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Brands
AirFree,
Alen,
AllerAir,
Austin Air,
Biozone,
Blueair,
IQAir,
Neoair,
Rabbit Air, More...
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Price
Under $200,
$200 to $499,
$500 to $999,
$1,000 and Up |
What Do You Want to Treat?
Allergies/Asthma,
Chemicals,
Dander/Pollen/Dust,
MCS,
Mold/Bacteria,
Odors,
Pet Odors and Dander,
Smoke/Gas,
Urban Pollution, More...
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Where Will You Use It?
Bedroom or Nursery,
Car,
Entire House,
Hospital,
Industrial Setting,
Living Room/Family Room,
School or Office |
Filtration Type
HEPA,
HEPA and Carbon,
HEPA and Charcoal,
HEPA and Gas Phase,
HEPA and UV,
Ionic,
Ozone,
Thermodynamic - no filter,
Electrostatic |
Maximum Coverage Area
Under 200 sq ft,
200 to 499 sq ft,
500 to 1000 sq ft,
Over 1000 sq ft |
Clean Air Delivery
Under 100 cu ft/min,
100 to 200 cu ft/min,
Over 200 cu ft/min |
Air Changes
Under 5/hr,
5 to 10/hr,
Over 10/hr |
Noise Level
Silent,
Quiet |
Placement
Floor,
Table,
Wall,
Dashboard,
Central Air System |
Wheels
Wheeled,
Without Wheels |
Special Features
Most Effective,
Easiest to Maintain,
Trusted by Hospitals,
Cover the Whole House,
Most Attractive Models |
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Brands
Air Oasis,
Air Pura,
Alen,
AllerAir,
Austin Air,
Blueair,
IQAir |
Price
Under $50,
$50 to $99,
$100 and up |
Type
Pre-Filter,
Carbon Filter,
HEPA Filter,
Charcoal Filter,
Media Filter,
Permafilter,
Other Filters,
Cartridge,
Kit |
Promotions
Free Shipping |
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Home > Air Purifiers Buying Guide
Air Purifiers Buying Guide |
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| Price | | With air purifiers, as with anything else, you get what you pay for. The higher the price, the more power and the higher the quality of the filtration type. You'll also be able to add nifty features like filter warning lights, remote controls, and flashy designs, but the meat of the matter is in the filter quality and the volume of air it will treat. |
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| What Do You Want to Treat? | | What you want to treat determines the filter type you need. The more you spend, the more filtration you'll get, both in quality and coverage area. |
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Allergies/Asthma Air Purifiers — Allergy and asthma sufferers can get relief from pretty much any air purifier with a quality HEPA filter, an electrostatic filter, or AirFree's thermodynamic, filter-free technology. The only air purifiers we wouldn't recommend for asthma or allergies are ozone or ionic generators, both of which produce ozone -- a potentially harmful lung irritant for asthmatics, children, or the elderly. Keep in mind that with any air purifier, you get what you pay for: higher-priced HEPA models get you tighter casing for more efficiency, and higher-priced HEPA and Carbon or UV models have more media and higher-quality construction.
Top pick: Austin Air Jr. Allergy Machine
See all: Allergies/Asthma Air Purifiers
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Chemicals Air Purifiers — Folks with severe chemical sensitivities should look for high-end machines that combine HEPA and activated carbon, which "adsorbs" smoke, gases, fumes, and other noxious chemicals through chemical attraction. AllerAir's vocarb series features pounds and pounds of activated carbon specifically engineered to relieve MCS sufferers. The IQAir series is also renowned for its gas-phase media, which filters chemicals and gases as well as molds, bacterias, and bigger particles.
Top pick: NQ Clarifier Standard Air Purifier
See all: Chemicals Air Purifiers
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MCS Air Purifiers — Folks with severe chemical sensitivities should look for high-end machines that combine HEPA and activated carbon, which "adsorbs" smoke, gases, fumes, and other noxious chemicals through chemical attraction. AllerAir's vocarb series features pounds and pounds of activated carbon specifically engineered to relieve MCS sufferers. The IQAir series is also renowned for its gas-phase media, which filters chemicals and gases as well as molds, bacterias, and bigger particles.
