Bionaire BAP1550 Air Purifier with Permanent Filters - No need for costly replacement filters - simply vacuum!

I had previously been using the smaller BAP242 in the Bionaire range and have found it really useful but unfortunately it didn't filter a huge area. So I have now purchased this BAP1550 model as it covers all the same great elements such as mould spores, pollen, dust mite faeces and most importantly for me the pet dander as I have become very allergic to my dog and cat but can't bear to part with them. This unit does a much bigger area, it is very quiet in operation and after a few hours of being on I felt so much better. I have had my unit for 7 months now and have had no problems with, in fact I'm thinking about buying another one to go upstairs in my home, I'm that impressed!

I got a BAP1550 a month ago and although that isn't enough time for me to comment on the reliability of the unit, I will say that it's been switched on for the vast majority of the time I've had it without any problems it so I'm hoping that's a good omen. However, and I don't know if this is unique to mine, if I unplug it for any period of time, when I turn it back on it makes a noise like electrics shorting out. This clears after a few hours so it doesn't seem to be a major problem, but if it happens to you it might concern you if you're not prepared for it.

The unit itself is bigger than I expected, standing almost 3 feet off the ground, or not that far off your waist if you're of `average-ish' height. An indentation at the back under the top section serves as a sort of carrying handle, although as the machine is weighted more at the bottom, it does have a tendency to `lean' forward when being carried this way. This handle also has no texture to it so if you're in the habit of moving the unit around the house, I would advise you take care to hold it securely.

The BAP1550 is very simple to use; after you've inserted the included HEPA filters into the back (although mine were already in there), you just turn it on and leave it be. A control panel on the top lets you turn the machine on and off, change the fan speed setting and turn the ioniser on and off. I tend to keep the ioniser on, as this is supposed to help the cleaning process, although I couldn't really say whether it does or not. With the machine you also get an infra-red remote which has the same controls as the main panel. This is a pretty thoughtful addition, although to me it seems perhaps a bit pointless as once the unit is on and running, other than changing the speed there's very little to do with it. The remote looks just like the unit's control panel, so I'm starting to think how cool it would have been if it could have `docked' into the main unit to be used as the panel itself.

The machine has three speed settings - low, medium and high - with the medium one being the one you'll probably use most of the time. High is for cleaning particularly dusty rooms but should only be used for short periods, whilst Bionaire suggest in their product blurb that the low setting is for quieter locations like in a bedroom at night. If you're anything like me this just isn't practical; the machine isn't particularly noisy for its size but even on low it still puts out enough sound to be noticeable, in fact it sounds a lot like my PS3 as it goes through its various fan cycles. If it isn't being used in a bedroom then I see no reason why it shouldn't be left on overnight, in fact Bionaire actually recommend that you leave it on full-time at the medium setting as this is how it was designed to be used.

Other than the noise (which I admit is relative), the only real problem with the BAP1550 is something that would apply to most purifiers, I would imagine, and that is that it doesn't move the air around the room too much, only sucking in what comes near the intake vents on the back. Even with the unit turned on for around 16 hours a day, I still find enough dust around my TV to know that it's not picking up a massive percentage of the muck in the air. Nevertheless, even after only a month it's amazing just how dirty the vents have got, showing that plenty of dust is entering the machine that otherwise would have stayed in the room. I've had air purifiers before and to be honest they've all been a bit of a let-down, blatantly not cleaning as well as advertised. The BAP1550 is definitely the best and most industrious one I've had (as evidenced by the dirty intake vents) and a worthwhile purchase if it keeps sucking in the dust that it looks to be doing.

As one other reviewer says, this unit doesn't move the air around much, so it misses as much dust as it gets. Definitely better than not having one, but don't expect too much. I use it in a smallish room (16 sq m) and we notice a definite cooling of the air coming out of the unit, which feels like an unwanted draught.