[mustacheemperor]

>All those things plus some fancy instagram marketing is tricking people to spend $700+ on an air filter.

I think there is also the middle ground of spending about $150 on an air filter, because the ones from Ikea and Bluair look and sound much nicer in my home than a box fan with a HEPA filter duct-taped to the front.

I don't mind the repeated breathless excitement over it. It feels very on-brand for hackers to get excited about discovering a cheap and ugly DIY version of a commercial product and apparently miss that not everyone wants one in their kitchen.

[twisteriffic]

That, and ignoring the other downsides of a hacked together device - noise and power consumption.

The Winix 5500/5300 are pretty great. Super quiet and use 5-8 watts at setting 3 of 4. Box fans can't really compete there.

[Casteil]

Yep - I got a Winix 5300 ~3 years ago and it's been great. Nice and quiet, low power, and the squirrel cage blower in it is really good (which is rather important - you need a lot of static pressure to push/pull air through a HEPA filter and box fans just aren't really up for the task at low levels).

[twisteriffic]

Despite appearing almost identical, I haven't had good luck with the Winix C535. All 3 had poorly balanced blowers that either ticked or rattled, which wasn't the case in the 5 5500/5300 I've owned. It's a pity because they're super cheap at Costco.