Top pick: NQ Clarifier Medical Air Purifier
See all: MCS Air Purifiers
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Odors Air Purifiers — To eliminate odors alone, go for a HEPA/carbon or HEPA/charcoal model or an ion or ozone generator. The latter two are generally much less expensive but much more controversial: they produce ozone, a lung irritant that will affect asthmatics, the elderly, and infants. The HEPA/carbon and HEPA/charcoal models do much more than just treat odors; they eliminate tons and tons of particles along with toxic chemicals and gases.
Top pick: AllerAir 4000 DS Exec Air Purifier
See all: Odors Air Purifiers
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Pet Odors and Dander Air Purifiers — Pretty much any air purifier will eliminate pet dander over its specified coverage area. To eliminate odors as well, go for a HEPA/carbon or HEPA/charcoal model or an ion or ozone generator. The latter two are generally much less expensive but much more controversial: they produce ozone, a lung irritant that will affect asthmatics, the elderly, and infants. The HEPA/carbon and HEPA/charcoal models do much more than just treat odors; they eliminate tons and tons of particles along with toxic chemicals and gases.
Top pick: Austin Air Pet Machine Air Purifier
See all: Pet Odors and Dander Air Purifiers
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Smoke/Gas Air Purifiers — Our favorite models for treating the odors and chemicals of cigarette smoke are air purifiers with combinations of HEPA and activated carbon or HEPA and charcoal. Electrostatic purifiers do the trick as well, but they can produce ozone, a lung irritant. One important thing to note: the AllerAir products in this category include a blend of activated carbon designed specifically to eliminate odors and chemicals from cigarette smoke.
Top pick: LakeAir Excel Z Air Purifier
See all: Smoke/Gas Air Purifiers
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Urban Pollution Air Purifiers — If you're working in, driving through, or sleeping in an environment with a lot of chemicals, you should look for high-end machines that combine HEPA and activated carbon, which "adsorbs" smoke, gases, fumes, and other noxious chemicals through chemical attraction. AllerAir's vocarb series features pounds and pounds of activated carbon specifically engineered to relieve MCS sufferers. The IQAir series is also renowned for its gas-phase media, which filters chemicals and gases as well as molds, bacterias, and bigger particles.
Top pick: AllerAir 4000 Vocarb Air Purifier
See all: Urban Pollution Air Purifiers
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Viruses Air Purifiers — Hospitals, labs, and people with weak immune systems love the combination of HEPA filtration and a UV lamp, which changes the DNA of microorganisms, bacteria, mold, and viruses to render them harmless. In residential settings, the UV light is a great way to attack mold -- especially in combination with carbon or charcoal. The brand that's made its name with this combination is NQ Clarifier, whose models are trusted by tons of labs and hospitals worldwide.
Top pick: NQ Clarifier Standard Air Purifier
See all: Viruses Air Purifiers
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VOCs Air Purifiers — VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which come from common household items like paint, varnish, carpets, glues, cleaning supplies, etc., are serious business that require serious air purifiers. So here are your options: combination HEPA/carbon models or models with the renowned IQAir technology. Our favorite air purifiers for this task are the AllerAir Vocarb models, all of which include pounds and pounds of carbon specially blended to treat these chemicals and fumes.
Top pick: AllerAir 600 D Vocarb UV Air Purifier
See all: VOCs Air Purifiers
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| Where Will You Use It? | | You wouldn't buy a huge air purifier for your car, and you wouldn't buy a tiny unit for your welding garage, either. We've matched power and filtration types to the settings where they'll be most effective. Want an air purifier for a big hospital room? You'd want a powerful unit that combines HEPA and UV. Want a unit for your nursery? Make sure it's got HEPA and can cover about 200 sq. ft. And so on. |
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Bedroom or Nursery Air Purifiers — There are few lungs more vulnerable than developing lungs, which is why it's a great idea to give your little one the gift of clean air from a very early age. We've selected HEPA and thermodynamic models that cover smaller spaces -- perfect for nurseries and bedrooms. We do not recommend ionic or ozone machines; they produce ozone, which can be harmful and irritating to lungs at any age.
Top pick: Austin Air Baby's Breath Air Purifier
See all: Bedroom or Nursery Air Purifiers
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Entire House Air Purifiers — If you'd like to treat your whole house with one machine, choose either a central air handler, which works with HVAC systems, or a model that covers over 1,000 square feet. You can also choose to buy smaller models and put them in your most frequently used rooms, though those won't appear in this category.
