Aprilaire Clean9550 Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

The Aprilaire Clean9550 is difficult to love. Sure, it’s got all the core air purifier features, but it doesn’t really excel at anything, and it lacks the performance of a True HEPA filter. It’s an Allergy9550 for people who can’t afford one. Welcome to our latest Aprilaire Clean9550 Review.

With the new release of the Aprilaire 9550V Virus+Allergy+Pet, we believe that the manufacturer will soon discontinue all other products in the 9550 series.

Aprilaire Clean9550 ranks C+ in our air purifier ranking list. We give the biggest and most thorough database of air purifier reviews in the world.

In Breathe Quality, we have reviewed all air purifiers under these sections. Also, we guarantee that:

• We provide honest reviews (both pros and cons) so that everyone can make the best decisions.
• We do not (and never will) exaggerate one product just to let you click the links and buy that product blindly.

Sections

Aprilaire has always been a big air purifier brand in the North American market since 1954. Besides the famous whole-home air cleaner solution, this company is also making several console air purifiers for private rooms. The Aprilaire Clean9550 is the most affordable of the 9550 Series, and we will have a proper Aprilaire Clean9550 Review today.

Other Aprilaire’s Air Purifier Reviews:

Aprilaire Clean9550 Price

The Aprilaire 9550 Series gets ever so slightly more affordable with the introduction of the Aprilaire Clean9550 to the American firm’s air purifier lineup. But don’t go thinking this is a bargain basement offering because it carries a mid- to high-tier price tag.

The company unveiled the Aprilaire Clean9550, which was hotly rumored as the child of the Aprilaire Allergy9550, and while the name was a bit of a surprise at launch, pretty much every other detail had been leaked correctly.

In terms of price, the Aprilaire Clean9550 starts at an official $569. That’s so much for a budget air purifier, because the flagship Aprilaire Allergy+Pet9550 costs around $599. That’s why Aprilaire has reduced the price of Aprilaire Clean9550 on many well-known online retailers, which is a lot more appropriate for a HEPA-type air purifier.

The price also puts it up against the likes of the Austin Air HealthMate, Dyson Pure Hot+Cool, Dyson Pure Cool Link and Dyson Pure Cool Tower.

Of all those high-quality air purifiers, only the Alen BreatheSmart FIT50 comes with a HEPA-type filter, just like our Aprilaire Clean9550. But the FIT50 has a lifetime warranty backing it up, but what about our today’s unit? We will find out soon.

Related post: Best air purifiers 2023.

Aprilaire Clean9550 Design and Size

Aprilaire, just like Austin Air or AllerAir, doesn’t care much about the design of its air purifiers. What you get on the Aprilaire Clean9550 is exactly the same thing you find on the flagships like the Aprilaire Allergy9550 or the Aprilaire Allergy+Pet9550.

It does feel solid, with chunky dimensions of 27.5 inches in height and 17.25 inches in width. The Aprilaire Clean9550 does take you back a few years to the classic console air purifiers in rectangular prism shape.

Source: Amazon.com

The front cover can be removed by pulling it away from the body, as it uses magnets to attach. I think the air quality indicator above the logo is actually not a bad thing, as it gives great aesthetic pleasure.

As a console air purifier, the Aprilaire Clean9550 uses a bottom-to-top air cleaning system, with the air intake placed on both sides. The air outlet can be found behind the top control panel, which is the same for all three models in the 9550 series.

Source: Amazon.com

Aprilaire Clean9550 is quite heavy with 26 lbs of weight, and you should thank the two handles for helping you move it around your home.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Aprilaire Clean9550 Filters

The Aprilaire Clean9550 uses a very simple 3-stage air cleaning system to deliver high-quality filtration performance.

