4 Things to Know Before Buying an Air Purifier for Each Room

Air purifiers are the best way to protect your family from poor air quality, but if you don’t carefully choose your model according to the room in your home, you will either waste money, get little effect, or worse, jeopardize your family’s health (#4 especially!).

This guide covers the little known details that you must know BEFORE buying an air purifier.

All air purifiers are all the same, right?

WRONG!

Each model has its own power, efficiency, and unique capabilities that affect how well it cleans the air and keeps you safe.

However, the #1 mistake buyers make is not selecting an air purifier based on the room it occupies.

Here are a few key tips and a short, room-by-room guide to help make your decision easier.

READ BEFORE BUYING - 4 Things to Consider Before Buying

Let’s start off with what to consider before choosing an air purifier for your room. Pay special attention to each factor. It can make a major difference.

#1 - Room Size

Room size is first and foremost. If you learn one thing from this article, let it be this: if you don’t get the proper air purifier for the size of the room, it will barely make a difference.

The standard room size calculation isn’t 100% reliable, but it’s the best measurement we’ve got.

Here’s a quick rundown on how to calculate the perfect (almost) sized air purifier for your room: CADR.

The Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) is the rate at which a certain area is cleaned of particles of a certain size. Basically, what that means is CADR measures how well the purifier does its job in a given area.

It was developed by the American Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers to help educate customers against false marketing claims.

CADR Formula: CADR = air flow (CFM) x efficiency. EX: CFM 200 x efficiency 50% = CADR 100

A good rule of thumb is your air purifier’s CADR x 7 = square footage of the room. You can allow a little leeway above that number, too. So that means a CADR of 100 means it can handle a little more than 700 square feet.

Two issues with CADR

CADR isn’t perfect. We have two minor issues with it.

For one, it only measures the cleaning of larger particles, which leaves out smaller particles that could still be dangerous. It also doesn’t take into account performance over time.

Still, in general, it is a VERY USEFUL rating. First, determine the square footage of your room. Then, use that to select a purifier with the proper CADR rating.

#2 - Room Usage

This seemingly minor detail can have a major impact on your choice of purifier and its resulting efficiency.

For example, a room that’s rarely used obviously doesn’t need one while a common room full of VOC-producing furniture needs as strong a model as you can buy.

However, it gets even more complex than that.

Here are two things to consider:

Furniture and Rugs: New furnishings are notorious for producing VOCs and other harmful particles while rugs are known for trapping dirt and dust. A living room containing either needs a powerful purifier with a HEPA filter.
Room Activities: Be warned: Most air purifiers make noise. You may appreciate the ambiance of the white noise in your bedroom while falling asleep, but you won’t feel that way in the family TV room. You may even want to consider rearranging furniture to make things more palatable.

# 3 - Ventilation

Air purifier space requirements are great for ballpark figures, but good ventilation can seriously reduce a purifier’s workload.

Rooms with large windows and vents (e.g. your kitchen) benefit from excellent ventilation, meaning harmful particles and odors are more easily disposed of. A child’s bedroom, basement, or guest room may not have the same advantages.

This goes both ways, too. A bedroom with extremely poor ventilation needs an air purifier stronger than its space requirements may suggest.

Check Out Our Top Air Purifiers Here

# 4 - Type(s) of Pollutant

There are multiple different types of air pollutants. While some are relatively harmless, others may be life-threatening.

Identifying the air pollutants present in each room before buying will help you make an informed decision. If you don’t carefully select the model, you could be putting your health in jeopardy.

Don’t worry, it’s relatively easy to identify each one and quickly select a model specifically made to eliminate that threat and purify your air.

Let’s start with the most dangerous one first:

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): VOCs are compounds given off by certain items in your home such as mattresses, furniture, cleaning compounds, carpets, and paint. Breathing them in can cause everything from skin irritation to internal organ damage over time. Step 1 is to remove items that may release VOCs from the room. Step 2 is to purchase a purifier specifically designed to remove them. Carbon and PECO models are the only air purifiers that will remove them. HEPAs CANNOT!
Biological Pollutants: These pollutants come from plant and animal material. The most common are mold, fungi, pollen, and dust mites. The main sources are mold growths, pets, and other people in the house. They are one of the leading causes of sick building syndrome! A solid HEPA filter should remove up to 99.7% of all airborne particles and get you breathing healthy air fast.
Particulate Matter: This mixture of solid/liquid particles in the air can be caused by smoking, your furnace, the stove, or even a chimney. Sometimes it can even be caused by environmental factors outside the home (e.g. wildfires). However, levels of PM inside can easily exceed those outdoors! Exposure can lead to skin irritation, breathing issues, or worse. Again a HEPA is your best bet to safely remove harmful PM from the air.

We bet you didn’t think THIS much went into selecting an air purifier for your home. Trust us, if you take the time to make the right selection, your family and your wallet will benefit. If anything, pay attention to numbers 1 and 4. It’s time to breathe a sigh of relief!