Side by Side Comparison of: Guardian Technologies vs Captain's Compass vs BreezEco

Love it! I have noticed a HUGE difference in my houses air quality, having 2 cats and living in an apartment gets very dusty and heavy with dander. Guardian's purifier does a great job of collecting household dust, pet dander and more. It is slim so it does not take up much space. We move it around our apartment throughout the day, also we put it into different rooms that need "extra care"and close the door for an hour or two and after you can tell a major difference in the air quality, odor and my allergy symptoms have decreased. Side note: we do not use the UV light very often. I turned it on for the photos.

1st few days of usage was the expected plastic smell as people have stated on Amazon but it's not that bad. 1st night using the filter in our room made a world of difference in the air quality in the morning when we woke up. 1 we could actually breath through our noses. No more super stuffy noses from breathing all the crappy dust floating in the air. We move it back and forth between the living room and the bedroom because I wanted to see just how good this works before I bought another. And after seeing the improvement in the bedroom air quality and the living room during the day I will certainly buy another AC5000 for the living room and a smaller one for the baby's room. We are on the 3rd week of owning this GermGuardian AC5000 and it runs fairly quiet and the UV light is not really bothersome in the room at night. We are both happy I made this purchase as living in the dusty area this unit has made a difference in the household air quality. I would certainly buy another and recommend this to anyone suffering in the morning waking up all stuffy and congested from the crap floating around in the air. Best purchase I've made for indoors in quiet a while. Buy this unit it won't disappoint you.

Absolutely amazing. This air purifier not only removes odors, but it's FULL HEIGHT UV-C bulb (from the bottom to top of the entire unit) sterilizes the air, as well.

Our home has three cats. I used to be able to tell when one of them used the litter box (even all the way across the house, and our home is clean)....but we've got air returns in every room, so no matter where the cat boxes are, the odor is pulled into the air return and pushed around the house.

Also, we live in FL, where there are TONS of pollens every day of the year.

Ever since we replaced our old (8 years old) air filtration machine with "HEPA-Like" filters, and gave the Germ Guardian a couple of days to work, there are no more odors...none, no more dust in the air in any room where the unit operates, and the house smells like a Spring morning in the north. No exaggerating, no need to. This thing just works, and the number of sneezes and allergic reactions (even with the screen door open) has been reduced by about 90% when the unit is on.

I recommend keeping it on "low" or "medium", because the slower the air passes by the UV-C light, the more the air has contact with the UV light and the more germs it kills. The HEPA and Charcoal filter do a great job at eliminating kitchen odors, as well as other nuisance odors.

I bought two of these, and I'm considering buying another, because they work so unexpectedly well.

I'm not sure what others are saying about the "burning smell". Some odors, when they are filtered and then encounter UV-C light, can ionize and change a bit, so what smells like cooking fish going in, might come out smelling different, but I've had these running practically 24/7 for a month, and they simply make the house smell fresh and good.

Other brands and "Allergy Sites" want $400-$1,500 for their UV-C HEPA filters, and most have no odor control on them.

This may not be suitable for a severe asthmatic who needs a whole-house HEPA filter installed on their A/C unit, but it sure works well otherwise.

We read the reviews on Amazon & decided to give this a try. We live in a very open concept house with tons of windows. We hated to have company at certain times of the day because our air was so filled with dust particles. We also have 2 long haired cats. I seriously cannot believe how well this machine works! The air is no longer cluttered - you can really tell in the sunlight. It does exactly what's advertised to do - clean the air! The plastic smell did last about 2 weeks. I was encouraged by the company to run it on high with the light on for 48 hours. This did the trick. I was using the light sporadically & running it mostly on medium. The smell is now gone. The dust is gone. Love this!!

I love having this! I got is for a gift for a relative as she is a smoker. When we visit you cannot even tell it is a smoker's home. This thing really does its job! VERY impressed and it is so quiet.