Top pick: Air Oasis 1000 Air Purifier
See all: Entire House Air Purifiers
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| Filtration Type | | This is the single most important decision you need to make when choosing an air purifier; different filtration systems are best at treating different things. Read on to find your perfect filtration system... |
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HEPA Air Purifiers — The building-block of most respected air purifiers, HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air, and its filters (when HEPA-certified) remove 99.97% of all particles as small as 0.3 microns. HEPA filters were originally developed by the Atomic Energy Commission for the purpose of removing radioactive dust particles; now we know they trap all manner of allergens, like pollen, dust, pet dander, and mold spores. As with other media, HEPA filters get more effective with more surface area; other important points include the quality of the casing (metal is better than plastic) and the tight fit of the filter within the machine. In high-end air purifiers, HEPA is used in combination with other filtration types: activated carbon or charcoal (for molds, gases, chemicals, VOCs, and odors) and/or UV (for viruses, germs, and microorganisms). One important note on HEPA filters: they must be replaced according to the manufacturer's standards (e.g. every two years) and should, where possible, be used in combination with a pre-filter, which blocks bigger particles and lengthens the life of the HEPA filter.
Top pick: Austin Air Healthmate Jr. HM 200 Air Purifier
See all: HEPA Air Purifiers
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HEPA and Carbon Air Purifiers — Machines that combine HEPA and activated carbon are top-notch models for treating allergens, asthma, molds, odors, VOCs, gases, smoke, chemicals, and bacteria. The more you pay, the more powerful the purifier, which means you'll filter more air over a bigger space more effectively. The entire AllerAir line combines HEPA and activated carbon; the more you spend, the more pounds of carbon you get, with blends specially engineered to treat things like MCS and cigarette smoke.
Top pick: AllerAir 5000 Exec Air Purifier
See all: HEPA and Carbon Air Purifiers
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HEPA and UV Air Purifiers — Hospitals, labs, and people with weak immune systems love the combination of HEPA filtration and a UV lamp, which changes the DNA of microorganisms, bacteria, and viruses to render them harmless. In residential settings, the UV light is a great way to attack mold -- especially in combination with carbon or charcoal. The brand that's made its name with this combination is NQ Clarifier, whose models are trusted by tons of labs and hospitals worldwide.
Top pick: AllerAir Air Tube Exec UV Air Purifier
See all: HEPA and UV Air Purifiers
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Ionic Air Purifiers — Ion generators, like ozone generators, produce charged particles that cling to dust and do a good, low-maintenance, mostly silent job neutralizing things like bacteria, odors, and viruses. They're controversial, however, because they also produce ozone, which is a lung irritant and particularly troublesome for infants, asthma sufferers, and the elderly. Our favorites in this category come from Alen, which has superb filtration with minimal (or non-existent) side effects.
Top pick: Alen A350 HEPA Air Purifier
See all: Ionic Air Purifiers
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Ozone Air Purifiers — They're generally quiet and low-maintenance and do a good job of eliminating viruses, bacteria, and odors, but ozone generators are controversial because they also produce ozone, which is a lung irritant and particularly troublesome for infants, asthma sufferers, and the elderly.
Top pick: Biozone 1000 Home Air Purifier
See all: Ozone Air Purifiers
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![Thermodynamic - no filter Air Purifiers]() |
Thermodynamic - no filter Air Purifiers — One of the revolutionary new technologies in air purifying, thermodynamic models (the AirFree series) combine no maintenance and the ability to (literally) fry the crap out of the air%u2026if "crap" means mold, bacteria, viruses, allergens, and pet dander. They're great, filter-free solutions for medium-sized rooms; you don't have to replace anything, anytime. If you need to treat smoke or chemicals, however, you're better off with a HEPA/charcoal model.