1. Pre-filter – Captures large to medium airborne particles like large dust, lint, pet hair, and fur. It can be cleaned by vacuuming or washed to remove buildup.
2. HEPA filter – Aprilaire Clean9550 only uses a HEPA-type filter, which removes 99.5% of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns like dust, pollen, mold spores, germs and other pollutants.
3. Activated Carbon filter – Reduces household odors, VOCs and gaseous pollutants.

Without the True HEPA filter, the Aprilaire Clean9550 can’t match its brothers in terms of power. To test the performance of this air purifier, I made a test for all 9550 air purifiers. They all performed in a room of 300 square feet for an hour. As you can see from the chart below, the Aprilaire Clean9550 can reach an efficiency of 99.5% for trapping any particles down to 0.3 microns.

You should change the air filter every 6 to 12 months, depending on use. Only get the genuine Aprilaire replacement filter, which is available in the below deal.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Aprilaire Clean9550 Room Coverage

Aprilaire Clean9550 is an air purifier for medium to large rooms, so the manufacturer suggests using it in a room of 495 square feet.

The ACH of Aprilaire Clean9550 is 4X. It will exchange the air in your room every 15 minutes.

The CADR of Aprilaire Clean9550 is 320 cfm in general, which is even better than the Oransi Max and Rabbit Air MinusA2 in terms of fan power. However, its performance is a bit behind the Oransi mod.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Aprilaire Clean9550 Sound

Higher fan power results in a higher noise level, and the Aprilaire Clean9550 is no exception.

Turning it on the highest fan speed, I measured the noise level to be 64 decibels (dB). That said, you shouldn’t use this feature while you’re working or sleeping.

Luckily, there is a Sleep Mode to help reduce the noise greatly, to only 30 decibels. It is just like a whisper, and basically, you can’t notice any sound from the device.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Aprilaire Clean9550 Power Consumption

One of our most FAQs is “Do air purifiers use a lot of energy?” In fact, air purifiers must be used for a long time to be efficient. And power consumption is one important criterion to review to determine if this air purifier is good or not.

The power consumption of the Aprilaire Clean9550 is 85 watts, and it doesn’t have an Energy Star rating.

If you run the Aprilaire Clean9550 for 8 hours each day, you need to pay $30 each year.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Aprilaire Clean9550 Additional Features

All air purifiers under the 9550 series, including the Aprilaire Clean9550, are the best air purifiers this company can deliver. They all come with the Smart Sensor, which has the ability to detect changes in indoor air quality and then adjust the fan automatically based on the environment’s needs.

Besides the normal 3 fan speeds, the Aprilaire Clean9550 has one sleep mode to dim the light, set the fan speed to low, and turn on the timer for 8 hours; and one turbo mode to increase the fan speed to the highest. You can also change the timer setting to 1, 2, 4, and 8 hours.

There is a Control Panel Lock function to prevent others from changing the current setting on this air purifier.

Finally, we will have a LED indicator for filter replacement. Whenever the filter cartridge is at 90% of its capacity, the air purifier will beep three times to notify you when the power is on. Also, the LED indicator will flash until you get a filter replacement.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Aprilaire Clean9550 Customer Service

Aprilaire is one of the top air purifier brands in the U.S., and the company will assist you with any problems. Just call its customer service toll-free at 800-334-6011, from Monday to Friday, 7:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. CST. You can also email outside of working hours; the address is right on the “Contact Us” page.

Aprilaire grants you a 5-year warranty for any whole-home air cleaners; the warranty is on the cabinet from the date of installation. Moreover, you are guaranteed by Clean Coil to have the professional cleaning done within the next 10 years, at a cost of $100.

In the case of the Aprilaire 9550 series, the limited warranty is only effective for 1 year, and you don’t have the Clean Coil Guarantee.

Our verdict

The Aprilaire Clean9550 is quite similar to the Alen BreatheSmart FIT50 in the mid-range segment, as they both come without the power of a true HEPA filter. To make up for the missing part, the FIT50 has a lifetime warranty (and finally, a True HEPA filter). But for the Aprilaire Clean9550, it needs to reduce the original price.