Clean air is one of life’s basic necessities. And while we often think the air inside our homes is among the cleanest there is, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that indoor air is about two to five times more polluted than the air outside. Many air purifiers promise to rectify this by filtering out the most common pollutants like dust, allergens, smoke, odors, volatile organic compounds, viruses, and bacteria, but they don’t all perform as well as they say. So when I saw the highly-rated TruSens Z-2000 Air Purifier, I jumped at the chance to test it out. I wake up pretty stuffed up every morning, and as much as I’d like to deny it, there are some nights when I happily snore away. Both of these things are often caused by poor air quality and potentially harmful particles floating around, so I wanted to see if the TruSens could make a difference in how I was sleeping—and how I was waking up. When I unboxed the air purifier, my first thought was, “Wow, this thing is pretty,” which isn’t typically my first reaction to air purifiers (and I’ve tried a lot of them). It’s white and silver and has a sleek, modern design that makes it look kind of light and airy, rather than bulky and clunky like some other industrial-style air purifiers. On the top, there’s a touchscreen control panel with backlit icons that’s easy and intuitive to operate. The touchscreen responds quickly, and you can use it to control the fan speed, turn the UV light on or off, and/or set the timer. The timer has options for 2, 4, 8, and 12 hours, or you can let it run continuously and choose the auto setting. The TruSens air purifier has a 360-degree HEPA filter that traps allergens, airborne germs and viruses, and some volatile organic compounds, and a UV-C light that kills bacteria and germs that get trapped in that filter. But my favorite feature was the SensorPod. The SensorPod is a separate detector that goes on the other side of the room and reads the quality of the air in that area, so you can get a more accurate sense of the whole room, rather than an isolated spot right where the purifier sits. It plugs into the wall and connects to the purifier base via Bluetooth. When it senses that your air quality has gone down, it sends silent messages to the purifier, which then automatically adjusts the fan speed to compensate for—and fix—the air changes. For air purifiers like this that promise to sense the air quality and adjust accordingly, I like to let them do their thing by running them mostly on auto. I turned the air purifier on in my office first thing in the morning, and let it run all day. Because it’s so quiet, it wasn’t distracting at all, even when I was deep in thought. The SensorPod was positioned near the window, and when I opened it midday, I noticed that it sent a signal to the air purifier and the fan speed picked up—a sign that it was working. Underneath the control panel, there’s an air quality sensor that lights up with a number and a colored ring that indicates how clean or dirty your air is. Admittedly, I didn’t notice much of a difference in the air quality of my office, but when I turned the air purifier on, it lit up blue—the color that indicates the air is clean—and never changed from that, so I assumed the air was already clean to start with. When I was done working in my office, I took the air purifier up to my bedroom, and that’s where the real magic happened. It has a handle built into the design, so you can pick it up with one hand and move it with you. And since it only weighs 12 pounds, it’s easy to carry with one hand. The only bummer was having to also unplug the SensorPod—it would be cool if it was wireless—but that was a minor inconvenience, especially since as soon as you plug it back in, it automatically connects to the air purifier base. Once the air purifier was plugged back in, I turned it on, and it lit up yellow, which means the air quality is moderate. I put it on auto and turned on the night mode, which dims the lights so it doesn’t illuminate the room when you’re trying to sleep. This was a good thing because the air purifier doesn’t have a remote, so I would have had to get up to turn it off or lower if it was disruptive. When I woke up in the morning, the ring was blue to indicate good air quality, and I felt different, too. The air felt cooler and less stagnant than it usually does like it had been circulating all night. It almost smelled fresher, like the windows had been open all night (they weren’t). While I wasn’t miraculously cured of my morning stuffiness, I could definitely breathe better, and I didn’t have to blow my nose as much in the morning. I also noticed that after a couple of weeks with the air purifier, my early morning sneezing fits lessened, and my boyfriend’s snoring was quieter and less jarring, although it didn’t go away completely. Overall, I could definitely sense the difference in the air, especially after letting the air purifier run pretty continuously on auto mode for several weeks. If there was a night when I forgot to turn it on, I felt more congested and had to blow my nose first thing in the morning.
Does the TruSens Z-2000 Air Purifier create ozone?
The TruSens Z-2000 Air Purifier doesn’t have any ionizing technology, so it doesn’t create any ozone as it runs. The purifier has a UV-C light that operates at 254 nanometers and kills allergens, odors, bacteria, and other germs that can get trapped in the filter. The UV light can be turned on and off at your discretion, so if you don’t want it on, you can press a button to turn it off.
Can you control the TruSens Z-2000 Air Purifier with an app?
Not this model. The TruSens Z-2000 is a standard air purifier that doesn’t have smart capabilities. If you want to control your air purifier with an app, you’ll have to opt for the Z-2500, or the Z-3500, which is the larger smart model.
How large of a room can the TruSens Z-2000 Air Purifier clean?
This model is the medium size Z-2000, which is designed to clean up to 375 square feet two times per hour. TruSens also offers other models—the Z-1000 and the Z-3000—which can clean 250 square feet and up to 750 square feet, respectively.
How often does the filter need to be replaced?
The exact time frame for filter replacement depends on your air quality and how often you run the air purifier, but in general, the carbon filter should be replaced every three to four months, while the HEPA filter lasts one year to 15 months. The UV lamp should be replaced every one to three years. There are replacement indicators that light up to let you know when the filters need replacing.
TruSens Z-2000 Air Purifier vs. The Competition
While the TruSens Z-2000 Air Purifier has an edge over other air purifiers in its class, thanks to the SensorPod, there are other options out there if you’re looking for something different. The Honeywell True HEPA Whole Room Air Purifier isn’t much to look at, but it can effectively clean up to 465 square feet of space up to five times per hour. While it doesn’t have any fancy features, it does have a two-step filtration process that effectively removes all types of pollutants. It retails for around $330 but can be found on sale for $250, making it cheaper than the Z-2000’s $299 price tag. If you have a little extra cash to shell out (think around $800), the Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool does it all. It has smart features, so you can control it through the Dyson app and monitor past and current air quality. In addition to purifying, it also humidifies and has a fan feature that cools the room down, so it transitions well through all seasons. The TruSens Z-2000 Air Purifier makes a significant difference in air quality, and it looks good while doing it. While it doesn’t have any smart capabilities (or a remote), the SensorPod is a really cool feature that makes up for it.
