Air Flex Air Purifier and Room Fan

I own 4 of these now. I have used many different filters in the past 20 years, mostly 3M and Honeywell. The Lasko box fan filter is the most value for your dollar. Before they even made these I use to tape a 20x20 filter onto the back of my original Laskso fan. Pros The design is simple and very easy to change the filter. You can use filters from many different companies so there is a huge secondary market instead of being pigeon holed into using a specific filter designed only for your model. Despite complaints about airflow, depending on the type of filter you are using, it moves a lot of air. I use a MERV 14 filter and leave it on low. No complaints. It's easy and convenient to clean, transport and store. Cons Loud, even when on the low setting. The higher the MERV rating of your filter, the louder it gets. It's not designed for cooling. Unless you remove the filter which defeats the purpose, this is not designed to provide a cooling effect. The airflow is weak and turbulent. You will get breeze from it but this is primarily for being left in corner to constantly clean the air. Conclusion If you're looking for an inexpensive yet very effective way of cleaning the air in your home or office then this is the best value on the market. If you are looking to cool yourself off in the summer consider a regular Lasko fan or just removing the filter temporarily. Suggestions For everyday use and to get the most out of your purchase, use a MERV 14 filter. When cleaning your home or office, to effectively collect all the dust being kicked up, switch out the filter for a MERV 8 or 11 to significantly increase airflow.

I bought this combo box fan with filter tray attachment because I've actually been doing the DIY version for 5+ years. The DIY version isn't really that attractive, but it works to circulate moist basement air and clear out the cat dander. I wanted the nice version to put in my guest room/office. I've included pictures of both the Lasko fan + filter and my DIY fan + filter as comparison. You can see in my cheap version, I had to carve a hole out of the center back of the filter to make way for the plug. I just bought a cheap box fan from Target during all of the back to school sales. The plug helps keep the filter on, but I've seen a lot of people tape the filter to the fan to get it to stay nicely. The most noticeable difference between the Lasko and my DIY is the air throughput. The Lasko on setting 1 still very visibly moves air and feels like a pretty steady breeze. If I want that same feeling on my DIY version, I have to crank it to setting 3. Though the Lasko filter is MERV10 and my DIY version has a MERV14 filter. I assure you, there IS a difference. I will switch to the MERV14 after this fan has had a year of use. I also included a picture of the last time I changed out my MERV14 filter on my DIY solution. That filter actually represents 2 years of use. My box fan is on a timer to run daily from 10am-2pm. So 4 hours a day for 730 days equals out to almost 3,000 hours of runtime. It was pretty filthy. I recommend once a year if you run it as frequently as I do. But many people run theirs all night, so that'd shorten the filter life to more like 6 months. I have 2 long fur cats and frequently keep my windows open rather than use air conditioning. My DIY version has helped tremendously in my basement to cut down stale moist air and cat litterbox smell. People cannot smell my cat boxes even though I only clean them twice a week. My friends who are allergic to cats are 100% fine in my home. I look forward to the nice Lasko version freshening the air in the upstairs of my house too!

Lasko Air Flex 2-in-1 20-inch Box Fan and Air Purifier in One This product fills a niche between ordinary fans and HEPA air purifiers. I wanted something like this for years, since I tried putting a pleated furnace filter on an old Lasko box fan but after a few months of use could smell the motor starting to burn up. Family members are allergic to pollen, so with this fan on cool evenings I can finally open the windows and use this fan to blow in cool, filtered air. I substituted a MERV 8 filter that's enough to filter pollen and still provide decent air flow (enough to still consider it a fan!) The MERV 8 filters ("FPR" 4-5), rated to capture 70 - 84.9% of 3 - 10 Micron particles, were 3 for $10-13 at a local home improvement store. You can't get more economical than that. After 3 years using it 2-3 hrs/day in the summer I'm still satisfied with the air flow (I do vacuum out the filter occasionally using a bagged upright vacuum with a high efficiency dust bag). I recently tried it as an air purifier by putting in a brand new 3M Filtrete MPR 2500 (MERV 14) filter. 3M rates these as removing 77% of 0.3 - 1 Micron particles (compared to HEPA 99.97%), but the air flow is very low. Low enough that it's not really a fan any more; with this filter I can barely feel any air flow 2' from the fan. Lasko says the Air Flex has a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of 42; they don't specify if this is for pollen, dust or smoke. 42 is very low which is why I can barely feel air moving through with the MERV 14 filter. For comparison a Honewyell HPA-200 has a CADR of 180 for pollen and 200 for tobacco smoke. The HPA-200 is about 2.5 times the price, but it provides a much higher rate of filtered air, though it's pretty useless as a cooling fan since it blows straight up. I also tried the MERV 10 filter that came with the Air Flex. I think the air flow is a little better with the MERV 8, and the price is definitely better. For reference, here are filter efficiency specs from several internet sites: _____ MERV ___Micron particle size _______#_____ 0.3-1____1-3_____3-10 MERV _8_____ <20%___<20%___70-85% MERV 10_____ <20%___50-64%_>=85% MERV 14_____ 75-84%_>=90%__>=90% While the MERV 10 filter must capture more of something than the MERV 8, it's still not going to do much for smoke because "Particles from smoke tend to be very small, with a size range near the wavelength of visible light (0.4–0.7 micrometers)" (WILDFIRE SMOKE: A GUIDE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS, P. 12. EPA Aug 2019). HEPA air purifiers are overkill if you only have allergies and need to filter pollen. The cost of replacement HEPA filters in 1-2 years would be more than this whole fan. So if you want to save money, cool yourself off, and filter pollen, mold spores, and most dust, get this and put a MERV 8 filter in it. Once you have it, in a pinch if you need to purify a small amount of air because of smoke, airborne virus particles, etc. you can put a MERV 13 or 14 filter in and it will help a little bit. But if you really need to *purify* a lot of air, and don't need a cooling fan, buy a HEPA air purifier. I made two videos to try to demonstrate the difference in air flow, not knowing Amazon only allowed 1 video per review. The videos don't show the full effect you feel: with MERV 8 you can still feel a cooling breeze, not with MERV 14. I included the MERV 14 video, but you'll have to take my word for it that although the streamer (tissue) moving quite a bit, it's a wimpy breeze. P.S. if someone has had success taping a pleated filter to an ordinary box fan and it worked for years, please post the details (like which brand and model of fan & filter). 18 Jan 2022 update: added MERV 14 info. 4 Dec 2023 update: updated years of use and MERV 8 filter price. Increased rating from 4 to 5 because long term use demonstrates it still performs as it did when new. Reformatted the MERV 8,10,14 table for (hopefully) better readability. Also bought a 2nd one for my son, who requested it instead of an air purifier.

