Read testers’ feedback on the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

This thread is for the 70 Mumsnetters who have been testing the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier (RRP £199.99).

Here’s what Fellowes have to say: “Studies indicate that indoor air can be up to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air. Combined with the fact that many people spend up to 90% of their time indoors, it starts to become clear why the quality of indoor air is so important. Environment Protection Agency
The Fellowes AeraMax™ Air Purifiers use a combination of the most effective filtration and cleaning methods as part of a 4-stage filtration process to remove 99.97% of airborne pollutants and particles down to 0.3 microns in size. This level of performance combined with a feature set and interface designed for any indoor environment, makes it the perfect clean air solution.”

Mumsnet bloggers have also reviewed the Fellowes AeraMax DX55. You can view their posts at emmaand3, hodgepodgedays, themadhouseofcatsandbabies, chammyirl and tantrumstosmiles.

Testers, please give your feedback on the Air Purifier by posting answers to the below questions as well as leaving any other comments you have, and filling in a short survey when this is emailed to you:

• Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?
• Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

All those who complete the required feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher.

Thanks,

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

From what I gather the machine has 2 filters , the hepa one needs changing yearly and the carbon ones need changing every 3 months , although I suppose that all depends on usage . I looked on Amazon and one hepa filter is around £30 and 4 carbon filters are also about £30 , so in theory £60 per year , which seemed quite reasonable to me . We now have ours left in the bedroom and my husbands catarrh has improved drastically , I'm very impressed.

Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

The air smells slightly cleaner, but despite living near a main road it is always blue. I suppose I am pleased that the air in the house is a lot cleaner than I feared.

Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

No, but hay fever season hasn't started yet. I am hoping that it will make a difference then.

Thanks for letting us test it!

The air feels fresher and somehow lighter when it's on.
My older son has been coughing less at night so far.
My younger currently has croup, so can't say for him.
So far I'm really impressed.

• Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

Yes. According to my mum who has asthma and is allergic to our (and her) animals the DX55 makes a big difference. The purifier switches up a gear and the lights show that it's working harder to purify the air when I spray deodorant or perfume. It definitely has improved the air quality in our home. I've also noticed cooking smells don't linger as they used to, which is brilliant in this weather as it's too cold to have the windows open.

• Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

Absolutely. Our son had a terrible cough that was worse at night and just wouldn't shift. It improved when we used the DX55 and has totally gone now. It might be co-incidence but I think the purifier helped a lot, even it if wasn't totally to thank for putting an end to the night time hacking. Also, my parents do a lot of childcare for us and we have cats and dogs. Being stuck indoors without windows open, as is the case in winter, always makes my mum's chest tight and she has noticed a marked improvement. Her nose also normally streams after being here for a while but we've made sure the purifier is in the living room when she comes over and this has stopped.

We'd looked into buying a purifier for a while but I wasn't convinced enough to take the plunge and spend £100+ on one. I was wrong. We love the DX55. It is quiet enough to use in DS's bedroom at night, it is small enough to be unobtrusive in our living space, it's also wonderfully portable. I don't know how we lived without one!

I'd never thought of buying something like this but was delighted to be chosen. I'm asthmatic and don't sleep well at all.

• Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

I've had a cough this week - normally a nightmare for me at night. I'm sure the air purifier has helped me cope. Have had it turned up a bit and right by the bed and I have had no trouble falling and staying asleep. Slightly dry lips but a small price to pay for a good night's sleep.

• Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

I have definitely been less wheezy and have slept better. I'm really interested to see how it is during spring and the pollen season - we live in the middle of the countryside and if the field opposite has rape seed, it's coughing and wheezing season for everyone. Might have been a really good time to do the product test??

My dd1 always suffers badly when she comes home from university - am really hoping it provides some relief for her. Don't know if it's the countryside or our house. If it helps her, I'll definitely buy another one.

The noise doesn't bother me at all at night and I'm one of the fussiest sleepers around. If the light bothered me, I'd simply prop something in front of the light I think.

Next job - when my sense of smell recovers after my bug - is to see if it makes ds's room smell fresh and lovely...

Thanks mumsnet - so far so good for me.

Have any of you testers looked at your filter - bleach!

One of my friends has gone out and bought one based on my experience, as her daughter has a constant runny nose, so it will be interesting to see how she fares with it too.!

Thanks so much for picking me as a tester.

• Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

Yes, I really feel it has, we have had it running in our bedroom since we got it as that's where the cat spends a lot of time during the day.
The bedroom window gets opened everyday but the room feels a lot less stuffy overnight & in the morning time.

• Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

DP has asthma & is prone to chest infections etc. He is breathing better overnight and is not waking up congested. He is also not snoring as much which is an extra bonus for me.

Floral Thankyou, that information is really useful

Reporting back in, as it's now been over a week since we set it up.

We've started to see a difference with DS1 which is amazing, his snuffling has greatly reduced and his room doesn't smell of 'boy' now.

Looking forward to hayfever season to see the difference it will make, although DS2 has horrendous hayfever so may feel compelled to buy one for him!!

I've been lucky enough to be trialling this air purifier for 11 days. We live near a busy road with a cat that is forever shedding from his thick coat.

- Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?
Yes. I have been experimenting by moving the purifier around the house.

--The purifier does leave a slight odour and chills the air but the air feels less musty/dusty. Not quite "Swiss Mountain" fresh, but certainly cleaner.

• It is particularly useful to have on when vacuuming.
• It appears to be good at preventing mildew (but I would need to trial it longer term to be sure about this).
• Not sure whether it is any good at picking up soot/exhaust particulates

I have tried moving the purifier to the front door/lobby when there have been lots of cars in slow traffic outside (about 10m away), but it either doesn't seem to react or we simply get soot in the lobby when we open and close our door.

- Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

Yes.

• My eyes are very sensitive to dust and cat hair so it has been rare for me not to wake in the morning with "sleep" in my eyes.....they have been fine after having the purifier on overnight.
• My nose is a lot less runny.

It will be good to see how good it is in the hay fever season.

General comments

• The power cable is only about a metre long. I think it would be a lot better if it had a retractable lead like a vacuum cleaner.
• The purifier seems to go into "red mode" at random. Once it went red for a good 30 minutes (when I'd been sat working at a computer for a good hour without moving) after it had been on for a day. Another time it had been on blue all day in the bedroom and suddenly decided to go red mid-evening without anybody/thing changing.

I am really glad I was given the chance to try out a purifier. It isn't something I'd thought to look for, but I will definitely be lending it to friends and family to trial.

• Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

Yes, we recently moved into a very old house that had that 'old orevious owner' smell that people have commented on. Since using the purifier the house smells fresher and that smell has been reduced. The real test however was when my son was sick in his room the previous night, we moved the purifier to his room and the sick smell was reduced by the morning.

• Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since

My husbands sneezing has been reduced hugely, which we've all noticed. Hopefully this will continue.

Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

Yes I believe it has a lot. The air has a different smell to it, a fresher smell. It really does seem as though the air is a higher quality. We've noticed it going from a constant blue, up to orange, and sometimes red at points when we would expect that. It's mostly on blue at the moment where we have put it in the living room.

Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

We've been using it daily and everyone has been fine. Yesterday we forgot to switch it on in the morning and so it was off all day. My husband noticed his skin was itchy yesterday and today and a few of us have been sneezing a lot. More importantly, two of my little girls, have severe asthma and they have both required their reliever inhalers today and been coughing again. They were both absolutely fine since we first started using the purifier and did seem improved in their asthma symptoms along with none of us sneezing or having allergy symptoms.

I think it's been brilliant and am so glad that we are able to test this purifier, I would never have thought it could make such a difference until now. It isn't something we would usually buy due to the cost but now we will definitely keep on using it!

Update on my original feedback.

My son had a sickness bug so I placed the air purifier in the hall outside his room and Neither me or husband caught the bug and the smell of sick was reduced.

It seems to ramp up when the dog walks past it and if my plug in airfresher changes to a particular scent (one of the ambi pure plug ins)

I tend to put it in my sons bedroom all day before placing it in mine, it's like you're breathing in air from the top of a mountain, it's so crisp and fresh.

Looking forward to allergy season to really test it.

I've noticed that if I ha e the front door open for any period (we are on a busy road) it immediately goes red and stays red for quite a while.

Although I've been ill with coughs and so has my DD, DH and DS have avoided it so hopefully it has reduced the bugs in the air.

Quick update. Mine was given a massive workout yesterday as I did a mini spring clean of three bedrooms, de-cluttering drawers as I went - poor little machine was worn out by the end of it so was I, and was on red/amber more as I suppose I disturbed some all the dust.

Really happy with the performance so far.

Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?
It's been in my son's room as he has the allergies and asthma. The room smells really clear is the best way to describe things, normally it smells of a very windy boy. He has been using it happily and is turning it on when he's in his room. He has a bit of a nocturnal cough and I haven't heard this whilst it's been in use.

• Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

Weirdly I've realised that my persistent rhinitis has improved, normally my sense of smell is poor but in the last couple of days I've been able to smell better. The air purifier isn't in our room but across a landing. My son hasn't had any wheezing whilst he's been using it but I am eager to see how he is when the pollen count rises as he's always worse in the evenings at home.

Thank you for the opportunity to test this air purifier. The whole family has enjoyed watching out for it changing colour.

Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?
Yes, I think the air quality has improved since using the purifier. The air has a cleaner smell once it has been on for a while. My DH noticed that when it was first put on there was quite a strange smell in the air, which he was concerned would set off his asthma. This smell disappeared after about 15 mins and then he was more than happy to come into the room and agreed that the air did now feel fresher. When used in DSs (8 yrs) room it made the air feel and smell much less stale within 30mins, which I thought was very quick.

Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you've been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier I have noticed that DH hasn't needed to use his reliever inhaler since we plugged in the air purifier, he had been needing it a few times a week for the last month. There is also less snoring from DS after it has been in his room.

Other comments: The lights on the control panel are really bright- a cover for them would be great for use in a bedroom. The fan is incredibly quiet when on 'blue' setting but there is a very high pitched electrical whine which can get very annoying at night. It is great that it can be left on auto setting to purify the air as an when it is needed.

Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

No. I have tried in various areas of our house and it was blue in every room. I don't like the smell it makes when it is on but DH doesn't seem bothered about the smell. I agree with others, the lights are bright at night and it's a pain not being able to have it closer to a wall, where it's less likely to trip up clumsy people 😉

Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier? Not as yet, but it's early days and I suppose we might see more in the summer when the allergies get worse.

Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

Not really, but I think its very early days.

Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

Again, not really. Not a huge improvement.
This may have to do with the fact that it lives on the landing upstairs as I found the lights too bright in my bedroom (it woke me up). If the lights could be dimmed at night it would help. It is very quiet.

Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?
Yes, especially in my DS's room (where I have been using it the most), it actually feels different when you walk into the room, and did so after the first day of use, which I didn't think would be possible!

• Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

Yes, I have noticed a big difference in my DS, youngest DD and myself.
My DS & DD have been sneezing/coughing less than before, especially when I have used it during the night. I have also not had any major sneezing fits during the day since using the AeraMax. My DH has also commented on the difference it has made to how his chest feels when he is at home, at the weekends.

I wasn't expecting to see/feel the differences I have since using an Air Purifier,and have been impressed by the AeraMax. I have also noticed a pattern in the air quality in my home since using it, as the AeraMax alerts me to when it is clean/poor and automatically adjusts to this (the afternoon seems to be poorest quality) . I was also surprised at how quiet it is on auto setting.

I am going to have to invest in another one. :)

Quick update. We're loving the air purifier! It's making such a difference to my year round allergies/blocked nose/itchy eyes/wheeziness. I'm a complete convert! We've got it running 24/7, hope that's OK and it won't conk out from overuse...

Not sure whether it is due to aeramax or not but before this arrived dd and I had colds and coughs, normally dh will always catch it and end up with chest infection following it with courses of oral steroids and occasionally hospital admissions so we moved aeramax to his side of our home and he hadn't caught it. This NEVER happens so can only assume it's the aeramax filtering out germs. If he stays germ free may consider buying another aeramax for downstairs

Bedroom not home 🙄

• Do you feel like using the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 Air Purifier has changed the quality of your air?

Yes you can tell which room it's been running in as it feels crisp and fresh.
Cooking smells disappear too so make kitchen more pleasant and I'm happier putting clothes airer in there once it's been on.

• Have you or your family members noticed any change in the symptoms of allergies or breathing since you’ve been using the Fellowes AeraMax air purifier?

Newborn has been suffering from a cold - don't know how much purifier has helped but suspect it has made it easier. Expect my son's pollen allergy will be helped in summer. Hope it improves his mood during summer months.

Other feedback. Power lead needs to be longer. Lights need to be much dimmer. I don't like any light when sleeping!

Ds saw respiratory consultant yesterday and although his asthma is fairly severe at presentds's consultant wholeheartedly supported the use of the purifier and believes in time we should see an improvement we just need to dampen it down with steroids first. Ds is sleeping better anyway even if the improvement isn't showing in his levels just yet.