I am contemplating whether or not this is a 5 star product. The full length UV bulb is necessary for filtration. Where the lower priced version only has a front facing UV on the exterior that won't do much for disinfecting. I have this running full time. I live in a one bedroom apartment but it doesn't do much to eliminate dust. A big reason for this is that my two cats track around a lot of dirt and shed a lot. The carbon prefilter collects a lot of cat hair an luckily you just have to blow it out quick or do a quick vacuum to remove the hair. I have the filter placed next to the cat litter boxes and I feel that this has significantly reduced pet odors from the boxes. I use a premium natural litter that has low odor. Arm&Hammer and other commercial litters just use perfumes for odor control that I am too sensitive to. Back to the star rating. I feel it does a great job for reducing household odors without using sprays that increases air pollution further. But I have not found a noticeable amount of dust reduction

Noise level on level 1 is whisper quiet. Level 3 will be a typical medium to high fan noise. It isn't obnoxious but it would be distracting during a tv program or having guests over. It is strong enough you will notice air circulation. So I might need to have it at that speed full time to get proper air filtration. so keep that in mind when considering this filter. Turn it on high when you are not home, low when you are home. I haven't had it long enough to see if it has influenced my utility bill.

Update. after 5 months of use. It is now due for a filter change. for a one bedroom apartment with two cats. The carbon filter traps nearly all the cat hair. This does need a a little vacuum to keep clear about once a month. The filter change light is now flashing red after 5 months. whether this is on a timer or from sensing restricted air movement. Im not sure. HOWEVER, this is my critique. I still have significant dust and hair issues throughout the apartment. I have a central air system and over each duct I have a patch of light duty filter material to capture initial dust from incoming air. With those and the filter for the entry air for the independent system for my apartment alone I should be capturing most issues. I am not. I still get lots of hair and dust on EVERYTHING. This filter does capture some stuff as the filter has become dirty over time. But the effectiveness is only par. You would really want about 1 of these for every 350 sq ft at bare minimum to keep clean air. I do notice though a reduction in odor from the liter box, which this is near, and odor reduction from the UV light is what this is intended for. But still I probably would need two of these for my place. Would I recommend it? Maybe. Would I buy one again. probably. but not definitely.

I've had this for a couple of weeks and am very happy so far. I'm doing some construction in my place and it has helped a lot, although it's not really designed for that. At low it's very quiet, yet still moves a lot of air. I sit to the side of it on a hot day and it's perfect. I'm thinking about getting another one for my bedroom. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I don't know how long it will last and its one of those things I expect to run almost all the time. I run it about 8-12 hours a day. We'll see what happens.

So far so good. Like some of the other review on here state, there is a slight smell that's being emitted by the filter. I bought the larger 5000 model and the smaller 4825 model at the same time. The smaller unit does NOT have this issue.

5000 series -
I put the larger filter in the living room of my apartment. So far i can tell you that the air is much easier to breathe as i have been having huge issues to due the dust. It's also impressed me as far as trapping food smells. I'm going to let it run for 24 hours to see if the smell goes away. It's not a huge deal to me. Some people say it's toxic. I'm not sure how accurate that is. This unit has a much large UVC bulb that stretches nearly the entire length of the HEPA filter. You can see the UVC bulb, when it's on, partially from the front side. The blue light indicating the UVC bulb is quite bright and i wouldn't recommend this filter for the bedroom unless you put some same over it.

1/13/16
I have allergies and slight asthma as well as a family, so this review will be based from that perspective.

4825 series-
This smaller unit did not have the plastic smell right off the bat, like the larger unit did. So far so good. I placed this smaller unit in my bedroom and just like in the living room with the larger unit, the air is much easier to breathe. The unit does have a MUCH SMALLER UVC bulb and i'm not sure how efficient it will be at killing off germs when compared to the larger version. The bulb is located at the top of the unit and is only a few inches long. The blue indicator is not as bright as the larger unit, so it didn't bug me while trying to sleep.

I will be running both units 24/7 for a few days to see how it does.

After noticing there's no moldy/musty smell in my uncle's super old house, my aunt showed me they've been using an air purifier for a while. The difference really is amazing and there's no dust. I live in an older house and while it doesn't smell moldy or musty, because I have dogs, it can smell like a dog once in a while. And the dust is out of this world. So, I really looked around for several weeks to find something I'd be willing to try and decided on GermGuardian.
After a month of leaving it on all day and cleaning the filter at least once, I'm impressed with both the change in smell and the small amount of dust I find on my wood furniture and electronics. The dust reduction alone is making me very happy.
The first one I received didn't work properly right out of the box. I set up an exchange with Amazon and shipped the bad one back. Within 2 days of arranging the exchange, I received the 2nd one. I was a bit disappointed that it was shipped in only the manufacturers box and not inside a larger box with some padding. I used to work for UPS and Fedex and know that none of these shipping companies treat our merchandise with any respect. But, so far, no problems.

We purchased two of these and one worked perfectly, but the second stopped working within a day. I returned the product, but unfortunately, the replacement is also having issues. I contacted the manufacturer today to see if I can resolve the issue without having to return the device.

