add: this filter system has five fan speeds, and at speed one or two it's very quiet. However, the lowest speed produces very little airflow, so I increase it to the next speed to increase the airflow while keeping the noise level down (even at this second fan speed, the airflow is small, but maybe adequate). As soon as you turn the device up to the third fan level (medium), the noise level of the device increases significantly and I would not find it pleasant to operate the device at this or a higher level for a longer period of time. In future iterations of this device, Aprilaire should work on reducing the noise generated by the device at higher fan speeds. the front of the removable door is solid) I find this design quite strange. Why not let air flow through the front of the unit? This would greatly increase the surface area through which air could enter and could reduce noise when the air is flowing through the device at a slower rate. food for thought. Some of the features I like: 1. The device has a fairly large bright green power light that can be turned off by putting the device to sleep. You can put your device to sleep mode 24/7 by turning off the timer that starts when you enter sleep mode. In sleep mode, there are no visible light sources to interfere with nighttime operation.2. Very quiet at the first two fan speeds.3. It is clear that the block and filters are examples of good quality construction. Update (04/07/2021): Well, I just bought two replacement filters and unfortunately they also have the toxic chemical smell that was previously reported. I put them outside, took them out of the box for a week to see if they would give off gas, but unfortunately that didn't work so I put them in a filtration system and ran the entire unit outside at high power several times Hour to see if that would get rid of the smell and that didn't work either. That's when I contacted Aprilaire's customer service to ask how I can get two filters that don't smell. Your support rep was less than helpful or interested. He said they import filters (yes I know, and what does it matter?). He claimed that they were unaware of this issue (I called them earlier to report this and this review has been posted here for two years). I offered to send them the filters so they could see for themselves but he wasn't interested and said I should contact the retailer I bought them from. I asked him again how to get two filters that don't smell, he said that I need to contact the seller I bought them from. Typical dismissive conglomerate that doesn't care. As long as they sell their product, they don't care if that product actually benefits your health. So if you have similar experiences, let them know so they take the issue seriously and stop using gas-generating substances. I mean really, why do we buy filters/filtration systems when they just put the very substances in the air that we are trying to breathe?