Honeywell HPA3300BV1 PowerPlus Air Purifier review 2021 - Business Insider
- These are the Honeywell HPA3300BV1 PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier specs at a glance
- Set up
- Review of Honeywell PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier
- Cons to consider
- Should you buy it?
- The bottom line
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- I love air purifiers because I'm allergic to pet dander, yet I live with two cats and a dog.
- I've tested over 30 air purifiers, and the Honeywell PowerPlus True HEPA Purifier is my favorite.
- It adjusts the fan based on air quality to give an efficient balance of performance and power use.
- Find out more about how Insider Reviews tests and reviews home products.
Pollen. Pet dander. Smoke. You name the air irritant, and I'm allergic to it. To mitigate my allergies, I've tested dozens of air purifiers, and only the best remain in my home to keep me from sneezing and itching my eyes raw. The best of the best is the Honeywell HPA3300BV1 PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier.
In its 115-year history, Honeywell has risen to the top of several industries, including consumer HVAC appliances. The PowerPlus air purifier is an example of the company's quality.
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It automatically boosts the fan speed to clean quickly when the air quality is poor and slows when it's good. This keeps energy consumption to a minimum. The PowerPlus is also easy to maintain and includes an indicator light that tells you when to replace the widely available filters.
These are the Honeywell HPA3300BV1 PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier specs at a glance
Honeywell HPA3300BV1 PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier | Specs |
| Clean air delivery rate (CADR) | 335 cubic feet per minute (cfm) |
| Recommended room size | 637 square feet |
| Weight | 20.6 pounds |
| Dimensions | 10.79 x 19.13 x 22.3 inches |
| Energy Star-certified | Yes |
| Auto mode | Yes |
| Type of filter(s) | True HEPA and prefilter |
| Filter replacement | $110 yearly |
Set up
Setting up the Honeywell PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier was simple and took about five minutes. The process is similar to other purifiers. After removing the unit from the box, open the front panel and remove the plastic from the filters. Reinstall the filters, plug the unit in, and start cleaning your air.
The Honeywell air purifier has five different cleaning settings:
- Germ: aims to capture germs
- General clean: for dust and general air cleaning
- Allergen: optimized to collect allergens
- Turbo: for quickly cleaning the air and reducing VOCs and odors
- Auto: The air purifier senses the VOCs in the air and adjusts the fan speed. The fan runs on high when the air quality is poor (i.e., higher VOC levels). When the air quality is good, the fan slows down.
Whether I'm testing an air purifier or using it for personal needs, I keep it in auto mode to get the right balance of power use and air cleaning.
Review of Honeywell PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier
The Honeywell PowerPlus HEPA Air Purifier (model HPA3300) is the only air purifier we've tested that does a great job of removing both particulate matter and VOCs. To test how well an air purifier cleans the air, we burn incense in a closed (not sealed) 200-square-foot room and run the unit on Auto mode. Then we take air quality readings every 15 minutes.
According to the air quality monitor, the Honeywell PowerPlus removed all of the particulate matter from the air in the room within an hour of the incense burning out. This made it one of the fastest cleaning purifiers we tested.
By the end of the testing period, the VOC reading had decreased by 64% from its peak. This was also one of the best cleaning performances. For even better VOC removal, Honeywell offers an optional S filter that also helps with pet odors. However, I have not tested it.
Here's a breakdown of well the Honeywell PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier removed particulate matter (PM) and VOCs in our testing:
| | 0 min. (start incense) | 15 min. (start purifier) | 30 min. | 45 min. (end incense) | 60 min. | 75 min. | 90 min. | 105 min. | 120 min. |
| PM | 3 | 96 | 75 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| VOCs | 242 | 989 | 3318 | 3660 | 2835 | 2081 | 1760 | 1532 | 1304 |
Cleaning and maintaining the HPA3300 is almost effortless. Honeywell recommends wiping the unit down with a dry cloth at least once every three months. The face of the purifier has indicator lights letting you know when to replace the pre-filter (every three months) and the HEPA filter (every 12 months).
Expect to spend $110 each year to replace the filters, which is about average among the air purifiers we've tested. The filters are widely available, including online at Amazon and Home Depot.
In my tests, I've found the air purifiers that do the best job of cleaning tend to use the most power. Despite its impressive air-cleaning performance, the Energy Star-certified Honeywell PowerPlus was in the middle of the pack in energy consumption, using 0.7 kWh of electricity in auto mode over 24 hours.
Cons to consider
The biggest negative with the Honeywell PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier is how loud it gets. On Turbo, it was 58.9 decibels from 4 feet away.
I use the purifier in my living room, where my family watches streaming media. When my wife is vaping, the auto mode amps up to clear the air and drowns out our show's audio. We can turn it up and still hear, but it gets loud. Fortunately, on its lowest setting, the purifier is no louder than ambient sound.
At more than 20 pounds, the Honeywell HPA3300 is heavy, especially when you try to carry it one-handed. Yet there's only one handle, which is located in the middle of the unit. Consequently, this may not be the ideal air purifier if you're looking for something portable.
Should you buy it?
At $269 plus a yearly cost of about $110, the Honeywell PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier isn't cheap. But when you consider how much air it cleans — a 637-square-foot room four times in an hour — it's a great deal. With its reasonable price and impressive performance in our tests, it earned the top spot in our guide to the best air purifiers.
If the HPA3300 is too expensive, I'd recommend our budget pick, the Lasko LP300. It currently costs about $87 and has affordable filter replacements.
The bottom line
Despite its negatives and costs, we strongly recommend the Honeywell PowerPlus True HEPA Air Purifier because it can effectively and efficiently remove particulate matter and VOCs from the air. It has minimal maintenance needs, and the filters are widely available. I have tried dozens of air purifiers, and this is the one I use in my home.
Pros: Energy Star-certified, widely available filters, did the best job in our air purifying tests, has the highest CADR of any unit we recommend, effortless setup and maintenance
Cons: Operates loudly in turbo mode, heavy
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