Households are susceptible to particle allergens like pollen, mold, and dander, and this is where installing the best air purifier will help give you pure and fresh air to breathe. In this article, we’ve rounded up some of the best air purifiers on the market along with a lot of useful information that will help you in choosing the best air purifier for your home.
How can air purifiers help you?
Air purifiers that come equipped with HEPA or other equivalent filters help in removing all the harmful particles and contaminants from the air. Even though many claim to feature HEPA filters, only purifiers that comes with true HEPA filters can effectively purify the air. High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) is a standard where filters adhering to HEPA guidelines will purify your air to almost 99.7%. And when you have fresh air circulating in your house, it automatically helps in improving your sleep quality, prevents all kinds of allergies, asthma, and other diseases and issues related to polluted air. Remember, however, that HEPA filters are not designed to catch those harmful gases in your air, so you may still need to invest in an additional absorbent to remove it from the air. Air purifiers also don’t remove all larger-sized allergens like pet hair and dust mites. And since there is every chance of pollutants entering your house every time you open the door or a window, the air purifiers need to be run continuously to keep the air purified inside your house all the time.
Energy Usage and Replacement Filters
One of the important aspects that keeps an air purifier running is its filter, and it needs to be replaced regularly to keep your air purified effectively. It’s for this reason air purifiers are not considered to be a one-time investment. Another major aspect in providing pure and fresh air throughout your house is that it could increase your electric bill as well. Hence before purchasing an air purifier, it’s best to take a look at the energy use and the costs involved in replacing the filter etc. Take into account the kilowatt-hours the air purifier utilizes every day and just multiply it with the prevailing electricity rates in your city to predict the amount of electricity the purifier can use.
Size and placement
Another important aspect when choosing an air purifier is that you need to select a model that sits well in your house. A general rule is that unlike water filters, you cannot install an air purifier against a wall because it needs to take in air from all side to provide better results. If you room is small, better go for a compact one that suits your budget and your requirements.
Added features
The market is filled with a lot of air purifier models, and every brand is trying to outperform the other by introducing new features with every release. Try to look for models that come with added features like timers, sensors, or options to slow down the purifier when the air quality is at the desired level. Another important aspect about the AP1512HH is that it can effectively deliver pure and clean air for up to a surrounding distance of 360 square feet. This is the perfect air purifier machine for your bedroom, but it may seem a little bit ineffective in your living room if the area is a bit larger. Even though the CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) is pretty much in the average level when compared to other air purifiers on the market, it still can deliver clean and pure air for your indoors. The Coway’s purifier comes equipped with 4-stage filtration system that includes a pre-flter, carbon filter, HEPA filter, and an ionizer. The first stage ensures that large particles are filtered out with the washable pre-filter, and in the second stage the carbon filter ensures nasty odors are removed. The HEPA filter is one of the important stages in this purification process as smaller contaminants and pollutants like pollen and cigarette smoke is filtered out. The last stage is an optional one as it ionizes the air and delivers clean air. While there isn’t any kind of sleep mode on the machine, it’s designed in such a way that if the air-quality in the room is within the desired levels, it fine tunes its settings accordingly. If you’re concerned about it making too much noise, you should know the machine produces only around 58 dB of sound even at maximum setting, so you can easily sleep peacefully without any disturbance from the purifier machine. Since it weighs just under 15 pounds, it is easily one of the lightest air purifiers on the market. It also consumes only up to 79 watts, which is why we can say that the Coway AP1512HH is one of the most energy efficient purifiers on the market. It also comes with a three-year warranty, which is average among air purifiers.
Product Highlights
Lightweight and portable Most energy efficient purifier system 3-year warranty
Pros
Energy Star certified Extremely Quiet
Cons
No sleep or quiet mode Below-average CADR rating
Product Image: Price: $199 The main reason the HPA300 tops our list is because it brilliantly reduces your operating costs by not including some convenient features like shut-off timer, remote control or auto-adjust feature based on air-quality levels. Even though these are good features to have, you still can get clean and purified air without them. After all, clean air is really what you need from a good air purifier system, right?
Product Highlights
Best-in-class dust purification system Covers around 465 square feet High CADR Scores of 320
Pros
Affordable price 5-year warranty
Cons
Lacks Auto mode No convenient features
Price: $312 The HEPA filters found in Whispure are designed in such a way that even the tiniest airborne particles are caught and purified, but unlike other air purifiers, it only comes with a 2-way filtration process, so it requires you to replace the filters regularly. This system is also so quiet that you forget that an air purifier even there in your room; it only produces around 55dB of noise even at the max setting. It comes equipped with a sleep mode which is great for saving energy, but one thing it lacks is an auto-mode to adjust its settings like other air purifiers. It also weighs around 20 pounds, making it one of the heaviest air purifiers in the market.
Product Highlights
Extremely effective filter Quiet operation Five-year warranty
Pros
sleep mode Powerful filter system
Cons
No auto mode 2-way filtration process Heavier than other models we tested
Price: $259.99 It also comes with a 6-stage cleaning process that can produce clean and fresh air for up to 300 square feet in your home. Even though the area covered is much lower than other air purifiers we tested, it’s still one of the best and most effective air purifiers for use in small rooms. It also comes with a in-built air quality sensor that alerts you when you need to change the filters. This air purifier can also be easily mounted on your walls unlike other air purifiers. Rabbit also allows you to choose from various designs for the front panel of the purifier.
Product Highlights
6-stage cleaning process Energy efficient Air quality sensor
Pros
Best for small rooms Attractive design
Cons
Expensive Small coverage area
Price: $404
Do CADR scores measure gas-based pollutants?
The CADR rating doesn’t give you a measurement of gaseous pollutants, but the representation of the capability of an air purifier to purify the air inside your home.
Is the air more polluted inside or outside your home?
While many think that air outside of your house is more polluted, that’s not always the case. If you have pets or smoke inside, the air quality can be around 3-5 times more contaminated with pollutants than the air quality outside.
Does size matter?
Yes, the size does matter as the larger the size, the better it serves a larger area. But remember, air purifiers that cover a larger area are more expensive than compact ones.
