Blueair 411 Vs IKEA FÖRNUFTIG – Compare Minimalism (2023)

As the popularity of the IKEA FÖRNUFTIG air purifier grows, so does the number of inquiries I receive from users to compare this device with some other air purifiers.

Since I have received many inquiries about IKEA and Blueair air purifiers, in this article, I will present a detailed comparison of IKEA FÖRNUFTIG and Blueair 411 air purifiers.

Pure minimalism is a feature they have in common, they don’t have any advanced features, and both have only one control button. Basically, the only option these two have is a filter reset indicator.

Blueair covers rooms up to 161 sq. ft., while IKEA covers spaces up to 108 sq. ft. Both devices use three-stage filtration if we consider the carbon filter on IKEA, which needs to be purchased separately. Also, Blueair uses HEPASilent as the fourth stage.

I think this comparison will be very interesting and challenging, especially because of the many similarities between these two devices, mainly when it comes to power consumption and the cost of maintenance on an annual basis.

In the following sections, I will describe in detail all the features these two air purifiers have, and I will compare all the tests done and determine the winner.

Blueair 411 Vs IKEA FÖRNUFTIG Specifications

Features Overview

Blueair 411 and IKEA FÖRNUFTIG are two minimalistic air purifiers with no advanced features. This can be ideal for some users, especially those looking for simplicity and who do not want to bother with too many unnecessary options.

Filter Reset Indicator

A filter reset indicator is an option that adorns both devices. On IKEA, this indicator is a red LED light located next to the control button and which will light up when it is time to change the old filter.

On Blueair, there are indicators above the button that work as fan speed indicators that are also used as a filter reset indicator.

Washable Pre-Filter

Blueair uses a washable pre-filter available in 5 different colors, which allows you to easily adapt it to your home style and fit into almost any environment.

IKEA also has a washable pre-filter, but it is only available in gray.

Smart Plug

Since the IKEA is a mechanical air purifier, and the Blueair has a feature to automatically turns on at the last used speed immediately after plugging in electricity, these two devices can be used with a smart plug.

This way, you can somewhat make these two devices smart and make them remote-controlled possible, if nothing else.

Airflow

The construction of these two air purifiers is extremely different. Blueair is cylindrical, while IKEA is a rectangular air purifier.

With Blueair, the filters take up two-thirds of the device and are located at the bottom. This means that the Blueair draws air through the openings at the bottom, which are arranged on all sides. The air is then filtered and exits through holes in the upper side.

IKEA draws air through the front cover, which is then filtered and exits through openings in the top.

Warranty

Although perhaps unexpectedly, IKEA FÖRNUFTIG comes without a warranty, which is a big minus for this air purifier. 

Blueair 411, on the other hand, comes with a 2-year warranty, which is much better than IKEA. Furthermore, I must say that it is a bit unreliable if the device doesn’t come with a warranty.

Filtration Technology

IKEA FÖRNUFTIG and Blueair 411 use a three-stage filtration technology. Blueair has HEPASilent technology as the fourth stage of filtration, which is essentially an ionizer and can’t be turned off.

Both devices are CARB certified, meaning they do not produce unallowed amounts of ozone and are safe to use.

The first stage of filtration on both air purifiers is the washable pre-filter, which is available in 5 different colors on Blueair. The second stage is the particle filter, the most crucial filtration stage in both. Unfortunately, neither of these two devices uses a True HEPA filter.

The third filtration stage is the pellet-based carbon filter on the IKEA air purifier and the fibrous filter coated with carbon on Blueair. Although they do not have the highest quality filters on the market, these two devices made excellent results in performance tests.

However, I noticed slightly lower performance in neutralizing odors, which means that both air purifiers could have marginally higher quality carbon filters.

How to Replace Filters on These Two?

Since only the pre-filter is washable, these two air purifiers require regular filter replacement.

The filter’s longevity on Blueair is, on average, 6-8 months, while on IKEA, the life of the filter is slightly shorter, on average between 4-6 months. You don’t have to worry about when you need to change it, all because both devices have a filter reset indicator that will let you know when to change the filter.

If you are unsure how to replace the filter on these, I suggest looking at the detailed instructions on the links below.

Noise Test

Blueair and IKEA use only three fan speeds. They have no sleep mode but are very quiet when working at first speeds.

The Blueair 411 produces a sound of 40.6 dBA on first speed, while IKEA produces a sound of 42.2 dBA. From this, we can see that the lack of sleep mode options is not a big minus because the devices at first speeds are quieter than some other competing devices in sleep mode.

IKEA and Blueair, however, are a bit louder on max speeds, especially Blueair, which in my opinion, works kind of weirdly at max speed, and it’s very hard to stay in the same room while Blueair runs at max speed. However, it should be borne in mind that these two air purifiers on max speeds are the most efficient and will clean the air in the room in which they are used the fastest.

All in all, in my opinion, the IKEA FÖRNUFTIG is still a bit quieter than the Blueair 411, although, to be honest, the difference is not very big.

Performance Tests

Honestly, I am most pleased when testing and comparing the performance, especially if the air purifiers are of similar specifications, as is the case with these two.

Blueair covers rooms up to 161 sq. ft. while IKEA covers rooms up to 108 sq. ft. That’s why I did a test in a room of 194 sq. ft. in which I easily compared the performance of these two devices.

Although the air purifiers did well, in some tests, they could have been a bit better, especially IKEA.

194 sq. ft. Room Test

In the first test, in a room of 194 sq. ft., in 60 minutes of operation at max speed, IKEA improved air quality by about 89%, while Blueair improved air quality by about 95% in identical conditions.

These are very good results for Blueair, but I expected IKEA to do slightly better. All in all, this test is proof that devices without a True HEPA filter can do very well.

Other Tests

In addition to the mentioned tests, I tested Blueair in a room of 320 sq. ft., where it, for 60 minutes of operation at max speed, improved air quality by about 90%, which is an excellent result, especially when we consider that this room is larger than the recommended.

In a room of 120 sq. ft. I tested the IKEA air purifier, which improved the air quality by about 91% in 60 minutes. This is a slightly better result than in the previous test, which I expected, considering that this room is similar to recommended dimensions.

Operating Costs

As I mentioned at the beginning of the comparison, IKEA FÖRNUFTIG and Blueair 411 are very small electricity consumers. IKEA uses a 19W motor, which is almost twice the 10W, which is the power of the Blueair motor.

All in all, this is very low power consumption. E.g., at max speed, IKEA consumes about 13.2W, while Blueair consumes about 7.6W. This further means that if you left these two devices running 24 hours a day at max speeds and so on for a month, your electricity bill would be increased by about $ 1.2 in the case of IKEA and less than $ 1 in the case of Blueair.

A potential problem when it comes to operating costs is the price of replacement filters, which is slightly higher for IKEA if we add up an arbitrary carbon filter as well. 

To sum up, Blueair has slightly longer-lasting filters, which are cheaper as well. If we sum the filter’s price with the power consumption, we conclude that Blueair is much more affordable to maintain annually.