Sharp KC-860U Plasmacluster Air Purifier Humidifier Review: The Best!

Last updated on April 22nd, 2020

The starters

Yet another beautiful and highly functional design from Sharp. At 15.8 x 24.8 x 11.4 in dimension and a heavy 24.9 lb weight, it has a powerhouse size that may be a problem for small apartments or studios. Slightly difference setup, the air inlet is located at the back along with the dust, temperature, and humidity sensor. The air outlet is at the top while a water tank is located at the side with 2 grab handles. The front is dominated by the vertical air quality indicator. The dust monitor indicator will switch from green (clean), yellow (dirty), and red (very dirty) according to the surrounding condition. Water supply indicator light that will turn red when the water tank is empty. Below it is the humidity indicator light that will display the relative humidity level in the room. Lastly, the Plasmacluster indicator light will turn blue when it is activated.

Let’s jump straight to the control panel as we have many things to touch on. On the most left, Filter Reset Button that will reset the filter countdown time on press and hold for 3 seconds. Used after you have changed the filter and the indicator light is red. Below it is the Plasmacluster button that will On/ Off the Plasmacluster cleaning. Further below it is the light controls button that will cycle between brighter, darker, and turn off. Moving to the fan speed control, on press, it will cycle between Auto, Pollen, Max, Med, and Low. Now let’s focus on the middle holy trinity button. Clean air button activates only purifying, Clean air & Humidity activates purifying and humidifying. Quick Clean will activate both clean air, humidifying plus Plasmacluster ions for a short period of time. THE Power OFF button will shut down all operations (duh).

Airflow, speed, and CADR

Sharp KC860U PlasmaCluster is an outstanding air purifier but an average humidifier. With a high delivery rate between 42-272 cfm, there is plenty of airflow juice to be distributed for large room sizes. There are 3 highly adjustable speed plus Auto and Pollen mode. Auto mode will automatically switch the right speed depending on the number of airborne impurities. Pollen mode will operate at High speed for 10 minutes, then alternate between Med and High every 20 minutes. As for the somewhat disappointing 1.14 gallons water tank, it is nowhere near the fastest or the biggest in the industry. No issue running for a day without refilling though. Clean air delivery rate is a great benchmark to reflect on Oreck WK15500B air purifying capabilities. Dust CADR is at 230 cfm high, pollen at 245 cfm and smoke the least at 220 cfm. Impressive clean air output that rivals even some dedicated air purifiers.

What’s inside count

The reason why Sharp KC860U earns its reputation as one of the best air purifier humidifiers. The back first-stage pre-filter will block out large airborne particles like dust and hair. Next, the washable deodorizing filter will absorb incoming smoke and odors that manage to skip pass the pre-filter. The last-stage True HEPA filter will now focus on microscopic particles as small as 0.3 microns with an efficiency rate of 99.97%. Plasmacluster will create positive and negative ions using water vapor in the air. The active ions will then proceed to neutralize pollutants in the air. There is also a humidifying feature that will humidify the air with water that has been filtered by the humidifier tray.

Keep it down

Being an air purifier focus humidifier, Sharp KC860U noise isolation is far from the best. At 19 - 54 dBA noise output, a distinctive noise can be heard at the highest speed especially during the night time. If you set it to the lowest speed, noise is more subdued but still not to the extent of an ultrasonic humidifier. As for power usage, it can go as low as 4.8 watts all the way up to 87 watts. This highly depends on the speed you're in and is Plasmacluster activated. Sharp KC860U is Energy Star rated in case you're wondering that.

At what cost

Sharp KC860U PlasmaCluster can go as high as 497 on the market. There are places that are selling much lower but it is subject to availability as it has been in the market for a while. Do we think the price is reasonable? Absolutely, given the specification and filters you get pre-bundled. On a more positive note, Sharp filter replacement is well known to be very cost-effective. Both HEPA and deodorizing filters can last up to 5 years while humidifying filter can last up to 2 years.

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