That being said, the filter that does work is amazing.

I really did like this when I first started using it, December 2016. Now, after using it daily for almost 5 months it is rattling at times and louder than usual. I changed the filter as required, even early in case that was the problem. It wasnt. I was hoping this would have last longer for the money that I spent.

I bought this filter and have loved it up to this point. It looks very sleek and I appreciate the quiet operation in the lower setting and the smooth, white noise in the higher settings.

There are a couple issues with this product:

Filter life. I bought this in April, and had it running by about April 15. It is now August 15 and I have been running the filter primarily on low, but I already have to replace it. The item description says it would need this every 6-8 months, but it has barely broken 4. This could get costly if it continues to burn through them at this rate.

The blue light is very intrusive if you plan to use this in a bedroom. You will most likely need to turn off the UV filter. I also place a shirt or some other article over the green filter replacement light since I like my room very dark.

I've had it going about a week. It was expensive and it's very loud on the middle and highest setting. I feel like the only setting that really works is the high loud one. Hasn't helped my allergies at all but has helped with pet smell when it's on the loudest setting. Doesn't work that great in a studio apartment (575 sq foot) but unfortunately this was the most expensive air purifier for "large rooms" I could afford. Supposed to only work for up to 200 square feet. If you have credit and can afford it, get a 500-600 dollar model if you have a studio apartment or a large room because this one doesn't really cut it. I'm only keeping it because on high during the day it does seem to help absorb odors from pets and I keep it near our area. We have 3 bunnies.

First of all, the one I received was not brand new. It was pretty obvious that someone had opened the box and returned the item. Also, it didn't have that brand new toxic smell.
I purchased this because I wanted a HEPA filter purifier that didn't emit ozone and didn't produce negative ions that caused particles to stick to everything like walls, furniture, rugs, etc.. What good is clean air if everything you live with is dirty?
I have a Honeywell AirGenius4 and although it produces the ions, it is truly a much better purifier and best of all, it's quiet even on the highest setting.
This purifier states it is for a large room but given how the air circulates, I don't think it would purify even a small room. The intake on the back is very weak on the highest setting compared to my AirGenius4. I tested it by lighting an incense ( on the medium setting) and I had to be within 3 inches of the intake for the smoke to get sucked in otherwise the stream of smoke was being captured by the air being blown out and hence, just circulating the dirty air around the room. That's the real deal breaker for me. The AirGenius will draw air into it from about 6 feet distance in a constant steady flow on the medium setting.
The GermGuardian is very loud on the highest setting, the medium is louder than my AirGenius on the high setting. The low setting on this machine is pathetic and worthless. I also have a Honeywell round HEPA 502?? and to compare noise levels, the low setting on that huge monster sounds just like this does on high. I can run my Honeywell on low in my living room during the day and it's not annoying at all and does a fantastic job but I wouldn't have it running with guests or if I was watching TV.

FYI, the air intake is on the back and the outflow is on the front. However, it exits only toward the right side because the vents must be angled to make it work that way. It does not blow straight out of the front.

For the money, I'm going to go back to the Air Genius4. It's expensive on here but you can find much better deals at other sites. Glad I didn't buy extra filters for this one.
BTW, you can wash the AirGenius filter and the only thing you need to replace is the carbon prefilter which is very inexpensive if you buy bulk and cut them yourself. Just use the original one as a template.

Loved the features on this unit and the reviews. Didn't read through enough of them but I did have some concerns after receiving and running the unit. It operates as described so no problems there. It is also quiet compared to my old unit. So that was nice.

1. The smell. After turning it on there was a strong plastic/electrical "new" smell. Somewhat offensive and strong. Others note it too. It's been running for a few days now and seems better or I've just gotten used to it.

2. UV Lamp. Thought this was good until my son kept looking at the bright blue illuminated light (probably fine but it got me thining). Is this light safe? Googled it and found a couple articles that say these lamps can use non-ozone omitting lamps but manufacturers don't specify so you don't really know. I'm not feeling good about this.

http://air-purifier-review.toptenreviews.com/mobile/ionizers-and-uv-lights-potentially-dangerous-tech-in-your-air-purifier.html

I bought this to be healthier, not to create Heath issues!

Might return or just not use the uv portion. Going to contact the manufacturer to see if they will give me more info.

