Best Air Purifier Buying Guide 2019
The report says that the air quality inside our homes can actually be up to 5x more polluted than outdoors. The main culprits for this are the way buildings are constructed and the various things we bring indoors that release harmful contaminants.
Air pollution exists but do we ever consider the quality of air indoors? An air purifier can remove harmful allergens and pollutants from the air around.
Learn about what to consider when buying an air purifier. Use our Air Purifier Buying Guide to read about air purifier features and recommended brands to know how to buy an Air Purifier for your home.
Fortunately, just because our homes are polluted doesn’t mean your health is doomed. There’s a simple solution for keeping the air you breathe inside clean and safe, and that’s by using an air purifier.
Air pollution and poor air quality are generally associated with the outdoors but the air quality in our houses and offices could be no better. In fact, a growing body of research proves that the air we breathe indoors can be as much as 10 times more polluted than the outside!
Living, breathing and sleeping better, can all be facilitated by air purifiers. The appliances are slowly becoming must-haves—enabling you to reduce the allergens and irritants circulating in the house and improving indoor air quality.
There are a wide variety of air purifiers that promise to make the air cleaner and healthier. It becomes quite difficult to choose the right one as quality and effectiveness varies a lot. Adding to this the danger is that some purifiers may actually generate harmful ozone while some others might allow impure air to leak into the room. We present a simple guide to the criteria that will help you to choose the right air purifier for your needs.
TYPE OF FILTRATION
Different types of airborne particles pollute the indoor air and every air purifier cannot eliminate all pollutants.
These four air cleaning filters target different types of indoor air pollution and we’ll explain exactly how each one works.
1. HEPA Filtration: This air filtering process is considered the gold standard for air purification. It consists of a highly dense paper filter that traps airborne contaminants and is the driving mechanism behind the top end machines. When shopping for a HEPA air purifier always look for the True HEPA designation.
2. Ionic Filtration: This air cleaning technology operates by emitting a cloud of charged ions into the air that latches onto airborne contaminants. This process forces these impurities to fall onto the floor and nearby surfaces. Some ionic air purifiers include an electrostatic collection plate that attracts these fallen particles and removes them from the room.
3. Carbon Filtration: This type of air filter uses a special form of activated carbon that consists of millions of tiny absorbent pores. These pores create a large surface area that is excellent for trapping fumes, gases and odors.
4. Ultra Violet Light: Unlike the other three filters mentioned, this technology emits an invisible light that attacks pollutants as opposed to passing them through a physical filter. The UV light is contained inside the air purifier and not released into the room.
5. Classic Version: Simply put, classic air purifiers are the traditional model for these machines and don’t give you feedback on what impurities they’re actually removing from the air.
6. Smart Enabled Version: On the other hand, smart enabled air purifiers to come with a dedicated mobile app that gives you all sorts of data on how well the device is cleaning the air.
Many air purifiers combine two or more technologies to achieve advanced filtration and better air quality like the Samsung Air Purifier AX034 and Hitachi EPNZG70J Air Purifier.
AREA TO BE COVERED
Air purifiers can be installed anywhere—in the bedroom, drawing room, dining room, office, restaurant, hospital and so on. In fact, compact and portable systems like the Sharp FPF30EA Plasmacluster Air purifiers can easily be moved from one room to another. However, the square footage area of the room should be equal to or slightly lesser than the coverage capacity of the appliance.
AIR EXCHANGE
Air purifiers feature something known as an air exchange cycle. Simply put, this is the time taken by the appliance to filter the entire air in the room and release it back again. This rating is known as air exchange per hour. It should ideally range between 2 and 8 to make sure that the purifier is refreshing the air in the room. Make sure you pay attention to this number when you’re ordering an air filter online.
NOISE
Air purifiers emit some white noise, which can actually mask outdoor disturbances, but the sound of the appliance should not become an irritant in itself! Always check the noise level and opt for a quiet and smooth air purifier like the Coway, Hitachi, Sharp, Samsung etc.
ACH and CADR Ratings
When you’re looking to buy an air purifier you’ll sometimes come across two common ratings in the specifications list.
- ACH
- CADR
Not all air cleaners have these ratings, but some do, so it’s good for you to know what they mean and how to compare two products that include these values.
ACH Stands for “Air Changes Per Hour”
This is one of the least understood ratings on air purifiers and often gets overlooked by consumers. However, it’s actually one of the most telling features about how efficient an air cleaner operates.
CADR Stands for “Clean Air Delivery Rate”
This rating was developed by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) as a way to help consumers know how well an air purifying device can clean the air within a particular size room.
The goal of the CADR rating is to give you an objective standard to compare the effectiveness of a device.
Additional Features are Available on Air Purifiers
Below is a list of the most common features you’ll find on air cleaners:
1. Pre-filter – This filter captures the largest particles (such as hair and dirt) and helps extend the life of the other internal filters.
2. Pre-filters usually washable and reusable for the life of the product.
3. Digital Controls – These allow more precise settings for air quality control than compared to a rotary dial or push button design.
4. Adjustable Fan Speeds – Air purifiers can have anywhere between 2-5 fan speed settings, ranging from low to high and anywhere in between. Some even include a turbo speed to speed up the air cleaning process on demand.
5. Filter Replacement Indicators – These lights alert you to when it’s time to replace the filters within a machine when they’ve become too clogged with pollutants. Keeping a fresh air filter is the key to making sure that your machine cleans the air most effectively.
6. Programmable Timer – This automatically shuts off the device after a specific time interval, such as 2, 4 or 8 hours. This feature helps save energy and keeps the device from running continually when you’re away from home.
7. Carrying Handle – A handle gives you the option of easily transporting the machine between rooms without much hassle.
8. Casters – Similar to a carrying handle, casters are a set of wheels that allow you to roll heavier machines from room to room so you can enjoy the portability of an air purifier.
9. Antimicrobial Treatment – This coating prevents the build-up and spread of bacteria and microorganisms on internal filters, which increases the filter’s lifespan and prevents the reintroduction of these germs back into the air.
10. Air Quality Sensors – These sensors monitor the air for specific pollutants and automatically adjust the air cleaner to the level it needs to be to quickly remove these particles.
11. PlasmaWave Technology – An alternative and safer method of air ionization that doesn’t emit negative ions or produce ozone, but uses water vapor to achieve the same effect.
12. Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) – An advanced filtering process that works in conjunction with an Ultra Violet Light to oxidize chemicals and destroy volatile organic compounds, bacteria, mold and fungi.
13. Nightlight – Helps you to easily locate the air purifier inside a dark room and is convenient for a bedroom location.
14. Remote Control – This lets you control the machine from a distance.
15. Mobile App – This allows you to fully control every aspect of the air purifier from your mobile device. Some apps also include air quality monitoring data, so you can see in real-time how dirty or clean the air is inside your home.
How efficient are air purifiers at cleaning the air?
Air purifiers can remove anywhere between 92-99.99% of harmful particles from the air that range in size from .01-3 microns. The exact numbers for how efficient an air purifier depends on the type of air filtration and technology the device uses.
Buy a wide range of Air purifiers from Top Brands in Singapore.
- Contractor Ram