How to Choose the Best Air Purifier for Your Space

You’ve probably heard a lot about air purifiers and how effective they are at cleaning the air. But if you’ve ever shopped for one, you know that there are practically endless possibilities, ranging from small bedroom units to whole-home purifiers.

If you’re looking to get an air purifier, but aren’t sure where to start, then keep reading. We’ve put together a guide to help you choose the best air purifier for your space.

Why Use an Air Purifier?

According to the EPA, most Americans spend as much as 90 percent of their time indoors, where air pollution levels can reach between two- and five-times higher concentrations than outdoor air pollution.

An air purifier is a great way to cut down on the air pollution in your home, but they’re not all created equally.

Because of this, it’s important to consider why you might use an air purifier, so you can find an appropriate one for your use-case.

Health Issues

Indoor air pollution can trigger health issues such as allergies and asthma. The most effective way to treat these issues is to eliminate the source of the triggers, but that isn’t always possible. Air purifiers are a great way to manage indoor air pollutants and can help eliminate them when used in combination with other preventative measures.

Pets

Pets are wonderful companions, but they also tend to be messy. While an air purifier won’t clean up after them, they’re a great way to help cut down on the amount of pet hair and dander floating around in the air.

Smoke

Whether you live with a smoker, or you’re in an area where wildfire smoke is an issue, an air purifier is essential. Not only can an air purifier reduce the amount of smoke particles in your space, but with the right kind of filter, they can also help reduce smoke odors.

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Air Purifier Considerations

Now that you have an idea why you might need an air purifier, it’s time to figure out what to look for in an air purifier.

Filter Technology

Air purifiers use different types of filters and other technologies to clean the air. In order to help you make a more informed choice while looking at air purifiers, let’s take a brief look at some of the most common types of filtering technology.

HEPA Filters

A high efficiency particulate air filter, or HEPA filter, is a pleated filter that can trap up to 99.97% of all airborne particles. Made of pliable materials, such as paper and cotton, it’s a common type of filter found in air purifiers and must be replaced periodically.

When looking at air purifiers, you should pay attention to whether the unit contains a “HEPA-type” filter, or a “true HEPA” filter. HEPA-type filters look like HEPA filters, but they aren’t made to the same standard. True HEPA filters, as the name suggests, are actual HEPA-grade filters that meet the strict HEPA requirements.

For general use, purifiers with HEPA-type filters (Holmes Tower HEPA-type Filter, $228.90) can work just fine, and do effectively filter out dust, dander, and pollen pretty well. But if you’re looking to use an air purifier to reduce asthma or allergy triggers, it’s important to select a purifier with a true HEPA filter (Levoit Airzone True HEPA Filter, $448.95)

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Activated Carbon

Activated carbon filters are another common type of filter found on air purifiers. They’re made with granules of activated carbon, which contains millions of microscopic pores. These pores create a huge surface area for contaminants to adhere to, with one pound of activated carbon containing up to 100 acres of surface area.

As air is forced through the filter, the carbon adsorbs volatile organic compounds (VOCs), odors, and other gaseous pollutants, thus trapping contaminants and neutralizing odors. However, like HEPA filters, they cannot be washed and must be disposed of when they are full.

If you’re looking to tame foul odors from pets or smoke, then it’s imperative that you select an air purifier with an activated carbon filter like this one for smaller rooms: (Homasy Air Purifier, $99.99)

UV-Light

Ultraviolet (UV) light is short-wave light that’s an effective disinfectant.

Air purifiers that utilize UV use UV-C light in congruence with other mechanical filters to kill or neutralize microbes such as bacteria and viruses.

Air purifiers that use UV light (Rosewill True HEPA Large Room Air Purifier, $126.95) can provide a helpful boost for cleaning the air and have been shown to increase air quality, but they aren’t a panacea.

In fact, UV-C radiation has been proven to transform oxygen into ozone, which can cause respiratory issues.

Fortunately, manufacturers often use a special coating on the bulb to prevent this.

