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Every AeraMax Is Sold for a Room Twice the Size It Is Rated For

Three Fellowes purifiers, two Boneco humidifiers, and the filter part numbers behind most of the returns.

By Franco N.·Updated August 6, 2026

The numbers

  • Room area in the manuals: 90, 190 and 290 sq ft. On the listings: 200, 400 and 600
  • Air changes an hour at the top of the marketed range: 2.7, 2.4 and 2.5. The CDC asks for five
  • Boneco entries in the AHAM certified directory: none, across both editions
  • Filters: $40.58 to $65.95 a year, depending on the machine
  • The same HEPA part, 9287201: $35.82 at Home Depot, $93.49 at Staples
  • Machines here: five, plus the AeraMax 100, 200, 300, DX5, DX55 and DX95 under other numbers

The model number is the room rating

Open any AeraMax manual and there is a line called Room Area Served. On the 90 it reads 90 square feet, and the 190 and 290 each print their own model number back at you. Go to where the same three machines are sold and they are listed for 100 to 200, 200 to 400, and 300 to 600.

AHAM publishes the arithmetic behind the manual figures. A January 2026 paper gives suggested room size as 1.55 times the smoke clean air delivery rate. Run that on the 190’s certified 127 and you get 197 square feet, which is the number on the box. Run it on the 290’s certified 199 and you get 309.

The 90 is the odd one. Its certified smoke CADR of 71 works out to 110 square feet and Fellowes rates it at 90 anyway, which is the more cautious of the two numbers. Whatever route each manual figure took, all three of them sit far below what the listing promises.

What the doubling does to the air

Clean air delivery rate is a volume per minute, so the room it has to clean decides how many times an hour the air turns over. At the room size in the manual, all three machines land at or above five changes an hour. Five is the figure AHAM’s paper attributes to the CDC. At the top of the marketed range they drop to 2.7, 2.4 and 2.5.

Rated room size against marketed room size for three AeraMax purifiers AeraMax room size: the manual against the listing what the manual says what the listing says AeraMax 90 90 200 AeraMax 190 190 400 AeraMax 290 290 600 0 200 400 600 square feet At the marketed maximum all three drop below 2.7 air changes an hour. Manual room areas from the Fellowes operator manuals, August 2026.

Model Certified smoke CADR Manual says Sold as ACH at manual size ACH at top of range
AeraMax 90 71 90 sq ft 100 to 200 5.9 2.7
AeraMax 190 127 190 sq ft 200 to 400 5.0 2.4
AeraMax 290 199 290 sq ft 300 to 600 5.2 2.5

Ceiling height is eight feet throughout. Raise it and every figure in the last two columns falls.

The AeraMax 200 manual gives its room area as "200 sq. ft./18 sq. m." and the 190 manual gives "190 sq. ft./18 sq. m." But 190 square feet is 17.7 square metres and 200 is 18.6, so only one of those rounds to 18. The metric figure stayed behind when the imperial one was changed.

An air washer is a humidifier

Boneco calls the W200 an air washer, and it does draw air through a stack of wetted discs. Whether that cleans anything is a separate question, and the one independent laboratory test of the category says no. Consumer Reports ran the Venta LW14 and LW44, same mechanism, in February 2008 and found them "no better at removing dust and smoke than no air purifier at all." The EPA’s guide to air cleaners in the home leaves water-washing devices out of its taxonomy entirely.

As a humidifier the W200 works, and that is what to buy it for. The longer version of this argument, with the humidity numbers and the tank arithmetic, is in air washer versus humidifier.

Boneco is in no certification register

Both editions of AHAM’s directory of certified portable air cleaners, October 2023 and April 2020, list neither Boneco nor Plaston, the Swiss parent. CARB’s certified register does not list them either, and California has required that certification for portable air cleaners sold in the state since 2010. The H680 manual carries no UL, ETL, CSA or CE mark and no file number.

The H680 manual prints "Air purification performance 190 m3/h (112 CFM) (CADR)". CADR is AHAM’s term, in AHAM’s units, attached to a number no AHAM laboratory certified. Absence from a register means nobody has published a figure you can check against. Whether the machine would pass is a separate question, and nobody has answered it.

Which filter fits what, and what it costs

Ordering the wrong filter is the most common complaint on every AeraMax listing, and the part numbers cause it. Three machines, six parts, and model names that overlap across three generations of hardware. The table below sorts it out.

If your machine says True HEPA, yearly Carbon, every 3 months, 4-pack Per year
AeraMax 90, 100 or DX5 9287001, $20 to $30 9324001, $10 to $20 $40 to $50
AeraMax 190, 200 or DX55 9287101, $20 to $30 9324101, $20 to $30 $50 to $60
AeraMax 290, 300 or DX95 9287201, $30 to $40 9324201, $30 to $40 $60 to $70

Ranges rather than exact figures, because filter prices move and a range stays true for longer. Read 6 August 2026.

The carbon filters go every three months and ship in fours, so one pack covers a year. All six prices are Home Depot, checked 14 August 2026.

The same 9287201 HEPA filter is $34.99 at Sylvane, $35.82 at Home Depot, $40.54 at OfficeCrave, $61.99 at Quill, $93.49 at Staples, and $107.50 on a second Zoro listing for that part number. Bottom to top, 3.1 times. Identical filter, identical day. The distance between the cheapest and the dearest is $72.51, which buys a whole year of filters for any machine in the range with change left over. Check a second seller before you reorder.

The full part-number breakdown, the Boneco consumables, and what the filter change indicator is really counting are in AeraMax and Boneco replacement filters.

Filters, in stock and checked 14 August 2026

HEPA 9287001, $23.95 Carbon 9324001 four-pack, $16.63

HEPA 9287101, $27.51 Carbon 9324101 four-pack, $27.48

HEPA 9287201, $35.82 Carbon 9324201 four-pack, $30.13

The machines themselves are a different matter and several are discontinued, so stock and seller are on each product page below.

The five machines

Fellowes AeraMax 90 · Worth it if the room is under about 110 sq ft. The manual says 90. Every listing says 100 to 200.

Fellowes AeraMax 190 · Worth it if the room is around 200 sq ft. Also covers the AeraMax 200 and DX55, which are the same machine.

Fellowes AeraMax 290 · Worth it if the room is around 300 sq ft. The best clean air per dollar of running cost in the range, and the only one a dealer will ship.

Boneco W200 air washer · Worth it if you want a humidifier. It is still on sale, and there is no certified figure anywhere for how much air it cleans.

Boneco H680 · Not a pick at $1,100. Still buyable, but Boneco prints a clean-air figure no laboratory ever certified. Covers the P500 too.

Questions

Which AeraMax should I buy for a 300 square foot room?

The 290. Its manual rates it at 290 square feet, and it delivers the most clean air per dollar of annual filter spend of the three.

Is the AeraMax 200 a different machine from the 190?

No. Identical row in AHAM’s directory, identical filter part numbers, and a manual that still carries the 190’s metric room area. The DX55 is the same machine again.

Can an air washer replace an air purifier?

No. No Boneco machine has a certified clean air delivery rate, and the only independent test of the category found no measurable effect on dust or smoke.

Are these machines Energy Star rated?

Not confirmed either way. No Energy Star mark appears in any of these manuals, and I have not been able to verify a listing in the database itself, so treat a retailer that claims it as unverified until you see the certificate.

Sources

Read how I check numbers.