DeWALT DWXAF101 Air Filtration System, 3-Speed Hanging Ceiling Dust Collectors for Woodworking, Remote Controlled Dust Collection Systems, 2 Stage Filtration, for Shop Garage

I have a small 2x4 and pegboard partitioned studio in a busy maker space woodshop. The woodshop overall has high-end dust collectors connected to every tool, but there is still a lot of airborne particulate. After installing this DeWalt filter on the ceiling of the entryway to my work area, and leaving it on auto for 6 weeks, my work zone is *massively* cleaner wrt ambient dust. Yay! For me it’s worked best to face the filters out (towards the bigger shop), - incoming airborne particles get caught AND the exhaust pressure from the unit creates some back pressure in my studio keeping dust from coming in. Very pleased. Filters are easily cleaned with any shop vac and supposedly will last 8-12 months. For me this unit was a huge life-upgrade.

When I was looking at air filtration systems and deciding which one to buy this one popped up. At first I thought it was too small for what I needed but then realized it air flow rating was for meters, not feet, like the other systems I was looking at. After realizing, that I decided to purchase it since it fit my needs well and I trust the Dewalt brand and have many, many Dewalt power tools.Installation was easy. I found the studs in my ceiling, drill some holes, screwed in the hooks and hooked the chains and filtration system up. The system is pretty light so I was able to do everything by myself.Even though I connect all my power tools to my shop vac, fine dust still gets into the air and then hours later I see that it settles on everything in my garage. When I first installed the filtration system, I turned it on high and then used my blower to blow all the fine dust back up into the air. I then let the filtration system run for several hours. The next day when I came back into the garage I noticed that the amount of dust that settled was dramatically less than previously. I knew I wasn’t going to get everything the first time but I was impressed with how much it did get.I’ve been using this system for about a month now and turn it on anytime I am doing woodworking or other dusty work in my garage. After I’m finished I set the timer on the unit to either 2 or 4 hours and then leave. After a month, I am liking how well it does with the fine dust. I see very little of it settling on things anymore.One thing I am very happy with is how quiet the unit is, even when it is on high. I barely notice it. Most of the time, if I am working in my garage/workshop I will turn it on ‘auto’ mode which usually turns it on medium for a little while and then drops to low. At low, I can barely hear it.The remote is my only complaints. I believe it is an IR remote, not an RF remote so you need to be pointing it at the side of the unit that has the buttons and lights. Even when doing that, I find that it take many button presses and multiple angles trying to get the unit to respond before it actually does. It would have been much nicer to have an RF remote that I can turn on the unit from anyplace in my garage.Overall, I am very pleased with air filtration system. I think the price is a great price and that the unit is a workhorse and does a fine job at collecting fine particles in the air and keeping them off everything.

Shipping was extremely fast, I ordered it on a Friday and it was delivered the following Tuesday. That is incredibly fast if you live in Hawai`i. The problem was that the ceiling hooks were not in the box. I started with Amazon customer service but was told that I needed to contact the manufacturer. Called Dewalt but was told it was produced by a subsidiary of Dewalt. Called them and explained the problem and was told they had to wait for the ‘boss’ to get back from lunch. Two hours later I received a call back and they stated they were out of the ceiling hooks and had no idea when the would get a new shipment. I asked if I could get the part description and go pick them up at Home Depot or Ace Hardware. They could not really give me a good description. Ended up calling Amazon customer service again, they finally decided to have UPS pickup the air filter I received and ordered a new one.

No problems so far, have had it about a year.

So I’ve had this air filtration unit for awhile now and this is my take:My use case:~600sqft 2 car garage with a dewalt jobsite saw, benchtop jointer, and dewalt 735 planer.I sand with festool sander and dust festool dust extractor on all tools that can take it like track saw, pocket hole jig, etc.I never had a major dust problem, but I do have a peloton tread in the corner that I didn’t want dust messing up the motherboard on.I just added a Jet 2hp dust collection system to further enhance dust collection as this air filtration didn’t improve air as much as I wished.TL;DR:Bought it because I’m a self-admitted Dewalt fanboy and it matches everything else in my garage.Remote only works directly pointing at sensor, it’s super quiet, but It’s meh for a 2 car garage medium use woodworking shop and filters aren’t easily available online and dewalt has no info on their website about it which is sus.I will be buying a better unit with more power and support.Pros:- It’s VERY VERY quiet, even ‘hi’ setting is relatively quiet. I run it on ‘hi’ 24/7 and have never had it distract or cause issues even when conversing right beside it.- can be sat down or hung from ceiling, I have hung mine yet because of a few of the cons. (Down below)- air definitely in better in my 2 car garage shop, but not that much better- it’s DeWalt so matches everything else I have and it very well built.- it has a remote…to be continued below…Cons:- I feel like it’s pretty under powered compared to other options (based solely on reviews and what I think)- the remote only works when directly pointed at the back of the machine.- filters are only available from 2 random online retailers and not priced competitively to other filters. It's easy to remove the filters for cleaning with air compressor, but I’d prefer having tons on hand.- i think dewalt discontinued it because I can’t see it on their website anywhere. Which means I can’t even find an online copy of the manual which is annoying.

Very easy to install. Lighter than others