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The Fellowes AeraMax 290 Is Rated for 290 Square Feet, Not 600

It is also the AeraMax 300 and the DX95, and it is the cheapest of the three to feed per unit of clean air.

By Franco N.·Updated August 6, 2026

The numbers

  • Certified smoke CADR: 199. Dust 204, pollen 193, all AHAM Verifide
  • Room size in the manual: 290 sq ft. On the listings: 300 to 600 sq ft
  • Air changes an hour: 5.2 at 290 sq ft, 2.5 at 600
  • Price: $345.99 at the one dealer shipping it, checked 6 August 2026
  • Filters: $65.95 a year, $197.85 over three
  • Filter part numbers: 9287201 and 9324201
  • Clean air per dollar of annual filters: 3.02, against 2.31 for the 190 and 1.75 for the 90
  • The AeraMax 300 and DX95 are this machine under different numbers

Verdict

Worth it if you want the best-engineered purchase in a discontinued range. Of the three AeraMax units on this site, this is the one that delivers the most clean air for every dollar you spend feeding it, and it is the only one I found with a dealer willing to ship.

It costs $86 more than the 190 across three years and delivers 57 percent more clean air for the money. If the room is a living room rather than a bedroom, that is the right trade.

What holds it back is the same thing holding back the rest of the line. Fellowes has retired the consumer AeraMax range, one supplier has already dropped the carbon filter, and the room size on the listings is roughly double the certification. Compare with the 190 and the 90 before you commit.

The model number is the room it was built for

Fellowes rates this machine at “Room Area Served 290 sq. ft./27 sq. m.” Every retailer describes it as covering 300 to 600.

The manual is right. AHAM’s published formula is 1.55 times the smoke clean air delivery rate, this unit is certified at 199, and 1.55 times 199 comes to 309 square feet, so the number stamped on the box was never a marketing figure at all.

At 199 cubic feet a minute the machine moves 11,940 cubic feet an hour. In 290 square feet at an eight foot ceiling that is 5.2 air changes an hour, which clears the five the CDC asks for. Put it in 600 and you get 2.5.

Amazon manages to list this exact part number twice over, once as a 290 square foot machine and once as a 300 to 600 square foot machine, which are the same box making two different promises.

Where the money actually goes

Filters cost more as you move up the AeraMax range, but not nearly as fast as the machines do. That flips the running-cost arithmetic in favour of the bigger unit.

Clean air delivered per dollar of annual filter cost, rising from 1.75 on the AeraMax 90 to 3.02 on the 290 Clean air per dollar of annual filter cost Certified smoke CADR divided by a year of filters at Home Depot prices. 0 1 2 3 1.75 2.31 3.02 AeraMax 90 $40.58 a year AeraMax 190 $54.99 a year AeraMax 290 $65.95 a year The 290 costs 20 percent more a year to feed than the 190 and delivers 57 percent more clean air, so the biggest unit is the cheapest to run. CADR from the AHAM directory. Filter prices from Home Depot, checked 6 August 2026.

The 290 takes True HEPA 9287201 once a year and carbon 9324201 every three months in packs of four. At Home Depot that is $35.82 and $30.13, so $65.95 a year and $197.85 across three.

Compare that with the 190 at $54.99 a year. You pay 20 percent more for 57 percent more clean air, which is the best trade in the range.

Then there is the shop you buy it from, which swamps all of that. Staples sells the same 9287201 part for $93.49 against Home Depot’s $35.82, on the same day, and buying it at the wrong one for three years costs you more than the machine did in the first place.

Three names, one machine

The AeraMax 290, the AeraMax 300 and the AeraMax DX95 carry identical certified numbers, and Fellowes lists their filters under all three names at once.

Which is exactly why owners keep buying the wrong part. One Home Depot reviewer found this filter “slightly too large for the unit. It had to be forced into place,” and the neighbouring family’s carbon filter has a run of reviews from people who opened the box to something far too big or far too small. Check the number on your machine. Not the picture on the listing.

You are buying a discontinued product

Fellowes’ air quality catalogue is down to five commercial AeraMax Pro machines and the networked Array range. WebstaurantStore says the 290 is no longer available. OfficeSupply says it is sold out with no restock date. Connection returns a product-not-found page. eBay had four units and all of them were used.

CDW had it at $345.99 with a working listing. Staples has it at $146.59 in stores only, which is the best price anywhere if you happen to have one nearby, and useless if you do not.

A second Staples listing showed $385.99 with free delivery promised for a date in May, three months ago. Stale cache. I have not linked it.

Where it was actually in stock

CDW, discontinued 2 April 2026

The filters, which are easier to get than the machine

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

CDW discontinued it on 2 April 2026. The one machine listing this page had is gone. Fellowes still catalogues it at $379.99 MSRP and publishes a smoke CADR of 215, but its own site takes no orders. Both filter prices were re-read on 14 August 2026 and neither had moved.

If it will not turn on, check the drawer

Fellowes publishes a fix and it names this model: verify that the filter drawer on the right side of the machine is properly in place, then call customer service if it still fails.

The instruction is on a support page rather than in the manual, and the manual’s troubleshooting table has no entry for a machine that will not start. Anyone who changes a filter and then finds a dead unit will get nothing from the paperwork in the box.