This only arrived yesterday so I may need to update this, but, based on this limited experience I can already tell what a lot of writers of negative reviews seem to fail to understand. This is not an air purifier AND a fan, it's an air purifier OR a fan. That's a subtle, yet significant difference. Take the filter out, it's a fan, and quite a forceful one. Put the filter in, it's an air purifier, and not a fan. Thus all the people complaining about a lack of air flow I can only say either take the filter out or adjust your unreasonable expectations. Of course the air flow is significantly less if you put a MERV 10 or higher filter in there. It would be weird if the filter didn't have that effect. Having said that, there is still considerable air flow with the filter in it so I don't know where the complaints are based on that claim there is almost no discernable air flow when the filter is in. Perhaps your filter is old and completely clogged up? Is it loud? That depends on its location. In my case, I use it in my garage either as a fan with hot weather or to ventilate after a painting project, or, after wood sawing, as an air purifier. In that location, the volume of the thing does not exceed my expectations. If you put this in your bedroom while you're trying to sleep, well, there are better products on the market for that purpose. My guess is this thing was developed with shopworkers in mind who were MacGyvering filters with ducttape to a box fan and burning up the fan. With that purpose in mind, I think this thing is perfect. In fact, it's how I found it after watching a few of those DIY videos on YouTube. The thought occurred "might there be a box fan with a built-in filter available?" Lo and behold, there is one. This is it folks. You can't water ski with it either, but that doesn't justifiy anything less than five stars. UPDATE: May 2023. I've had this fantastic fan for two years now and it is exactly as I described on day two when I wrote the above review. At one point I broke one of the feet of the fan, but learned you can actually order a replacement for it for something like $8. This thing really proves its value when using my table saw. I have a shopvac hooked up to the table saw, I use my table saw on the edge of my garage, and then I use the fan (without filter) to blow from behind me to ensure no sawdust gets into the garage. This works great. When it's too cold to open the garage door, I hang the fan (with filter this time) on a hook from the garage door rails, and let it do its thing for an hour after I'm done. The random rocking left to right from the fan on the hook ensures that all the air in the garage has gone through the filter at least once, and all the fine particles have been filtered out. By now, I have replaced the original MERV 10 filter with a MERV 13 filter so it gets even smaller particles. It's great!

Almost didn't purchase as had seen a different false review stating the 3M Merv 14 MPR 2500 Filtrete Filters wouldn't fit, but they do actually fit in perfectly without being buckled or squashed. Granted it is a tight fit and you need to insert in properly and make sure you mount the bottom flat edge in first so you can use hand pressure to flex top plastic to get inserted while making sure the 2 side rotating clips are fully out of the way, but it does fit perfect per attached picture. Cheapest online place I found to buy the filters was Costco 4 pack. Works great blowing close to desk chair, but this is nowhere near airflow of a regular Box Fan as most reviews mentioned, it is just a cheap air-purifier substitute with low airflow on lowest acceptable sound volume speed 1 and unsure of motor lifespan so giving 4 star rating to start. 2024-07-17 Update - Ordered a 2nd Unit and shipping box arrived damaged which damaged unit inside. Received replacement unit from Amazon and the fan motor itself has an issue as it is nowhere near the 3 speeds of the original good unit I own as the highest speed 3 on the 2nd unit is not even 1/2 the fan speed and airflow CFM on slowest level 1 speed on my first unit and it is very noticeable just by the sound difference between the 2 units. I never would have known the motor/potentiometer dial on the 2nd unit isn't working properly if I didn't already own one so reducing star rating from 4 to 3 stars for potentially poor Lasko quality control.

