Honeywell HPA250B Review (Allergen Remover & Air Cleaner)

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The Honeywell HPA250B is a model that you’ll come across a lot in your search for an air purifier for allergies. Reason? It’s designed purposely to combat allergens. 

This unit has a powerful motor for an air purifier in its price range. It also comes packed with an array of convenience features, including Bluetooth connectivity, auto mode, and a timer. 

However, whether or not it will meet your performance expectations is something that we’ll have to find out in this Honeywell HPA 250B review. 

Honeywell HPA250B is Best For:

• People suffering from hay fever/allergic rhinitis– this air purifier will reduce your exposure to airborne tree, grass, and weed pollen, and dust, dust mites, and mold spores.
• Households with pets that shed a lot– the Activated Charcoal filter may be a solution to excessive furred pets shedding. 
• Households that are exposed to volatile organic compounds– the Activated Charcoal filter is also effective at removing VOCs, such as formaldehyde from the ambient air.
• Smokers– this air purifier has an impressive 200 cfm CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) for smoke. This rate, coupled with its portability makes it great for smokers (or people living with smokers). 

Assembly and Set up

The Honeywell HPA250B comes fully assembled, and with the filters ready to scrub the air in your room. Before plugging it in, though, you’ll need to remove the filters from their plastic bags.

If you are interested in operating your air purifier from your phone, download the free Honeywell Portable AirPurifier app and follow its Bluetooth pairing prompts. This app supports both Android and iOS phones that are Bluetooth 4.0-enabled.

Construction Design and Quality Review

The Honeywell HPA250B has a classic design and an upright configuration. The ridges all around its body make it relatively attractive, although it won’t draw much attention. Generally, we expect it to blend beautifully with most decors despite its single color option (black).

This air purifier utilizes the front-to-top airflow concept. What caught our eyes here is the 360-degree air-out grill at the top. The essence of this is to maximize purified air discharge by ensuring that the cleaned air reaches all parts of the room.

Size, Weight, and Portability

This air purifier is pretty sizeable at 17.72’’ (L) by 10.05’’ (W) by 18.86’’ (H). It’s not overly bulky, though. Actually, the fact that it sucks air from the front and fires through the top means that you can tuck it out of the way without hindering its performance.

Concerning portability, this device weighs 13.91 lbs. In our opinion, this is a perfect heft for an air purifier that won’t be knocked over by the dog or kids. It’s also easy for most people to move around, especially when coupled with the sturdy handles on the sides.

Where should you place it?

This device’s reasonably compact size and lightweight design imply that there are no limitations as far as placement goes. It will work whether you place it on the floor or a top.

Ultimately, the best place to locate an air purifier depends on your exact needs. As a rule of thumb, however, put it where you spend most of the time.

If you are concerned about precise placement spots, here are a few suggestions;

• At the corner- this minimizes the risk of tripping.
• Behind the sofa or where smokers sit in your house.
• Near the doorway into another room- this ensures that air pollutants are captured before entering the room.
• Right next to the source of the annoying pollutants, for instance, near a stinking litter box. This ensures that the odor is removed before it disperses all over the room.

How does the Honeywell HPA250B work?

This air purifier relies on mechanical filtration alone to clean your air. It does not employ electronic precipitation or ion generation technology.

It has a fan that draws room air through a 2-stage filtration system and then expels it back into the room after it has been cleaned.

The filtration system consists of;

• Activated Charcoal filter– it is excellent at adsorbing odors and gases. These include kitchen smoke and smells, pet odor, chemical fumes, and moldy odor. It also captures large air pollutants.
• True HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter– this is a filter that has been tested and certified to remove 99.97% of microns that measure 0.3 microns. These include bacteria, viruses, dust, dust mites, mold spores, and pollen.

Controls and Special Modes

The sleek, touch-sensitive control panel has 4 buttons that allow you to choose between 4 fan-speed levels: Allergen, Germ, General Clean, and Turbo. 

A unique feature of this device is the VOC sensing mode. It detects the level of VOC pollution in the air and then adjusts the cleaning level accordingly.

You could also download the Honeywell Portable AirPurifier App if you prefer the convenience of controlling the purifier from the bed. This App includes several cool great features that the control interface lacks.

These include a Proximity Sensor that turns the purifier ON/OFF when the air purifier is in or out of the Bluetooth range. We also like its Custom Schedules that allow you to set multiple purification schedules and the preferred levels of operation.

Performance Review

Coverage

This air purifier covers room spaces of up to 310 sq.ft. This coverage is complemented by its CADR and ACH ratings, which are notably higher compared to most of its competitors. 

CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) is a numerical representation of how well an air purifier removes pollutants. This model has a CADR of 200 cfm for Smoke, 190 cfm for Dust, and 180 cfm for Pollen. 

This purifier’s 5x ACH (Air Change per Hour) means that it will refresh the air in your room 5 times each hour.

Noise

Honeywell air purifiers usually are slightly louder due to the powerful motor that they use. If you are using this unit in the bedroom, you may want to maintain the fan speed at level 1 if you prefer a quiet night. If white noise lulls you to sleep, most previous users report that the Germ cleaning level is ideal for that.

The HPA250B is a bit loud at Turbo mode and could reach around 56 dB. This isn’t annoyingly loud, though. For comparison, an AC operates at about 59 dB, while a normal conversation is rated at 60 dB.

Power Consumption

This is an Energy Star-rated air purifier with a power usage of 84 watts when operating at the highest fan speed. Assuming that it runs for 8 hours every day and you are charged 12 cents per kilowatt of electricity, it’d add around $3 to your monthly power bill, or roughly $30 annually.

Maintenance Review

There’s nothing much that goes into maintaining the HPA250B other than replacing its filters. Of course, you’ll also want to wipe it down with a clean, dry cloth as the dust settles on it.

The True HEPA filters have a lifespan of 1 year. Their replacement kit is the relatively cheaper Honeywell Filter R, HRF-R1. The Activated Charcoal filter, on the other hand, should be replaced quarterly, using the Honeywell Filter A Universal Carbon Pre-Filter, HRF-AP1, which is also quite cheap compared to competitors. 

Warranty – As it’s the case with most air purifiers from Honeywell, the HPA250B comes with a 5-year warranty.

Pros

• Relatively quiet on low fan speeds
• High ACH (5x)
• Versatile placement options
• Lightweight design for portability
• Positive feedback on allergen removal

Cons

• Turbo mode can be a bit loud
• App is limited to Bluetooth range
• Some users say changing pre-filter is tricky

Review Verdict

Overall, the Honeywell HPA 250B is a highly recommendable unit if excellent allergen removal is at the top of your must-have list. This model ticks most of the boxes regarding performance, including a wide coverage, easy placement, and quiet operations at low-speed settings.

Honeywell HPA 250B Questions & Answers

AirHonest’s HPA250B Top Use Tips

• Consider vacuuming the Activated Charcoal filter every 1-2 weeks to boost its efficiency.
• If you or a member of your family has asthma, consider leaving it running at all times, especially during the summer. This ensures that you come back home to clean air.
• Whenever possible, refrain from smoking indoors. This will reduce the level of pollution inside.
• Be sure to leave some inches (at least 15’’) of clearance around the purifier to maximize airflow.
• Avoid placing it too high. This may affect the flow of clean air towards you.