I have problems with the UVC light working properly on all 3 of the air purifiers that they have exchanged for me. Otherwise I really liked the machine. Cleaned the air really well. Customer service has been very accommodating and have in every way tried to make it right.

I bought this in Oct 2015 mostly due to reviews on Amazon. In Nov 2016, it completely stopped working. No warning, no noises, no lights, no nothing, it just stopped. We had cleaned it regularly and put in new filters as per instructions. So, just had to throw in trash. It would seem to me that for the cost of these cleaners, they should last more than a year.

And to top it off, I had bought a second one just like this one 2-3 weeks later, also in Oct 2015, and yesterday, March 11,2017, it just died also. Again, no warning, no nothing, it just stopped working. So the second one went in the trash too, both just a little over a year old. I would be very hesitant to guy another of this brand.

Got this machine and in a few hours could tell the basement dingy smell was gone. I was so pleasantly surprised! A month passes and is still working great. I thought I had finally found a solution for the basement smell. We left for a weekend. I unplugged the machine. When we got home I plugged back in. Left for a few hours to come home to our house smelling like burnt plastic. Thought there was a fire. Coming from this machine. Called germ guardian. They are sending me a new machine. Going to try it. If I have the same problem I am making them refund me. Hoping I just had a dud. It does help with oders and smells.

I have been waiting with baited breath to receive these air purifiers as my family and I all suffer from ailments that are likely due to poor air quality. So I really needed these devices, and soon. I give this product two stars because, maybe it does work well to remove certain impurities from the air. But I don't see how it makes sense to put lead in the cords and cables attached to a device that's supposed to remove toxins from the home. Am I going to want to bring more toxins into the home? And especially when I have an autistic child who will, at some point, likely touch the cords. I will call the company to see if they can explain this, but I don't see how lead in the cords is acceptable. And it doesn't say, "may contain lead", it says it DOES contain lead or lead compounds.

I kept it in the bedroom and it worked great for only about 6 months. Then I noticed it was getting harder to breathe in the bedroom. When I took it out of the bedroom my husband and I could breathe better. This was the winter when allergens were low, not during the summer. I replaced the filter, double checked it was done correctly, still not working right. I just replaced the filter again last week and gave it another chance, makes the room worse. It also makes a lot more noise now than it did when we got it. Not a good long term product or solution.

I bought this Germ Guardian Air Cleaning machine for my garage to absorb all the fumes and odors from craftwork. It worked a few months, then the Air Filter light went off a few weeks ago. Ordered the new filter and now the machine stopped working altogether. I connected the power cable to different outlets and it refuses to turn on. Of course, I wasn't expecting to need a warranty this fast (6 months). What a ripoff!

We have ordered 2 of these fans to place in our bedroom for white noise as well as clean keep the air clean/fresh. We have had to replace both of them one time each already, with the newest ones which arrived just 5 months ago in October. The spinning fan inside somehow keeps getting off alignment, creating a constant rubbing sound when the fan is one higher speeds. We have replaced the filter, but to no avail. Considering that we have had 4 fans and all 4 fans have had issues, I am guessing there is a problem with the engineering of this product.

After about two and a half months I noticed a burning plastic smell in my basement where I was using it. After trying to figure out what it was I realized it was the air purifier. Something inside burned up and now anytime I try to run it just stinks as if some part melted. Had it lasted at least a year I'd be a little more happy but I'm disappointed in its short life. I ran it about 8 hours each day mostly on the low setting and up to the high setting if I was in the basement. It's not like it was on constantly. Prior to this, it did a noticeably good job getting rid of the musty smell in the basement. I also have a de-humidifier running but that does not get rid of the musty smell like the air purifier did.

I bought this item in May 2016. It was easy to set up -- I basically just had to unpack it and plug it in. It ran beautifully for three days, then started emitting an electrical odor (in the middle of the night, no less), and then gave a death rattle and completely died. I am now returning it, which is a hassle I apparently payed good money for. Obviously, I'm not recommending it, and even question whether it is safe or not.

I purchased four of these units due to my newly developed seasonal allergies. I placed two in my home and two in the office. It does look nice and is pretty quiet, no complaints there whatsoever. I'm not sure how much it has helped me. I didn't notice a big difference in my allergy symptoms, but in all fairness I don't know if another system would have done any better. This is all pretty new me.

However, I can say that after 45 days, I noticed the unit in my bedroom wasn't working at all. It appears that the system has completely died. It will not turn on whatsoever. Since it's beyond the 30 day return, I'm stuck with a $120 paper weight.