I think of this more as an "air purifier/filter" than a "fan." I wouldn't expect amazing airflow compared to similar sized fans. This is totally different though! This is an "air purifier/filter" for people who aren't too concerned with appearance, size, or noise, and just want a basic air purifier that has EASY TO REPLACE filters. None of that B.S. where you have to buy one company's specific model XYZ-123 filter, which is outrageously priced and they will discontinue in a few years. With these, you can get a generic replacement filter at the supermarket or hardware store. I saw one review mentioning that the bottom is only held together with a blue piece of tape. I saw mine was shipped the same way and was worried until I read the instructions. There are two plastic feet that clamp onto the bottom, but mine were wrapped up in the top piece of cardboard. So don't throw that out without fishing out the feet. How did I decide on this particular model? The main reason is the easy to replace filters. I did some research on DIY box fan + air filter air purifiers, and Lasko happened to reveal this product at the same time. If you want something that looks different, try Etsy... they make wooden cases to hold together box fans and filters, but I doubt they reengineer the fan to better handle the load put on it by the air filter. That's pretty much it, but you can read on if you want to hear my very limited experience with DIY fan + air filter purifiers. ------------------------------ Last fall, with the wildfire and coronavirus events in the US, I began researching different air purifiers, including DIY box fan air purifiers. I have several parrots and was moving into a new place. Birds have a very sensitive respiratory system, and certain gases and airborne things can easily kill them. Birds also produce a lot of feather dust. I'd also been experiencing ongoing allergies (not bird related), and first decided upgrade my home furnace a/c filters with a higher rating. (My family had always just bought cheap ones). That made such a difference! I stopped waking up with a runny or congested nose, and with a dry / sore throat. So I looked into air purifiers again, specifically for the area where the birds are. Due to the aforementioned events, many of the top rated ones were sold out! I saw a video somewhere of DIY box fan + filter air purifier, and started googling. One potential issue with the box fan air purifiers is that adding the filter puts more resistance (I think is the term) on the fan blades, making the engine work harder, and potentially reducing the lifespan of the fan. (Plus it might be a safety issue?) I tried making a DIY air purifier out of a basic (non-box) table top fan + a highly rated HEPA filter. Hahaha. The filter was a slightly smaller size than the front face of the fan, and so most of the air just went around the filter. I could also hear the difference in the fan... it was working much harder. I read somewhere else that if you have a long air column (cylinder) between the fan blades and the filter, it helps because it builds up pressure or something. So I bought a lampshade, set it on the fan's face, and put the filter on the other side of that. It worked better, and air went through the filter.. barely. But it did pass through! I set a tissue on the filter and it would hover and slide off, like an air hockey table. The contraption looked ridiculous, and I was about to buy a box fan to make a new DIY purifier, when I came across this on Lasko's website. I was thrilled! Until I saw that it had not been released yet. (This was in September). I am glad that I finally was able to snag one of these. Great design that addresses so many issues the DIY box fan + filter air purifiers brought up. Thanks Lasko

It's a box fan with a filter attached. Its simple and works and maybe it won't clean the more intense particles from the air but it gets a lot. At level 1 the noise is low, but at levels 2 and 3 it gets loud. Sounds like a little turbine. I don't mind it because I enjoy the white noise but if you want quiet, this is not it. Still, it works best for getting that outside air inside without adding whatever particles inside. I'm very happy with it and appreciate the simple design that works for what I wanted, the cost can be a downside but you pay for convenience.

I really wanted to like this.. really did. Landlord bans AC units so I was going to stick this in a window instead, but not only was it too large for the window I wanted to seat it in (which fits a normal box fan just fine), whoever screwed it together wasn't paying a lot of attention (see pics). Because it was screwed together wonky, it was a bit warped and the two front 'feet' (which were just flaps on the front panel) were disproportionate and it stood up wonky on flat surfaces. Also, it's not gesketed at all so there's not a perfect seal between the back plate that holds the filter and the rest of the fan. You need to put the feet on to keep the back panel (which houses the filter) on, but it wouldn't fit in the window at all with the feet. I returned this (still waiting on refund) and was glad I was able to jimmy one of the feet off with a screwdriver without damaging it because the warped frame made it stuck, and I couldn't put it back in the box with the feet on. Also beware if you get this thing and intend to use a filter by 3M or any other producer of filters. I got the same exact size as the one advertzed (which I also returned since now I have no use for them) but of a higher grade, and they were super SUPER snug. Also the last image shows some kinda reddish schmutz on the fan blade. Blood maybe? No idea. Never actually used it, and that stuff was on it when I unboxed it.