Rabbit Air BioGS (model 582A - covers 780 sq. ft.) High Quality Ultra-Quiet Air Purifier - Low Maintenance - Washable Filters!, Silver w/ Chrome Accents
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Our Price: $399.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Rabbit Air BioGS (model 582A - covers 780 sq. ft.) High Quality Ultra-Quiet Air Purifier - Low Maintenance - Washable Filters!, Silver w/ Chrome Accents
Customer Review: BioGS 582A - not bad for the money
Summary: 4 Stars
Let me start off with the negative points, but qualifying that by saying this is a positive review;
- There doesn't seem to be much difference between the 582A and the lower-coverage 421A, except for the calibrated fan speeds. If you don't intend to run the unit "full-tilt", or if noise is a concern, you're better off saving the extra 70$ and buying the 421A.
- The "auto" mode seems to be of dubious value, and will significantly reduce the coverage area of the unit, because it relies on the on-board sensors to adjust fan speed, and they can't sample air quality over the entire advertised coverage area unless the unit is on very high. You can test this yourself by hitting the "turbo" button -- the dust/odor sensor will spike as the unit pulls in more air. You'll be better off to manually set the fan to the highest setting that you find acceptable (noise-wise), and purchasing multiple units for coverage. See my previous comments about the 421A.
- The "odor" sensor seems to be possessed. I assume the manufacturer is using some sort of an industrial chemical sensor, so it goes off at mysterious times for mysterious reasons. Unfortunately, it can't be disabled (easily). You'll notice this feature is missing from the new microA2 model.
- My 582A shakes at low fan speed, no doubt because of an imbalance in the internal fan (which is oddly somewhat off-center). This problem is entirely cosmetic, as the unit makes no additional noise as a result, but the shaking is oddly disconcerting and wouldn't exist if the fan's axis was at the center of the unit.
The good stuff;
- For the money, you would be hard pressed to buy a similar device.
- The five year warranty is exceptional, although the unit is of such simple design, its hard to imagine anything breaking or wearing out.
- The multistage filtration system is well conceived, filter life is excellent, and replacement costs are low.
- When run at an appropriate speed with a reasonable coverage area, the unit is quiet and power efficient.
- It will actually remove many household odors, despite the oddities of the sensor.
Customer Review: An excellent purchase.
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Rabbit Air BioGP based on the reviews for this product and its sibbling the 421A which I have to say are dead on. This IS a great product.
My previous experience with air purifiers comes from owning an Ionic Breeze Quadro which I thought did a good job with getting the large dust particles, but it took forever to do so. This product, with a fan, does the job much faster than the Ionic Breeze, and it doesn't produce an annoying ozone smell which sickened some and did not bother others. With multiple fan speeds, the BioGP does a great job of quickly removing particles in the air and switching to silent mode when on the 'auto' setting. The sensors quickly pick up on floating dust and odors and indicates the level measured on the front panel. At full speed on the 528A model it is as loud as a Vornado fan.
As for the real world performance, I no longer have a stuffy nose while working in my room and upon waking in the morning which caused other issues while trying to treat. Despite vaccumming the room weekly and dusting, the allergies to dust and or dustmites continued. Though I am happy I no longer have a stuffy nose while at home, I do not think the negative ions help in any noticable way to make myself feel happier or better. Yet, it remains turned on. I also do not think it hurts in any noticable way.
Things I dislike about the unit are the lack of control on the front unit. If the remote is ever lost it would be impossible to control the unit other than powering it on. This may be a mute issue though since it is always on 'auto' setting. Another point of dislike is the odor setting. Any type of odor, pleasant or disliked will set the unit off. This includes food, shoes, shampoo and the dog. You have to remove the source of the odor in order to get the unit to go back into silent operation or put the unit in 'silent' mode through the remote.
Overall, I am so happy with this unit and will buy another or the 421A model for other rooms.
Cliffs: I am very happy with the unit as it helped with my dust allergies. It has some design flaws but its performance is great. I will be buying more for the home.
