4 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Buy an Air Purifier

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If you’ve made the choice to buy an air purifier, you may be wondering what to do next. There are a lot of different kinds of purifiers available, and they each work a little bit differently. Here are a few of the biggest questions you should ask yourself before embarking on your air purifying journey.

How Serious Is Your Air Quality Problem?

The number one thing you need to look at is what kind of air quality problem you are trying to solve by adding an air purifier to your home. With allergies, the more serious they are the purer the air will need to be around you. This often means you will have to spring for a purifier that is higher quality. Someone with light allergies may be fine with a bargain model, but if your allergies are serious a cheap model probably won’t do the trick. You also need to think about the nature of your allergies. Different air purifiers are needed for different conditions. If you have asthma, for example, it is recommended that you buy an air purifier with a gas filter in order to control gasses and odors that can trigger asthma attacks. Basically, there’s a direct correlation between the air quality issues you’re hoping to solve with your air purifier and the quality and cost of the purifier.

How Large of a Space is it?

You need to think about how big the space is that you want to clean. Is it a high traffic area with many doors and windows opening and closing? You will definitely want to make note of the CADR number. CADR stands for “Clean Air Delivery Rate” and it is meant to give you an indication as to the performance of the purifier. There are three numbers to look at, one to measure dust, one for pollen and one for tobacco smoke. The higher the CADR numbers, the better it will be.

Also be sure to note the ACH number. This is the number of air changes per hour. So if a purifier has an ACH of 4, it will exchange the air in the room 4 times an hour.

Noise Level

An air purifier is an appliance, and as with any appliance there are mechanical noises involved when it’s on. You need to really think about what level of noise you are comfortable with in the space you’re going to place the air purifier. Some people like white noise and still others want as little noise as possible. Make sure you do your research and ask sales associates about the noise level for a model you are interested in.

Investment and Cost

Take note of how often the filters need to be changed and how much that will cost, if you chose a model that has filters. Often, replacement filters can be very expensive, so it’s good to be prepared upfront for the running costs of the model you want. Different models have different recommendations for how often the filters should be changed.

If you chose a model without a filter, you’ll want to make sure you’re aware of how much it will impact your electric bill in order to run it. Also make sure you chose an air purifier with a warranty.

Keep these questions in mind as you search for your perfect air purifier and you won’t go wrong!

2 Comments
  1. Reply
    Tim November 5, 2015 at 9:22 am

    What is the difference between ozone and filter based air purifiers?

  2. Reply
    Simon Brooks June 24, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    You raise a lot of good points in the article, especially about considering the space you’ll be putting the air purifier in and how large it is. For example, if the room you plan to put it in has a lot of windows in it, you’ll probably want a more powerful air cleaner. After all, if the windows are open, the purifier will have to work extra hard to keep all of the air coming in clean.

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