Air purifiers are indispensable, especially as we spend more time indoors. Allergy sufferers in particular suffer from the high concentration of allergens that enter the bedroom and living room. An air purifier can help: it removes dust, bacteria, allergens, and even unpleasant odors from the air in the room. Ready to breathe fresh air? Then go ahead and learn about the best air purifiers.
Image: Choosing the Best Air Purifiers in 2022 (Source: MDAnderson.org)
By far the most important purchase criterion should be the maximum living space that the air purifier can cover. If you call a spacious room your own, you should choose a model with at least 90 m² maximum room size.
What is the air purifier?
Air purifiers often filter health-endangering particles from the air and work either with ions, with an activated carbon filter, with an ozone generator, or with the HEPA filter. Air washers, on the other hand, filter the air through water and simultaneously cause the air to be humidified.
In addition to air purifiers for the home, there are also air purifiers for the car. These are operated via the cigarette lighter. Here, however, it is worth investing in a high-quality device with an activated carbon filter, as these not only work better than cheap products, but the activated carbon can also act as a dehumidifier in the car.
Air purifiers can reduce air pollution. Pollution often occurs when the apartment windows are on a busy main road (exhaust fumes), when people smoke in the house or when people are generally sensitive to efHEP to particles from the environment (allergy sufferers, asthmatics, etc.)
Find your personal air purifier with our help!
An air purifier is responsible for filtering the air and thus minimizing exposure to house dust, pollutants, or unpleasant smells, for example. There are air purifiers for the home and air purifiers for the car. But which is the best air purifier?
Our air purifier comparison 2021 shows some differences so that the selection is not that easy and there are different devices for different needs. In this air purifier comparison, we’ll show you how to find the best air purifier for you and what to look out for if you want to buy a good air purifier.
How does an air purifier work?
If you want to buy an air purifier, you will not only find the simple room air purifier, but also air washers. Even if the name is similar, each device works differently.
An air washer sucks in the room air with a fan and pulls this air through a type of water filter. The air washer literally washes the air clean and removes pollutants and particles.
An air washer test is therefore ideal for anyone who not only wants clean room air but also strives to increase the humidity at the same time. Above all, dust is better bound by higher air humidity, which can lead to enormous relief in the case of a house dust allergy.
A normal room air purifier, on the other hand, also draws the air with a fan, but does not pull it through the water, but only through a filter. These very fine filters can therefore ensure particularly clean air while holding unpleasant odor particles in the filter.
Due to the corona pandemic, most people spend a lot more time at home. It is essential that the air in the room is good. This promotes concentration and general wellbeing. Use an air purifier if you want to improve the hygiene in your home actively.
How differently do the air purifier filters work?
The air purification devices with different filters are presented in a room air purifier test. For example, there are devices with HEPA filters that are ideal for use as air purifiers against mold or as air purifiers for asthma.
Some manufacturers, including Philipps or IQAir, point out that the HEPA filter also filters bacteria and viruses and refers to a so-called “virus mode.” The extent to which this model also works against the Covid-19 coronavirus, for example, has not yet been researched.
The use of the air filter reduces the proportion of viruses and bacteria in the room air, but no statements can be made about the effectiveness of new viruses.
On the other hand, an air purifier with water (air washer) is better suited as an air purifier to remove cigarette smoke or dust and pollen. Air purifiers for smokers are therefore always recommended so that, for example, visitors do not have to sit in the cigarette smoke and the room climate is generally improved by the air purification devices.
Different types of air purifiers
Air ionizer
In an ionizer, the air is cleaned by molecules, which (to put it simply) can bind pollutants. This way, they better get stuck in the air filter. In an air ionizer test, it is often found that the air purification by the ionizer has a perfect effect on health and is therefore often recommended for allergy sufferers.
Air washer with activated carbon filter
- Cleans the air in the room with coal, which is particularly good at eliminating odors (is also used for extractor hoods, for example).
- Also suitable as an air purifier against cigarette smoke.
- Removes moisture from the air.
Room air purifier with an ozone generator
- Neutralizes unpleasant odors.
- A room air purifier with ozone is suitable for professional use in restaurants or hotel rooms.
- The ozone is hazardous to health. Rooms in which the air is cleaned with an ozone generator should not be entered during this time. Thorough ventilation is then important.
Air purifier with HEPA filter
- Air purifiers with HEPA filters are particularly effective against mold.
- The room air purifier with HEPA filter is also well suited against bacteria, as these filters can filter more than 99.9% of all particles from the air.
- Due to the particularly intensive air purification, HEPA filters are ideal for allergy sufferers and everyone for whom clean room air is important.
Air purifiers with HEPA filters are recommended for allergy sufferers and also for people who live on busy streets whose exhaust gases regularly enter the rooms through the open window. Especially in the bedroom, this can endanger health for a long time, so that all devices (whether air washer, ionizer or air purifier) only contribute to health relief.
The Philips air purifier AC3256 / 10, for example, is a device with a HEPA filter and is also equipped with a mode that is so quiet that it can also work in the bedroom at night.
Advantages and disadvantages of HEPA air purifier
Advantages
- In a room air purifier test, HEPA filter models often score as ideal air purifiers against dust, pollen, bacteria, and viruses as well as unpleasant odors.
- Often available as an air purifier and air conditioner in one.
- Can also be used as an air purifier with essential oil.
Disadvantages:
- High-quality devices are costly.
- Cannot be used as a humidifier (compared to an air washer)
What should you pay attention to when buying an air purifier?