Customer Review: excellent air cleaner
Summary: 5 Stars
I have two bluair cleaners and though they are good and top rated, they are huge and not attractive so remain in basement, out of the way, locations. These Rabbit Air cleaners not only do an excellent job of keeping the air fresh, they increase the cleaning process when they detect allergens or contaminants in the air. This allows one to know what is coming in that needs to be cleaned so one can sometimes track down a source and eliminate or reduce that source. It is very easy to clean with the washable filters and one can see if one is getting a considerable amount of dust or certain other elements that might be in the air. Cleaning the sensor with vacuum is also easy. I do not know how long the sensor lasts, at some point this might need to be replaced and I have not found any indicator that lets one know how long that might be. However as an air cleaner it is quiet even in the highest setting, not silent but definitely not too noisy. In normal mode it is silent and it does have a night time mode, special mode in allergy seasons to specifically detect allergens, and a clean mountain air mode. If this is in a kitchen or area one knows has high debris or bad air to clean, set it to super mode and it works full force until the air is clean, then turns itself down to normal mode which is silent but still working.
I have used the Sharper Image Ionizer and others but this is far superior though must admit bigger so not invisible in place. Still it is superior. In winter I use this in combination with Venta air washers to humidify the air and have two air cleaners working. this and the Venta. In summer Venta puts too much humidity in the air for my region so only the Rabbit Air and the BioGS does seem to reduce the germs in the air. Often when I have guests with flu I tend to get it as well but with this, I do not get it. Additionally, during flu season when I come in having slight symptoms of flu and remain in the room with the BioGS, my symptoms are gone by morning so they do not just keep circulating in the air for me to continue to contaminate myself with the germs.
Best of breed for certain.
Customer Review: Doesn't live up to the five star ratings or $$$
Summary: 3 Stars
I have owned and used the unit for approx. 4 months.
On the plus side, the unit is very quiet. On it's lowest setting you can hardly hear it. It has been consistently running during the entire 4 months.
The appearance of the unit is nicely designed. However, the chrome/silver unit appears in the picture to be metal but it's all plastic and the center sticker/label is falling off.
On the negative side, it has not reduced the amount of dust in a very dusty new construction residence with two furry pets.
I have to clean/replace the Air Conditioning filter in the residence every 30 days and it's always packed with dust. Every time I check the filters in this Rabbit Air unit, they are clean which is certainly not a good sign. In the entire 4 months time that I've had this unit the filters have accumulated about 1/4th of the dust/pollutants that the AC filter accumulates in just 30 days.
The units "Auto" feature is seemingly flawed in its design. When you turn it on it measures the air quality in the room and labels that as "normal". In theory with the unit running all the time you should slowly have an improving situation as each time you unplug it and plug it back in it will measure the air quality in the room as "normal". I'm really not finding that improvement to be the case. Unless the dust/pollutant level that you currently have is what you desire to have and want to label as "normal" - it's a bit of a problem.
I am currently trying, as much as I can stand it, to run the fan/unit on the higher settings. Thus far, I'm not seeing improvement in the air or any greater build up on the filter with that either.
As I was nearing the 30 day return deadline, I seriously considered returning it but instead decided that it must just need more time. In hindsight, I wish I had returned it. I consider the performance of this unit to be disappointing and average, at best, with a price that is far above average.
Customer Review: The best air purifier I've ever used
Summary: 5 Stars
The Rabbit BioGS 582A air purifier was the first leap I've taken beyond your typical run-of-the-mill ionic air purifier that you can get at any hardware store or "Supercenter" for 100 bucks or less, and it took less than a week for it to prove its value.
While I tend to keep my place clean compared to typical "bachelor standards," the amount of dirt that the filter has sucked-up in the two months that I've owned this purifier is nothing short of incredible. It's made such a difference that I even sleep better at night now, finding it much easier to breathe, and my allergies are greatly reduced as well.
The odor sensor is quite sensitive. With my job I typically come home smelling like diesel exhaust, and the odor sensor can pick-up the scent from my uniform just from walking by it for a second.
The auto feature has its quirks, depending on how you're using the purifier. Since the sensors for the auto feature just sample the air in its immediate vicinity, it's a good feature if you're using it in a single room. However, since the advertised coverage area of the unit is not too much smaller than my apartment, I use it for my entire home, and therefore the auto function is rather useless.
I thought that it was a bit odd for the purified air to vent straight up, but I've capitalized on it simply by having it blow straight into my air conditioner return to maximize the spreading of clean air, which also has more than doubled the life of my air conditioner filter as a byproduct.
So all in all, how does it stack up to one of those old, cheap ionic air purifiers? I turned my old one on directly in the path of this Rabbit, and the Rabbit's auto mode kicked into full blast to clean the "bad air" coming from the ionic pro.
I'm thoroughly impressed with the quality of this product and would highly recommend it to anyone.