If you’re a pet owner with allergies, you know how challenging it can be to enjoy time with your furry friends while dealing with sneezing, itchy eyes, and other allergy symptoms. While even the best air purifier can’t alleviate all of those symptoms entirely, the right one – like the Molekule Air Pro Purifier- can definitely make a huge difference.
Today, we’ll go over everything you need to know about this outstanding purifier, including features, pros, cons, and more. Let’s start by making sure we’re on the same page. This is the Molekule model that we’re talking about today:
- Designed with PECO technology and a true HEPA 99.97% particle-capture efficiency rate.
- Features an advanced PECO-HEPA Tri-Power filter that combines PECO technology, HEPA efficiency, and carbon filtration to eliminate viruses, bacteria, mold, allergens, VOCs, odors, and toxic gases.
- Equipped with expanded air history stats, two Auto Protect modes, and app-enabled functionality for convenient monitoring and control.
- The revolutionary PECO technology not only captures but also molecularly destroys organic pollutants, converting harmful pathogens and VOCs into harmless substances like carbon dioxide and water vapor.
- Ideal for allergy sufferers, the Air Pro removes common airborne allergens such as pollen, dust mites, pet dander, and mold spores, providing relief from allergy symptoms with its proven ability to capture 95% of airborne allergens.
FYI, this post includes affiliate links. If you buy anything through our links, TechnoBark earns a commission at no extra cost to you. Molekule also provided me with their Air Pro to test out, but we only review products that we actually recommend or would buy ourselves. With the Air Pro, I practically begged to be the one to review it because I wanted it from the moment I saw it.
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What is the Molekule Air Pro Purifier?
I know what you’re thinking: the title says what it is. It’s an air purifier. Duh! Well, smarty pants, you’re right…but it’s so much more than just another “stick it in a room and hope that it cleans up your air a bit” purifier.
The Molekule Air Pro is a high-performance technological marvel designed to tackle pollutants, allergens, and pretty much anything and everything else that makes your air so cruddy. With cutting-edge PECO technology, it doesn’t just filter pollutants but actually destroys them. Let’s look at the features first, then we’ll get into more detail about the pros and the cons.
Features
- Patented PECO (Photo Electrochemical Oxidation) Technology: Eliminates pollutants at the molecular level, including viruses, VOCs, bacteria, mold, and allergens.
- True HEPA Technology– In addition to PECO, Molekule also uses traditional HEPA filtration. Between the two, it captures 99.97% of particles.
- 360° Air Intake: Draws air from all directions for maximum purification efficiency.
- Cleans Large Spaces: Designed for areas up to 1,000 square feet.
- Real-Time Air Quality Monitoring: Continuously tracks the air quality and displays data on the touchscreen or through the app.
- Auto-Protect Mode: Automatically adjusts the fan speed based on current air quality.
- Relatively Quiet Operation: More on this in a moment
- Particle Sensor: Detects both larger particles like dust and small, microscopic particles for better filtration.
- App Connectivity: Control and monitor the device remotely via the Molekule app.
- Touchscreen: You can also control the settings right on the device
Molekule Air Pro Purifier Pros
Say that 10 times fast! As always, let’s start with a quick overview of the pros. Then we’ll get into more details about the non-self-explanatory ones in a moment.
- Advanced Filtration that captures 99.7% of particles.
- Helps Neutralize Odors
- Handles Large Spaces (up to 1,000 square feet)
- Real-Time Monitoring*
- Automatic Adjustments
- Quiet Operation Features
- Sleek Design (it’s modern and pretty to look at)
- Energy Efficient (so you can run it 24/7, although we unplug ours at night)
- Comes in a nice reusable bag!
Before we dive into the detailed pros, let me pause here to give you a little background on my “testing environment.” I live in a weird sort of rural/suburban hybrid area. My area is basically the suburbs of NYC, Philly, and pretty much every other major city between them (we’re smack in the middle of the two).
My house, though, is actually fairly rural, off the main road by about a mile, and surrounded by nature. Nature that, while beautiful, means plenty of pollen, dirt, dust, dander, and pretty much everything else that makes me sneezy.
Oh, and smoke. There’s always smoke somewhere between neighbors grilling out in the summer or using their fireplaces in winter, people nearby burning leaves and other stuff that they probably shouldn’t be burning (cardboard boxes, garbage, the occasional entire sofa), and even wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada.
