The short answer
- About $584 to own over five years: $190 to buy, $94 in electricity, $300 in filters.
- The nine-month filter interval is the catch. Six filters in five years, not four.
- Levoit publishes the 4.8 ACH coverage itself: 358 sq ft, against 1,718 sq ft at one air change an hour.
Who this is for
Buy the Core 400S for a bedroom or a home office up to roughly 360 square feet where the total bill over several years matters more than raw airflow. It is the cheapest machine to own of the six we have modelled, and the gap is not small.
What is unusual here is not the price. It is that Levoit prints the honest coverage figure on its own product page: 358 square feet at 4.8 air changes an hour, next to the 1,718 square feet it could have advertised at one air change. Most of this category quotes only the flattering number.
What the specifications actually say
CADR is 231 CFM, the lowest in this set. Against the Coway Mighty at 233 that is a rounding difference; against the Airmega 400 at 328 it is real. Rated power is 38 W, the lowest here by a wide margin, and Levoit also publishes standby draw at under 2 W.
| Specification | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CADR | 231 CFM | Levoit product page, retrieved 31 Aug 2026 |
| Coverage at 1 ACH | 1,718 sq ft | Levoit product page |
| Coverage at 4.8 ACH | 358 sq ft | Published by Levoit, not calculated by us |
| Rated power | 38 W | Levoit product page |
| Standby power | under 2 W | Levoit product page |
| Filter interval | 9 months | Levoit stated replacement schedule |
| Replacement filter | $49.99 (3-stage original) | Levoit store, retrieved 31 Aug 2026 |
| Warranty | 2 years limited | Levoit product page |
| Certifications | Energy Star, CARB | Levoit product page |
| Price | $190 | Merchant listing at publication |
The cost nobody quotes
Five years, at the US average of $0.17 per kWh, running eight hours a day.
What it really costs over 5 years
Total$584
| Cost | Amount | How we got it |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | $190 | Street price at publication |
| Electricity | $94 | 111 kWh/yr at $0.17 per kWh |
| Filters & consumables | $300 | $60 per year |
| Total | $584 | $117 per year · $0.04 per session |
Running costs are 67% of the 5-year total. The sticker price is not the decision.
Electricity priced at $0.17 per kWh, the US residential average. Change the rate in the settings to match your utility. Consumable costs come from the manufacturer's published replacement schedule.
The nine-month interval is what to watch. It sounds close to a year, but across sixty months it means six replacement filters rather than the four you would buy on an annual schedule. At $49.99 each that is about $300, and it is still more than half of everything you will spend on this machine.
Electricity is the smallest line by far: 111 kWh a year, about $19, or $94 across the five years. The 38 W rating is the lowest here, and it barely moves the total.
Certifications, and what they cover
Frequently asked questions
What does the Levoit Core 400S cost to run per year?
About $19 in electricity at the US average of $0.17 per kWh, running eight hours a day (38 W x 56 h/week x 52 = 111 kWh).
How often do the filters need changing?
Levoit states nine months. Across five years that is six filters at $49.99, roughly $300, because the machine ships with the first one.
What room size does it really cover?
358 square feet at 4.8 air changes an hour. That figure is Levoit’s own, published on its product page.
Why do you not test these yourself?
We are a research publication, not a lab. We verify third-party test data, publish the source next to every number, and calculate the costs manufacturers leave out.
