Lasko Air Flex 20" 2-in-1 Box Fan and Air Purifier in One with MERV10 Air Purifying Filter for Cleaner and Cooling Breeze, 3 Speeds, Steel Body, FF305

I have owned other LASKO box fans before, some of them I have left running for years uninterrupted. I know them to be well built and long lasting machines. This is a standard LASKO fan with a built in cage for you to slot in a standard 20x20x1 HVAC filter.During the pandemic I rigged up a similar system with an HVAC filter and box fan with duct tape, but it was fragile and messy to replace the filter. This system is easy, filters are cheap to replace and easy to install. This system should last for many years with regular maintenanceHere in Washington State we get wildfire smoke in the air during the late summer. One day I woke up to find my AQI meter reading 100+, and I discovered there was was smoke in the air that day. I set up this fan and by the evening my AQI meter showed 20. I’m very impressed by the filtering effectiveness. Highly recommend

I usually just tape a 20x20x1 box filter to my fans but this makes it easier to use and to change out filters as needed. Solid base and doesnt seem like it wants to tip over at all. Fairly quiet and works great. I did a video on my youtube channel about it. This evn came with a filter!

Air cleaners can be pricey and often use proprietary filters. The more coverage you need the more expensive they can become. Proprietary filters may lock you into the brands ecosystem and the prices they set for filters.This is a great alternative for a few reasons.Pros:1) You can use any standard 20 x 20 x 1 HVAC/furnace filter from any company. Whatever happens to be on sale or is otherwise inexpensive. Note that HVAC filters of this type are usually directional so it's important to install the filter with this in mind. There will be arrows printed on the side of the filter.It comes with an Airflow Products filter measuring 20 x 20 x 1. Note that the actual size is 19.5 x 19.5 x 0.75, MERV rating 10. It's probably best to stay with a MERV rating equal to or less than the filter this ships with. MERV 8 is a good alternative, will allow for a bit more airflow and still capture pollen, mold and dust. Using a filter with a higher rating than the fan ships with may be counterproductive and potentially less effective and/or slower at filtering given that the fan will have more difficulty pulling in air.2) Due to it's large surface area, it should clean a higher volume of air more quickly than smaller air cleaners.3) Lasko advertises that this uses a fan motor designed for use with filters (restricted airflow). This means a beefier motor with components designed to survive reduced air flow and the resulting higher heat in the motor assembly. Very little will kill a fan motor more quickly than blocking or greatly reducing the intake side. It has a safety fuse and is advertised as being weather resistant. I wouldn't try using this outdoors in an unsheltered environment but in a window sill, it should stand up to high humidity and a few raindrops.4) Although thicker than most box fans, it will still fit on all of my somewhat shallow window sills to bring filtered air inside.Cons:1) Probably stating the obvious, the filters drastically reduce the airflow you might expect from an unfiltered box fan. The upside is that a fan of this size will catch a lot of air very quickly relative to smaller air cleaners. It's better to think of this as an air cleaner only, not a fan used for moving a lot of air. That said, if you need to move some air, removing the air filter will accomplish this.2) Many air cleaners are designed with an aesthetic to blend in and be visually neutral or complimentary for living areas. The Lasko fan is simply a box fan, something that people may or may not want prominently displayed.3) There are three fan settings - low, medium and high. At it's lowest setting it emits a soothing low frequency sound that some might find helpful for tinnitus or environmental sound masking. It's medium and high settings are significantly louder. Possibly too loud for some if the goal is simple sound masking.4) I have two of these and both knobs lift off the switch shaft very easily. They are easy to align and push back on but the fit should be tight enough to prevent this during routine use.Before this fan was sold by Lasko, DIY'ers were attaching filter sheets to the back of box fans to create their own air cleaners. There are Amazon suppliers that sell kits for this purpose. Although an interesting project if you already own a box fan, I wouldn't recommend doing this.Attaching filter sheets to the back of a DIY box fan results in less filtration vs pleated filters which this Lasko uses. Pleating increases the surface area of the filter which at a minimum will result in longer intervals between filter replacement. In addition, the filter sheets may or may not be good at filtering. The sheeting some suppliers sell is probably not subjected to the same industry testing as HVAC filters. In other words, hard to know if they are effective.I've also seen pictures of basic box fans with HVAC filters strapped on. This will decrease airflow to a point that basic box fan motors will almost certainly struggle with. Better to buy a fan designed for use with a filter. Safer.I'd guess that Lasko noticed the DIY community's efforts and was inspired to engineer a safer and more confidence inspiring alternative.Lastly, to maximize the volume of air from a window into a room, best to stage the fan 1-3 feet in front of the window, not on a window sill. Look up Bernoulli's principle. With this fan and given the reduced draw due to the filter, 1-1.5ft seems to work best for me but definitely experiment.Good of Lasko to step in and offer this product. Happy customer..

Pros: It does what is advertised. My cat hair allergies is much reduced at this fan sucks up the floating hairs. Easy to assemble (snap on feet). Easy to change filter (two clips).Con: Its very loud even at slow speed.

Almost didn't purchase as had seen a different false review stating the 3M Merv 14 MPR 2500 Filtrete Filters wouldn't fit, but they do actually fit in perfectly without being buckled or squashed. Granted it is a tight fit and you need to insert in properly and make sure you mount the bottom flat edge in first so you can use hand pressure to flex top plastic to get inserted while making sure the 2 side rotating clips are fully out of the way, but it does fit perfect per attached picture. Cheapest online place I found to buy the filters was Costco 4 pack. Works great blowing close to desk chair, but this is nowhere near airflow of a regular Box Fan as most reviews mentioned, it is just a cheap air-purifier substitute with low airflow on lowest acceptable sound volume speed 1 and unsure of motor lifespan so giving 4 star rating to start.2024-07-17 Update - Ordered a 2nd Unit and shipping box arrived damaged which damaged unit inside. Received replacement unit from Amazon and the fan motor itself has an issue as it is nowhere near the 3 speeds of the original good unit I own as the highest speed 3 on the 2nd unit is not even 1/2 the fan speed and airflow CFM on slowest level 1 speed on my first unit and it is very noticeable just by the sound difference between the 2 units. I never would have known the motor/potentiometer dial on the 2nd unit isn't working properly if I didn't already own one so reducing star rating from 4 to 3 stars for potentially poor Lasko quality control.