Inside my home, I have a dog, a few cats, and a teenage son. My mom also lives with us, and she’s an avid gardener. So that’s a lot of feet tracking stuff in and out of the house. Well, not so much with the cats, as they’re strictly indoor kitties. Although they still manage to cause chaos and destruction that I’m sure results in pollutants being thrown all over the house. (Side note- now is a good time to mention that if you have feline friends, you might want to check out our sister site, TechnoMeow, for the best air purifiers for cat allergens.
To top it all off, this house has a very odd window system. We have the crank-out windows (I think they’re called “casement windows”), and the way that they’re spaced throughout the house really limits any sort of natural air flow. So the air gets kind of stagnant even when every window is open. Basically, it’s a recipe for air cleanliness disaster. Now that you know what I’m working with, let’s see how the Molekule Air Pro pros (I can never resist alliteration) help deal with all of it.
Advanced Filtration with PECO and HEPA technology
Since the whole point of an air purifier is how well it actually purifies the air, let’s start here. The Air Pro is a BEAST when it comes to destroying pollutants, thanks to the combination of PECO and HEPA. Rather than trying (and failing) to explain these technologies in my own words, here’s how Molekule explains it:
“True HEPA captures 99.97% of small particles while light-activated PECO technology destroys organic pollutants and a layer of carbon removes odors and gases.”
Basically, it’s a trifecta of pollutant-destroying systems, and it REALLY works.
Thanks to the app, I was able to literally watch my air quality improve over the course of a few hours. While it took a while to go from “very bad” to “good,” I noticed that within about 20 minutes it jumped down by about 100 points (lower is better), going from “very bad” to just plain “bad.” About two hours later, it hit “moderate.” I didn’t check it for the rest of that day (I got busy and forgot), but when I went back the next day, it was finally on “good.”
Helps neutralize odors
Going back to the trifecta of filtration technologies, according to the Molekule website, the carbon filter helps trap odors. That’s really the only mention of odor neutralizing on the product page, kind of a “aside” really, so I wasn’t expecting much there, honestly.
Let me tell you, though, this baby actually does a GREAT job at reducing or eliminating odors. Want to know how I know that? Because my dog rolled in something dead, then came into the house and rolled around on the floor. Yeah, I’m sure you can imagine how great that smelled. Heck, if you’re a dog owner (which you probably are since you’re on a dog site), I’m sure you don’t even have to imagine.
So anyway, it was gross. Out of curiosity, I turned on the Molekule (it wasn’t on at that point because we forgot to plug it in that morning), thinking that if it didn’t get rid of the odor at least it would get rid of whatever random icky pollutants came with “dead animal smell.”
Well, within a few minutes, the stench was gone. I don’t know if that’s “typical.” I’m not promising that the Molekule will make every stinky situation smell better. I just know that I was very pleasantly surprised at how well and how fast it worked for this particular stinky situation.
Real-time monitoring*
The asterisk is because the app updates every five minutes, so I’m not sure if that counts as “real time,” but it’s pretty darn close. Basically, it almost constantly updates you on the progress of its air purification efforts either through the app or on the touchscreen (more on that in a minute).
One thing that I love is that it not only tells you about your indoor air quality, but if you put in your zip code it’ll also give you a rundown of outside air quality. Yes, you can see that info on your favorite weather app, but usually only after either subscribing or sitting through pop-up ads. It’s so much easier to just open the Molekule app and click over to “Air Quality” then “Outdoor Air.”
It gives you a breakdown of your Air Quality Index and the top air pollutants, like ozone, CO, NO2, SO2, and more. I passed chemistry by the skin of my teeth, so I don’t really know what role all of those play in air quality (aside from carbon dioxide), but I still love checking their levels on the app.
Oh! I just noticed, it even gives you the weather, humidity, and wind speed! I mean, the weather is basically just the current temp and high/low for the day, but that’s still super handy.
Back to the “through the app or the touchscreen” bit- while the app is a lot more detailed, the Molekule has an on-board touchscreen that you can scroll through to change settings, see current air quality, and more. So you don’t technically even HAVE to use the app if you don’t want to. Don’t worry, connecting the app to your device is super simple. It took me less than 3 minutes from start to finish.
Automatic Adjustments and (Mostly) Quiet Features
I’ll group these together since they kind of intersect. The Molekule Air Pro has a plethora of settings, more than any I’ve ever seen on an air purifier. Here’s a rundown:
- Auto-Protect Standard- which is exactly what it sounds like: it’ll automatically adjust itself to optimize air cleaning.
