The Top 5 Quietest Air Purifiers On the Market

Coway AP-1512HH

The Coway AP-1512HH is a wonderfully effective and efficient device. It’s exceptionally quiet, energy efficient, and at times seems psychic; it can automatically detect pollutants and adjust its work pace accordingly.

It’s perfect for medium-large bedrooms and small living rooms, but can work slowly when tackling larger living rooms (albeit still effectively). It specializes in eliminating odors and other hard-to-eliminate particles.

The unit covers 326 square feet, and can produce quite an airflow. It features 3 layers of filters: a washable pre-filter (for dust and hair), a carbon filter (for odors), and a HEPA filter for smaller particles. It’s quiet, too. It achieves true “whisper”-level quiet on lower settings, but you’ll be able to sleep comfortably even when the unit is operating on its highest setting (at its loudest, it still doesn’t exceed 50dB).

Rabbit Air MinusA2 SPA-700A

The Rabbit Air MinusA2 SPA-700A is one of the very best air purifiers on the market. It’s incredibly quiet, powerful and astonishingly intelligent; it’s well designed, energy efficient and extremely versatile to boot. The only drawback for some buyers will be the price point.

This extremely versatile device comes with four filters. First, a pre-filter that tackles dust, pet hair and other larger particles. Next, a HEPA filter that captures smaller particles; followed by a charcoal filter designed to tackles odors; the fourth filter is interesting, because there are several options the consumer can opt for.

There are four options for your fourth filter: my two favorite are the “pet allergy” filter, tailored specifically toward allergy defense; and the “odor remover” filter, geared toward people living with smokers. The fourth filter offers an extra “boost” in the area of your choice; but the SPA-700A can do it all, regardless.

As mentioned before, some consumers just aren’t comfortable spending $500 on an air purifier. And that’s fine! If you are casually looking to improve your air quality, you don’t need to spend more than $250 – check out some of our other reviews to find devices that better fit your budget.

But if you are serious about air quality, $500 is a small price to pay for the power packed into the SPA-700A.

Alen BreatheSmart FIT50

The Alen BreatheSmart FIT50 is a high-end, powerful device that can handle almost anything you throw at it – from the largest living rooms to high-ceiling foyers. The device is intelligent, well designed and packed with nifty features.

The FIT50 boasts some impressive power. It’s one of the best air purifiers for allergies, because it’s particularly effective against allergens and smaller particles; it also eradicates dust very well.

But the one number that jumped out right away was the 800 square foot area coverage; that’s not a number you usually see attached to “home” air purifiers. And I don’t think the manufacturer is blowing smoke here. This device really does handle huge rooms exceptionally well – at least, on it’s highest setting.

The price is certainly scary to look at – and although it’s likely to live up to the investment, this purifier may not in the budget of some shoppers.

Winix WAC9500

The Winix WAC9500 may look like a sleek mini-fridge at first glance, but this is a great device.

The pre-filter takes care of the big stuff (hair, fur and dust), then the HEPA filter tackles the much smaller stuff. The carbon filter leaves a bit to be desired (I’ll get into that later when I talk about how the device handles odors), but the PlasmaWave technology is a very cool touch.

Here’s what the manufacturer has to say about the PlasmaWave technology:

“Other Ionizer type air cleaners produce ions to attach to pollutants so they fall to the floor or stick to walls and furniture and then need to get vacuumed. PlasmaWave however doesn’t merely weigh down the particles – it breaks apart odor, allergens, chemical vapors and other pollutants at the molecular level without producing any harmful ozone.”

The device boasts a very intelligent design. It’s a bit bulky, but it’s fairly thin so it doesn’t take up that much space.

Further, the device has a sleek, clean control panel where you can see visual displays of the levels of odor and dust in the room.

There are four fan speed settings; depending on the setting, this unit will use between 8 watts and 70 watts. In this respect, it lives up to its Energy Star rating; the efficiency will allow you to leave the device on overnight, or when you leave the house, without killing your energy bill.

The device is very quiet as well, especially on the lowest three settings.

IQAir HealthPro Plus

The IQAir HealthPro Plus is the best home air purifier on the market, full stop. Yes, it’s also one of the most expensive. But it’s worth every penny, assuming you are looking for a heavy-duty unit that can take care of multiple rooms in your home, address serious allergies and remain whisper-quiet through the whole process.

Germany’s Stiftung Warentest – a well-respected product testing foundation – rated this unit as the best air purifier for allergies that currently exists. Indeed, the HealthPro Plus has no shortage of endorsements: Consumer’s Digest has honored the unit with its “best buy” award in the past; Newsweek Magazine wrote about the unit’s proficiency at dealing with mold, and the HealthPro Plus is frequently used on the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Let’s talk specifics. This is a HEPA device, so it is 99.97% efficient with particles at 0.3 microns; but further tests have confirmed the HealthPro Plus to be 99.5 percent efficient at particles sized 0.003 microns or larger – a truly remarkable purification feat.

The HealthPro Plus is so effective that dozens of consumers have reported that their air and allergy issues disappeared overnight.

The unit has a coverage area of 900 square feet, so it can handle the absolute largest rooms; additionally, one unit can likely handle purification duties for your whole apartment, or even home, depending on size.

Photo credit: mpclemens via Flickr CC License