Top pick:
See all: Thermodynamic - no filter Air Purifiers
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| Maximum Coverage Area | | How big is the space you'd like to clean? You don't need to spend a ton of money to treat your car, nursery, or bedroom, but you don't want to do half the job in a bigger room. Make sure the maximum coverage area of your air purifier roughly matches the space you need to clean; if your ceilings are higher, make sure the CADR rate can keep up, or choose a model with a larger coverage area. |
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| Clean Air Delivery | | Very simply, Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) measures how fast an air purifier can clean the air in a room. Note than CADR is measured in cubic feet per minute, not square feet per minute%u2026for spaces with high ceilings, go for an air purifier with a higher CADR. |
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| Air Changes | | Air changes per hour (ACH) means, simply, the number of times an air purifier can clean all the air in a certain-sized room in a given hour. Check the coverage area of an air purifier to determine the space it will treat, and then make sure the air changes will accommodate your needs. The more air changes an hour, the more consistent the cleanliness of your air. |
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Under 5/hr Air Purifiers — If you're just going for general air cleaning, whether in a home or an office, you'll be fine with an ACH rating of 3-4. Spaces in industrial settings or with heavy smokers, lots of pets, or new paint or carpet fumes should be cleaned more than 5 times an hour; people with severe asthma or allergies will also appreciate an ACH rating over 5.
Top pick: AirFree P1000 Air Purifier
See all: Under 5/hr Air Purifiers
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![Over 10/hr Air Purifiers]() |
Over 10/hr Air Purifiers — Spaces in industrial settings or with new paint or carpet fumes should be cleaned more than 5 times an hour; people with severe asthma or allergies will also appreciate an ACH rating over 5. For the most severely polluted places or the most sensitive people, look for the highest possible ACH rating in combination with the right type of filtration for you.
Top pick: Alen A350 HEPA Air Purifier Two-Pack
See all: Over 10/hr Air Purifiers
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| Noise Level | | Where will you use your air purifier? If it's someplace where noise is a factor, you'll want to consider our Silent or Quiet models. If it's someplace busy or industrial where noise is no matter, feel free to browse our powerful Loud models as well. |
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Quiet Air Purifiers — If you can deal with a little noise, you'll find plenty of variety in our Quiet machines, which sound a bit like noise machines that help people sleep in peace. Please note that some of these may be a little loud on their highest-speed settings, which means you can still get your peace and quiet by turning the fan down -- a perfect option for smaller rooms.
Top pick: IQAir HealthPro Air Purifier
See all: Quiet Air Purifiers
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![Loud Air Purifiers]() |
Loud Air Purifiers — At their highest settings, these models are pretty noisy, but you can still use them comfortably wherever you don't need too much quiet -- or you can set them at a quieter, lower-power level that won't produce the same coverage rate but will still treat smaller areas with comfort and ease.
Top pick:
See all: Loud Air Purifiers
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| Placement | | You know you want cleaner air, but where are you going to put your air purifier? Some are built for cars; others fit on desks or tables; some hang on walls; some hook up to central air systems; and our biggest, most powerful models work from a dedicated space on your floor. |
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Wall Air Purifiers — If you don't like the idea of a big, bulky unit on your floor or table, consider one of our wall-mount models, designed to save space and clean your air at the same time. Keep in mind that most are ion or ozone generators, which produce ozone; our favorite option is the HEPA-only Rabbit Air AP-1004 Minus A2 HEPA Air Purifier.
Top pick: Alen A350 HEPA Air Purifier
See all: Wall Air Purifiers
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| Wheels | | Most air purifiers are conveniently portable. Those without wheels tend to be light enough for you to pick up and move around as needed; heavier, bulkier units usually come with casters or wheels. Only air purifiers meant to stay in one place -- like central air units -- generally come in less portable models. |
![Wheeled Air Purifiers]() |
Wheeled Air Purifiers — If you need a powerful, heavy-duty unit that can also move from space to space, look for an air purifier with wheels or casters. This applies to many of our favorite models: the more powerful AllerAir units, the NQ Clarifier series, the IQAir series, and Austin Air machines.
Top pick:
See all: Wheeled Air Purifiers
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| Special Features | | The most frequently asked questions in the air purifiers market%u2026 |
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Most Effective Air Purifiers — We've got the best models here: the purifiers effective enough to be trusted in hospitals and labs, and/or the purifiers powerful enough to clean 1,000 sq. ft. and up. Keep in mind that some hospital-quality purifiers won't cover the biggest spaces, and some of the most powerful models won't necessarily treat all of what ails you. The very best, most powerful machines will all cost you somewhere in the $900 and up range.
Top pick: IQAir HealthPro Air Purifier
See all: Most Effective Air Purifiers
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