- Auto-Protect Quiet – same thing, except it sticks with quieter modes.
- Manual- 6 different modes
We keep it on Auto-Quiet when we’re in the living room watching TV. At that level, you can’t hear it at all from a few feet away, and barely at all even up close. On the higher levels it does get kind of loud. At level 6, I can hear it from the next room. I love that there are so many levels, though, and that you have complete control over them.
I tried to take a few videos demonstrating how the different modes sound. I realize now that this may not be the most helpful idea because the sound also depends on how loud your speakers are turned up. But you can kind of get a general overview of the difference between the levels.
Side note- it’s a sheer miracle that every animal and person in my house managed to stay quiet while I did this, so I should totally get points for pulling that off. Also, I apologize for the Blair Witch style camera work. I don’t have the steadiest hands.
Cons
- Price: The Air Pro is on the expensive side, which might not fit everyone’s budget.
- Filter Replacement Costs:
- Size
- Noisy on high levels
- App Reliability: Some users report occasional connectivity or app performance issues. I haven’t experienced this issue though.
Price
This is by far the biggest drawback. At nearly $1K, the Molekule Air Pro definitely isn’t cheap. But it’s also not cheap. By that, I mean this isn’t some cruddy air purifier that’ll break down after a year. It’s built well, and built to last.
They do have financing options through ShopPay, though. Also it’s HSA/FSA eligible. I’m not entirely sure how that works, so rather than try to explain it and get it wrong, I’ll direct you to the FAQ on using that feature. They also run specials, like “buy an Air Pro, get an Air Mini+ free.” The Mini+ is $300+ on its own, so that’s a pretty awesome deal.
Molekule Air Mini+ purifiers use PECO technology and true HEPA 99.97% particle-capture efficiency rate to capture and destroy pollutants in personal spaces like bedrooms and offices.
Filter Replacement Costs
Filters are another ongoing expense that may be a bit too steep for some budget-conscious people. You’ll need to replace them about every six months. The cost varies significantly ($139-175) depending on which filter you’re replacing and whether you go with one-time purchases or a subscription.
Size
Given that it can handle a 1,000 square-foot room, it makes sense that it would need to be big. Honestly, though, as far as floor space goes it actually takes up less space than my ancient Honeywell. You definitely notice that it’s there, but it’s actually pretty nice-looking, so it’s not really a big deal.
Still, if you have an itty-bitty room, you might want to consider the Air Mini+ instead.
FAQs
1. How often do I need to replace the filter?
You should replace the PECO filter every 6 months to maintain optimal performance.
2. Can the Molekule Air Pro help with pet odors?
Yes, the Air Pro is effective at reducing pet odors, dander, and other allergens, making it great for households with pets.
3. How loud is the Molekule Air Pro on its highest setting?
At its highest speed, the Air Pro generates about 55 decibels, which is quieter than many other purifiers but noticeable in a silent room.
4. Can I control the purifier without the app?
Yes, the Molekule Air Pro has a touchscreen display that allows you to adjust settings manually if you prefer not to use the app.
5. Does it help with wildfire smoke?
Absolutely. The Air Pro is designed to target fine particles like smoke, making it effective for managing indoor air quality during wildfire season.
Conclusion:
The bottom line – whether you have cats, dogs, or other pets, the Molekule Air Pro works to keep your home’s air cleaner, so you can breathe easier without compromising your love for your pets. If you’re looking for an air purifier that goes beyond just capturing particles, it’s totally worth the investment.
- Designed with PECO technology and a true HEPA 99.97% particle-capture efficiency rate.
- Features an advanced PECO-HEPA Tri-Power filter that combines PECO technology, HEPA efficiency, and carbon filtration to eliminate viruses, bacteria, mold, allergens, VOCs, odors, and toxic gases.
- Equipped with expanded air history stats, two Auto Protect modes, and app-enabled functionality for convenient monitoring and control.
- The revolutionary PECO technology not only captures but also molecularly destroys organic pollutants, converting harmful pathogens and VOCs into harmless substances like carbon dioxide and water vapor.
- Ideal for allergy sufferers, the Air Pro removes common airborne allergens such as pollen, dust mites, pet dander, and mold spores, providing relief from allergy symptoms with its proven ability to capture 95% of airborne allergens.
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