What is wrong with it

Drawbacks

  • Sold for a room twice the certified size. Source: the manual’s 290 sq ft against retail copy claiming 600, adjudicated by AHAM’s directory and its own formula
  • Amazon lists one part number at two different coverages. Source: two live listings for 9286201, one saying 290 sq ft and one saying 300 to 600
  • Discontinued, one dealer shipping. Source: absence from Fellowes’ catalogue, WebstaurantStore’s “no longer available”, and OfficeSupply’s sold out with no restock date
  • The same filter costs 2.6 times as much at one retailer as another. Source: part 9287201 at $93.49 and $35.82 on the same day
  • Filter supply is starting to thin. Source: WebstaurantStore’s carbon four-pack marked no longer available
  • The fix for the commonest failure is not in the manual. Source: the filter drawer instruction appears only on Fellowes’ support site
  • Shared part numbers make people order the wrong filter. Source: owner reviews reporting a filter that had to be forced into place, and a run of wrong-size complaints on the neighbouring family
  • The 2021 manual quotes a superseded certification. Source: the manual prints the April 2020 figures and AHAM re-certified in October 2023
  • No UL file number is published. Source: a dealer attribute reading UL Listed, and no certification mark anywhere in the manual
  • Not in the CARB register. Source: the California certified list searched twice with no Fellowes or AeraMax entry. CARB’s draft list could not be checked, so this is unverified rather than refuted
  • The panel lights are bright and the top two speeds are loud. Source: a review site rather than an owner, and it gives no decibel measurements
  • The review base is tiny. Source: 19 Walmart ratings, none of them below four stars, which is too small a sample to lean on

What holds up

  • The best clean air per dollar of running cost in the range, at 3.02 against 2.31 and 1.75
  • 5.2 air changes an hour at the size it was certified for, which clears the CDC figure
  • AHAM Verifide, and re-certified upward in October 2023 while the range was being retired
  • Genuine True HEPA with an antimicrobial treatment on the media
  • A clean CPSC record across three separate queries
  • The only AeraMax in this cluster with a dealer willing to ship one

Questions people ask

What size room does the AeraMax 290 cover?
About 290 to 310 square feet. Fellowes’ manual says 290, AHAM’s directory says 300, and AHAM’s formula gives 309. The 600 on the listings is roughly double the certification.

Is the AeraMax 290 the same as the 300 or the DX95?
Yes. Identical certified numbers and identical filters, under three part numbers.

Which filters does it take?
True HEPA 9287201 once a year, carbon 9324201 every three months in packs of four. Shop around, because the same HEPA filter ranges from $35.82 to $93.49.

Is the 290 worth it over the 190?
For a living room, yes. It costs about 20 percent more a year in filters and delivers 57 percent more clean air. For a bedroom the 190 is enough.

My AeraMax 290 will not turn on.
Check the filter drawer on the right side is fully seated. Fellowes names this model specifically, but the instruction is on its website rather than in the manual.

Is it still made?
No. The consumer AeraMax range has gone from Fellowes’ catalogue. The filters are still in production.

How this compares with the 90 and the 190, on room size and on running cost, is on the air care hub.

Sources

  • Fellowes AeraMax 290 operator manual, the source for the 290 sq ft room area, the printed CADR figures, the filter part numbers and intervals, and for the troubleshooting table containing no entry for a unit that will not start
  • AHAM Directory of Certified Portable Electric Room Air Cleaners, October 2023, the source for the certified 204 dust, 199 smoke and 193 pollen figures, the 300 sq ft room size, and the AeraMax 300 carrying an identical row. The April 2020 edition lists 196, 191 and 188, which is what the manual still prints
  • AHAM, Consumer Room Air Cleaners and Equivalent Air Changes per Hour, January 2026, the source for the 1.55 times smoke CADR formula and the CDC figure of at least five air changes an hour
  • Fellowes AeraMax support FAQ, the source for the filter drawer instruction naming the 290, 300 and DX95, for PlasmaTRUE shipping switched on, and for the UL 867 ozone testing statement
  • CDW, AeraMax 290, the source for the $345.99 price and the 300 to 600 sq ft claim
  • WebstaurantStore, AeraMax 290, the source for the “no longer available” statement
  • Home Depot, True HEPA 9287201 and the carbon 9324201 four-pack, the source for the $35.82 and $30.13 prices behind the running cost, and for the owner review about a filter forced into place
  • Staples, True HEPA 9287201, the source for the $93.49 price that sits against Home Depot’s $35.82
  • OfficeSupply.com, AeraMax 290, the source for the UL Listed certification attribute, the three year warranty and the sold-out notice
  • CARB list of certified air cleaning devices, searched on 6 August 2026 with no Fellowes and no AeraMax entry. CARB’s separate draft list could not be checked
  • Walmart owner reviews, AeraMax carbon filters, the source for the wrong-size filter complaints
  • CPSC recall API queried on Manufacturer=Fellowes, on ProductName=AeraMax and on air purifier recalls since 2015, each returning nothing for this brand
  • Stock checked 6 August 2026 at CDW, Staples, OfficeSupply, WebstaurantStore, Connection, Walmart and eBay. The two conflicting coverage claims above come from listing titles only, and no Amazon price or stock was confirmed
  • A UL file number, an ETL or CSA listing, an independent ozone measurement and a settled Energy Star determination were all searched for and not found. The Energy Star database could not be checked, so no claim is made here in either direction

Read how I check numbers.