Product Review: GermGuardian AC5000E 3-in-1 Air Cleaning System
Company: Amazon
Price Range: $100 – $150
Feedback: Read Consumer Reviews on the GermGuardian AC5000E
Who Would Buy This: Those shopping for an entry level, tower air purifier that delivers versatile air purifying capabilities for a medium or large sized room.
Features
- Compact tower design
- 3-in-1 air cleaning system
- True HEPA
- Carbon filter
- UV-C
- CADR rated 125+
Design / Construction
The GermGuardian AC5000E has a mostly plastic construction apart from the stainless steel at the top of the unit. Despite this, the unit is remarkably robust and is known to still keep in one piece when accidentally tipped over. It comes with a 6 ft power cord.
Small and Lightweight
This air purifier has a notably small footprint thanks to it’s compact tower style design, allowing you to place it in areas of your room where bulky air purifiers cannot fit.
The unit weighs 10.5 lbs and measures 28 inches tall with a base of 7 inches wide and 10.2 inches in depth. At the rear of the unit there is a small integrated carrying handle which comes in handy when you want to carry it.
3-in-1 Air Purification
The diverse air cleaning capabilities of the AC5000E are its stand out feature.
Using just one combination filter, its versatile cleaning system has the following filtration technologies to thoroughly clean your air.
Pre-filter – This filter traps large particles from the air like pet hair and lint.
Charcoal filter – This combines with the pre-filter to tackle common odors such as smoke and cooking smells that may linger in the air.
UV-C Light – This technology uses ultra-violet light to kill unwanted germs like airborne mold spores, bacteria and viruses.
True HEPA filter – This meets HEPA’s high standards to capture 99.97% of airborne allergens as little as .3 microns in size, for optimum filtration. This filter captures dust, smoke, pet dander and pollen.
Modes
Operating the AC5000E is a very simple process as there are minimal controls.
At the top of the tower on the control panel there is a rotary dial switch where you can select from one of three fans speeds (Low, Medium, High).
There is also a dedicated UV button which you can use to active the UV-C light. The drawback here is that the UV setting turns on a bright blue light, which can be particularly distracting if you want to use this air purifier in a bedroom at night. However, the light can be easily covered with some tape if this bothers you.
Coverage Area
This unit has a CADR rating of 125+ and an estimated coverage area of 185 square feet, which makes it a good fit for medium to large sized rooms.
On its lowest fan speed setting, the unit is barely audible, but on the highest setting its quite loud, so for bedroom use you’ll want to stick to using either the low or medium fan speed.
If you have only a small room you want to cover then you might want to consider the smaller version (the GermGuardian AC4825) which is designed for areas up to 155 square feet.
Maintenance
These units are low maintenance, which we like.
The True HEPA combination filter needs to be washed once per month. The Velcro attached pre-filter should be vacuum cleaned. The HEPA filter just needs to be washed in a sink.
The manufacture recommends replacing the filter approximately once every 6-8 months. Due to the 3-in-1 design of the filter, you only need to replace one filter. The UV bulb has to be replaced once per year (depending on length of usage).
Germguardian recently added indicator lights to this model, which makes the power light flash red when the filter needs to be replaced or the blue light flash when the UV bulb needs replacing. This feature comes in real handy, particularly if you’ve got several of these units in your home.
Manual: GermGuardian AC5000E manual
Guarantee: 5-year limited warranty.
Summary
The GermGuardian AC5000E 3-in-1 Air Cleaning System has a pretty sleek design and a solid construction, but most importantly lives up to its promise of delivering cleaner, fresher smelling air. Its air filtration capabilities to clean, filter, and sanitize the air are mighty impressive for the price range which it’s in.
Some consumers have said they experienced a plastic smell emitting from their unit. However, in most peoples experience this smell subsides after several days into ownership if you run the unit 24/7 on the highest fan setting with the UV-C light on.