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Ionizers

Ionization and electrostatic precipitation are types of air purification methods that use electricity to charge particles and molecules in the air. This causes the charged particles to become attracted to other particles or surfaces that have the opposite charge, causing the airborne particles to settle.

In theory, this can help remove contaminants from the air. Unfortunately, it’s a rather ineffective and dated approach to air purification. Because the particles settle on surfaces rather indiscriminately, they can cause greater dust buildup around your home, which can then be kicked back up into the air.

Furthermore, ionizing the air can actually create ozone, which itself is a dangerous indoor air pollutant. While ionizers are relatively rare nowadays, you should still avoid any air purifier that claims to ionize the air.

Room Size

When you’re looking for an air purifier, it’s important to consider the size of the room you plan to use the unit in. While an air purifier will work in any room, the size of the room can determine how effective it is at cleaning the air in a space. Manufacturers typically list the maximum room size the unit can handle, meaning you’ll want to pay close attention to this rating and how large the space you’re trying to clean is.

CADR Rating

Along with the maximum room size, another significant factor to consider in an air purifier is the clean air delivery rate (CADR) the unit has. The CADR rating indicates the volume of air a purifier is capable of cleaning, calculated as the cubic feet per minute (CFM) the purifier pushes out multiplied by the efficiency of the filter.

Essentially, this gives you an idea of how quickly the unit works to clean your air at its highest speed. In a highly polluted environment, such as a home with a wood stove, having an air purifier with a high CADR rating (Xiaomi Mi 3H, $239.99) is crucial to maintain clean air in your space.

Costs

As with anything, cost is a huge factor to consider, especially if you’re on a budget. But you’ll need to be vigilant and look beyond the initial investment. In fact, there are two long-term costs that you need to consider: energy efficiency and maintenance.

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Energy Efficiency

Air purifiers run on electricity, and while they generally don’t consume that much electricity, they do run for many hours a day, which can make the costs add up pretty quickly.

If you’re concerned about energy usage, you’ll definitely want to pick one that’s Energy Star certified, (MOOKA True HEPA+, $134.90).

You might also consider a purifier with a built-in timer or an air quality monitor.

Maintenance

Air purifiers are low maintenance, but what little maintenance they do require doesn’t come cheap. Every few months, you’ll need to replace any non-washable filters, like activated carbon and HEPA filters, as prolonged use renders them ineffective.

However, air purifiers rarely conform to a set standard regarding their physical dimensions. That means you’ll likely need to replace them with proprietary filters from the manufacturer.

However, premium units from established brands (Honeywell True HEPA Whole Room Air Purifier, $220) are more likely to have cheaper, compatible third-party filters available than smaller brands. That means you should shop around for replacement filters and consider how much replacement filters will cost before deciding on a unit.

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Noise

Another thing to consider when shopping for an air purifier is noise. Air purifiers typically have multiple speed settings, so manufacturers may present noise level ratings as a range measured in decibels.

Obviously, the less noise an air purifier makes while it works, the better. But you should consider where and when you plan to use it, as noise can correlate with the size and efficiency of the unit.

If you plan on placing an air purifier in your living room, a larger, more noisy unit can work better than a small, quiet one. Conversely, having a small, quiet purifier (Afloia True HEPA Filter, $59.99) in your bedroom while you sleep may be more ideal.

Quality of Life Features

We’ve gone over the most important considerations when buying an air purifier, but there are other things you might want to think about. Features like remotes, timers, smart controls, and filter replacement indicators are excellent quality of life enhancements and can help to further differentiate air purifiers that are otherwise comparable in price and performance.

These features can also offer benefits for certain scenarios. For instance, say you live with a smoker, and you want an air purifier to help reduce the smoke smell in your home. With a smart air purifier (RENPPHO H13 Smart Wifi, $118.99) that has an air quality monitor, timer, and the appropriate type of filters, you can easily put the purifier on auto mode and set it to shut down when everyone is asleep.

Without any interaction, the unit runs at full speed when it detects smoke, dropping back to a lower speed when the smoke clears, and turns off completely at night. This leads to cleaner air while also prolonging the life of the filters and reducing costs.

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