Choosing The Best Air Purifier

When it comes to choosing the best air purifier, it can be overwhelming with the great number of models and the different types of air purifier. Where do you start?

In this article, I’ll explain some of the main factors to consider. Choosing the best air purifier for your needs will depend on what your requirements are:

Choosing the Best Air Purifier: Room Size

Probably the first important point in choosing the best air purifier is to make sure that you buy a model which is powerful enough for the room size that you need it for.

The manufacturer of a particular model will almost certainly list the room size that it is suitable for. However, it’s a good idea to check it yourself with an independent source. If you want to double check you should go to the Clean Air Delivery Rate website and check out your model.

You will find that some models aren’t listed. That just means they haven’t been tested by the Association of  Home Appliance Manufacturers who own the CADR website. Only manufacturers who sign up for AHAM certification are listed on the CADR website. Some high quality manufacturers like IQAir for example (one of the most efficient models used in medical settings as well as homes) don’t agree with the test procedures of AHAM which they regard as flawed.

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How Effective Are Air Purifiers?

One of the most often asked questions is “How effective are air purifiers?” So, we need to look at the filtration efficiency of a particular air purifier technology. There are two standards to be aware of: the American and the European.

How Effective Are Air Purifiers: American HEPA standard

Let’s take a look at the true HEPA filter as the simplest scenario. It’s a basic mechanical filter which captures particles in the air.
A true HEPA filter has to capture at least 99.97% of airborne particles of all particles down to 0.3 microns. This is the minimum standard for a true HEPA filter set by the United States Department of Energy (DOE).

You should note that this percentage only relates to air that actually passes through the filter. If there is leakage around the filter, then the percentage will be less for air which passes through the air purifier. This is why the seal around the filter is as important as the filter itself. A true HEPA filter will usually capture some particles smaller than this size also.

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Types of Air Purifier And What Pollutants They Remove

I’m going to discuss the different types of air purifier technology and which types are best for removing particular air pollutants. If you react to a particular allergen, for example, you’ll want to know which type of air purifier removes it most efficiently. If your problems is formaldehyde, you’ll want to know the best way to remove it from your home. In these two cases the answer will be very different.

Be sure to check out my article on Indoor Pollution And Health Problems which has a lot of information about the types of air pollutants and what size the pollutants are.

There are three main categories of pollutants that you need to be concerned with:

1. Gaseous pollutants or volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
2. Bacteria and viruses. 
3. Particulate matter

These three need very different purification technologies. However, various technologies are often combined together in one air purifier model in order to increase its effectiveness in removing the full range of pollutants. Let’s look at each of these in turn.

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Air Purifier Reviews

Hi! I’m Jeremy Johnson. My purpose with this Air Purifier Reviews website is to help people with the overwhelming task of choosing the right air purifier for their needs. I will be writing specific articles about how to choose the best air purifier for particular groups of people such as allergy sufferers.

I aim to provide as much factual information as I can about each air purifier that I review as well as incorporating customers’ feedback about the product.

As one person, I obviously cannot buy every air purifier and, in any case, my own reaction to it would only be one person’s opinion.

So, as far as the facts go, I collect the objective facts from the following sources:

1. The manufacturer’s website and manual
2. The Clean Air Delivery Rate website at www.cadr.org which is maintained by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers(www.aham.org)
3. The Energy Star website (www.energystar.gov) which is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.An air purifier which has earned the Energy Star meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set down by the EPA and US Department of Energy.

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