Kenmore 83396 air purifier review

Small home owners, the Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier might work well for you if you can overlook its lack of an auto mode.

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review
(Image: © Kenmore)

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

The Kenmore 83396 air purifier is one of the lightest units we've reviewed, making it easy to move from room to room. It doesn't have an auto mode and its CADR score is lower than other purifiers, but it's simple to use and has a programmable timer.

Pros

  • +

    Lightweight

  • +

    Easy to use

  • +

    Programmable timer

Cons

  • -

    No auto mode

  • -

    Louder than average

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The Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier can remove pollutants in rooms that reach up to 318 square feet, and makes just over three air changes an hour, which means all the air in the room is pushed through the filters once every 19 minutes or so. However, it has some of the lowest CADR scores out of all units featured in our best air purifiers guide, meaning it isn't as effective at removing indoor pollutants from your home. 

Despite its lightweight design, the Kenmore 83396 HEPA Filter Air Purifier has been built to cleanse air in larger rooms, such as your living room or bedroom. It's designed to capture 99.97% of airborne asthma and allergy triggering contaminates of 0.3 microns and above in the air. Think dust, mold, pollen, smoke and dust mites.

In our Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review, we look at the price, features and performance to see if it's right for your home or office. 

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review: spec

  • Filters: 2
  • Ionizer: Y
  • Max noise: 62.4dB
  • Coverage (sq ft): 317
  • Auto mode: N
  • Max power use: 101 watts
  • CADR: pollen removal – 251 ; dust – 229 ; smoke – 205

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review: price

This machine is Energy Star verified, which indicates it uses less energy than many other purifiers on the market. Based on manufacturer specifications, we estimate the electrical cost of the machine to be just under $40 a year. 

The Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier is also AHAM verified, which means it was put through AHAM's rigorous and methodical testing process to reach its CADR scores. Without this verification, it is difficult to ascertain how a purifier reached its CADR specifications.

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review

(Image credit: Kenmore)

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review: features

The purifier has an optional ionizer, so you can use this cleaning technology if you don't mind the potential risks of the trace amounts of ozone. Unfortunately, this Kenmore air purifier lacks an auto mode, which is a setting found on other air cleaners that detects the level of pollutants in the room and automatically adjusts the settings to maximize the effectiveness of the machine.

It does not include a sleep mode either, which lowers settings so the machine doesn't make too much noise while you sleep. However, it does have an operational timer that allows you to program specific times for it to turn on or off. This is a convenient feature that enables you to have the machine turn on in the morning and operate while you're out of the house.

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review: performance

The Kenmore 83396 is one of the lighter air purifiers we reviewed, weighing in at only 17 pounds. This is just below the average weight of the machines we reviewed, so it's easier to move around the house than many of the others on our lineup. It also has a low profile, so you can store it just about anywhere in the house.

However, the machine is slightly louder than average, reaching up to 62dB. To give you an idea of how loud this is, a whisper usually ranges around 30dB, while a ringtone can reach 80dB.

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review

(Image credit: Kenmore 83396)

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier review: verdict

Kenmore only warrants this machine for one year, which is the shortest warranty we have found for air purifiers. You also won't find a user manual for this product on the company's website, so make sure you hang on to the physical copy that comes with it. However, you can contact the company through email or live chat.

The Kenmore 83396 is a decent air purifier that has somewhat low CADR ratings, meaning it isn't as effective at removing indoor pollutants as the best air purifiers we reviewed. This air purifier lacks auto and sleep modes, which are convenient operation modes to make life a little easier with this small appliance. 

However, you will find an operational timer that allows you to set specific times for the machine to run. Overall, this Kenmore air purifier can clean the air in small rooms but lacks the some of the important options we look for.

Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier: alternatives

If you want to view worthy alternatives to the Kenmore 83396 Air Purifier, take a look at our Rabbit Air MinusA2 review, our Blueair Blue Pure 211+ review, and our Winix HR900 review.

John Carlsen

John has been researching and reviewing home security and smart home products for Top Ten Reviews since 2013. As well as covering smart home and home security and safety, he also covers other home technology products such as HVAC, garage door openers and more. He enjoys DIY, writing and hiking in his spare time.