Oreck XL Professional Purifier Review

Overall Rating

The Oreck is very attractive and nicely packaged. It does help with very fine particles such as smog, smoke, etc. Great advertisements and infomercials. There is an improved noticeable difference in the air quality in terms of allergens.

Doesn't perform well with dust. If you enjoy cleaning the filter every 2 weeks and waiting 24 hours for it to dry then it's okay. Ozone created is not too good for your health. Sharper Image brands have just been recalled. You still have to change the carbon filter at a steep cost for each one if you like that feature. The unit has weak bearings that become clogged after dust passes through the six stage filtration system and clog up the motor and bearings. Hepa filters out perform Ionic filters.

The Oreck XL air purifier seems to be a decent product. The Truman cell which uses ozone to capture small particles out of the air works for smoke, soot, etc, but not too well for dust. The carbon pre-filter does require changing if you want to get rid of odors, but if you wish you don't have to change it every six months. The Truman cell is electrically charged and will produce ozone. The last stage of the oxygenator is supposed to revert some of the ozone back to oxygen. Ozone is not too great for you health. With my first use, I noticed that my nose became unplugged and was less bothered by my allergies. I was able to breath more freely.

After reading other's reviews from various sites, the problem which Oreck faces is that it does not capture dust very well. They should make a Hepa filter which replaces the first cheap filter that allows just about everything to pass through it. The prefilter is about as good as not having one there. The holes are huge. This way at least the unit won't blow dust back out and the bearings won't get damaged as quick from dust. I examined the Truman cell and there are four very thin wires at the front which emit electrons. The wires are barely noticeable. They are no thicker than 3 pieces of hair and are so hard to see. If you damage these wires, that's it. The unit is going spark and crackled or not work properly. The Truman cell design doesn't seem too user friendly. If you don't wash the cell it loses cleaning efficiency very quickly. Personally I prefer a Hepa filter since you can run it 24/7 for 1 year without having to clean anything. You actually have to clean the Truman cell or else you will pay the price for laziness. It will crackle and spark and wake you up. Some people suggest using Green cleaner or windex with water to get rid of the gunk on the plates of the cell.

After buying this unit from Costco, I opted to return it since Hepa filters are rated better in efficiency and require very little maintenance. When they get dirty the dust filters the other dust and collects nicely. Just vacuum it off and reuse.
But if you don't mind cleaning the Oreck unit every 2 weeks, soaking it in water for 2 hours, then waiting 24 hours to dry, or use a hair dryer *(not recommended by Oreck) then it will be faster. So the down time is not that user friendly.

Instead of Air Cleaners try more common sense things like cleaning your floors. My automatic robot, the Roomba, is a much better value than any of my air cleaners purchased. Every week I run Roomba. It picks up a quarter tray of dust, skin cells, hair, etc per week. If I wait two weeks it picks up twice as much. So humans shed quite a bit of skin off their bodies. Clean your pillows, or change them every year. Your pillow contains allergens from dust mites. The feces from dust mites will double the weight of your pillow after 1 year. Wash it at least in a washing machine if you don't want to spend the 10 dollars for a new one. Exhaust your washroom fan or replace it with a special fan that is quiet and meant to be run 24 hours. This will clean the air out much better. Clean bed sheets, dust your walls, cabinets tops etc.

Hope this helps with making your purchase towards Oreck XL air purifiers.