The size of the room is crucial if you want to buy a good air purifier
The best air purifier is of no use if it is too small for the room. Therefore, pay attention to the maximum room size in an air washer test. From less than 20 m² to 100 m², the devices differ greatly from one another.
Should it be an ionizer that reduces dust exposure?
An air ionizer is useful when the dust pollution in your home is very high. This can be due to pets or the residential area (fields and meadows). It is practical that an ionizer in an air purifier comparison is often one of the air purifier test winners due to its very low price.
Do you need to get mold under control?
If you want to buy an air purifier against mold, this is not wrong to reduce exposure to harmful mold spores. However, please always remember to get to the bottom of the cause of decay. Permanent removal of the mold should always be sought first.
As an air purifier for smokers, an air ionizer for the car is ideal. But animal odors can also be removed this way.
If you are looking for a device against pollen and odors for the car in an ionizer test, we recommend that you do not use the cheapest air purifier. Unfortunately, very cheap air purifiers are often only produced cheaply, have hardly any effect, and the ozone released from affordable devices is often harmful to health.
If you want to buy a good air purifier for the car, a model with an activated carbon filter is perfect. These ensure good air and function as a dehumidifier so that you can often do without a separate dehumidifier in winter, for example!
The most important questions and answers about the air purifier comparison
How long should an air purifier run?
How long the device runs every day depends on the intended use. High odor pollution, for example, in the case of smokers, can make it necessary to use the air purifier for up to 10 hours a day. The same applies if the pets have an extreme smell, for example, on rainy days.
Air purifiers with a timer function are ideal. In this way, the device can work independently and switch itself off at night, reducing the power load.
In households where an air purifier is used in the event of an allergy, a short running time of 2-3 hours is often sufficient. It is best to use the air purifier during “allergy times”.
Where can I buy air purifiers cheaply?
Air purifiers are available online and in specialist shops. To buy the best air purifier, you should remember differences in quality and equipment. Buying an air purifier online is almost always cheaper than buying it locally.
Of course, the air purifier ball is particularly cheap. Although it is only designed for rooms of often up to 50 m², this is usually sufficient. In addition, the ball is visually impressive with its chic and, above all, mostly inconspicuous design, so that it is hardly noticeable in small rooms and can do its work quietly.
If a small air purifier is sufficient, the balls are good recommendations and are often available as an air purifier with water, which also means that the room is not humidified – often a blessing for people with house dust allergies.
Which air purifier manufacturers are best in 2022?
The following manufacturers are particularly often represented in an air purifier test, and over the years they have been able to convince with their good quality, but mostly also the right price-performance ratio:
- Philips
- Comedes
- Beurer
- Dyson
Dyson air purifiers are best known for their unusually chic design and, despite their size, add value to almost any room! If the appearance of your new air purifier is important to you, you should look around for the (albeit expensive) Dyson models.
Can you build air purifiers yourself?
Building an air purifier yourself is actually possible. Countless instructions can be found on the Internet.
You just have to note that a little manual skill is important, and electricity must also be used. If you have any doubts here, you should rather use a real device from an ionizer test. The air purifier balls are also particularly cheap alternatives so that from a financial point of view, doing it yourself should hardly be worthwhile.
How healthy are air purifiers?
Daily ventilation is sufficient if the air pollution is low. Air purifiers for allergy sufferers or especially as a combination device with air humidifiers are absolutely recommended in every household if you do not want to endanger your health. However, this is only partially true.
It is true that people with health problems (asthma, allergy sufferers) or even in apartments with a high level of pollution (cigarette smoke, exhaust gases) are less exposed to the use of a good air purifier, but this is often unimportant for healthy people.
If it is little or no pollution from the surroundings and the residents are healthy, it is usually sufficient to ventilate the apartment daily (several times) to let the contaminated particles (and smells) outside and clean air into the apartment. Air purifiers are healthy but not necessary for everyone.
How often do I have to change filters in air purifiers?
Many devices indicate when it is time to change the filter. As a rule of thumb, however, a filter should be replaced every six months. But before you buy it, you should inquire about the running costs of the air purifier.
The cost of a replacement filter varies depending on the make and model, as well as the size of the room. Replacement filters for air purifiers for smaller rooms usually cost upwards of 20 euros, and replacement filters for larger rooms cost upwards of 40 euros.
How helpful are air purifiers?
Air purifiers are helpful if you want to free the air from pollen, dust, or fine dust. The same applies to unpleasant smells. Nevertheless, air filters can also filter bacteria and viruses depending on the model. Air purifiers with integrated humidifiers can also increase the humidity in dry rooms.
How do air purifiers work at Corona?
If a room can only be ventilated poorly or not at all, coronaviruses remain in place for longer. They are better distributed via the so-called aerosols. Air purifiers can also filter out viruses, depending on the model. It is essential that the air purifier has a HEPA filter.
When are air purifiers also humidifiers?
If you want to clean and humidify the air, a combination device consisting of an air humidifier and air purifier is worthwhile. The air is sucked into the machine, flows over a filter, and is hygienically humidified simultaneously. The cleaned and humidified air is rereleased to the outside.
Conclusion
Regular ventilation is not only valuable for Corona times. It also refreshes the room air and prevents the formation of mold. With the fresh air, however, fine dust, pollen, and other allergens, as well as sometimes severe pollutants, get into the home.
In addition, there are usually particles that originate in the household itself: House dust, which primarily consists of human skin flakes, animal hair, cigarette smoke, and chemical vapors from furniture and carpets – the indoor air is often significantly more polluted than the outside air. Air purifiers are not only worth considering for allergy sufferers.