With three wildfires nearby already this month and the “official” start of Smog Season on May 1, it’s time to think about your indoor air quality — and how it affects your health. Whether you’re predisposed to breathing difficulties or if you simply have allergies, adding an air purifier won’t just help with existing problems, it can prevent illnesses, including some cancers, from starting in the first place.
Whether you’re looking for a great bargain, one with high-tech capabilities, or one that never needs filters, we’ve picked out the best air purifiers at every budget.
The Best Air Purifiers Under $200
There are some great options for air purifiers for less than $200, or even under $100. However, stay away from any air purifier that says “ionizing” or “ozone” in the description, and look for ones with HEPA filtration. See “What about air purifiers with ozone generators?” at the end of the article.
Germ Guardian: That’s actually the name of this $80 tower-style HEPA purifier, which also includes a germ-killing UV lamp. For the bargain price, it has impressive features like True HEPA filtration, odor-adsorbing carbon filter, zero-ozone certification, and CARB- and Energy Star compliance. A year’s worth of filters is affordable, too.
Small and Sleek: The Levoit air purifier costs just under $100 and handles rooms about 30% larger than the Germ Guardian. It’s only 14 inches high so it’s easy to fit in anywhere, and also includes an activated charcoal odor remover. Filters are about $15 each, and you can get special filters for pets, too. However, it’s only HEPA certified in a lower air volume sleep mode.
Fire Fighter: Blueair’s purifier meets a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of 250 for fine smoke particles, making it a top choice in this price range for fire season. Filters last up to nine months and for extra protection, there’s even a smoke-specific filter option that captures up to 99.99% of wildfire smoke. It’s Alexa-enabled, too and and can work in with your Alexa devices to respond to voice control.
The Best Air Purifiers Under $300
Mid-priced air purifiers can handle larger rooms and worse air quality, and add features like more and quieter modes, UV sterilizers, and Bluetooth and app control. They are a better choice for people with larger pets and dustier environments.
Smarty Pants: Smart home meets air purifier with the 15-inch-tall Mila Air Mini. For $260, it can remove formaldehyde, dander, dust, germs — you name it — from any bedroom or living room space. It works with 99.9% efficiency and features eight custom modes, while an app for air quality updates lets you know what’s going on both inside and outside your house.
Shhh: For $250, Clorox’s air purifier includes a bacteria- and virus-killing UV lamp and can remove 99.9% of mold, viruses, wildfire smoke, allergens, pet dander, dust and more from the air. A lower power auto mode consistently keeps the air clean without wasting energy. Filters and the UV bulb can last up to a year
Big Spaces: Medify’s air purifier is wildfire smoke-rated and can clean the air in an entire home up to 2,640 square feet in one hour. It removes dust, pollen, dander and other contaminates, with its quiet four fan speeds. A quiet sleep mode also turns out all the lights on the unit, a welcome touch. Filters are expensive, but a pre-filter helps extend their lifespan and it has a great lifetime warranty.
The Best High End Air Purifiers
High end air purifiers move a lot of air quickly, and are great for both cleaning very contaminated air and keeping large spaces healthy. They’re a good choice for large houses, large families and pets; and for people with allergies, asthma and other respiratory issues.
Medical Grade: Kick things up (and pollution down) a notch with the Windmill. Starting at under $300, its medical-grade HEPA filters eliminate 99.97% of allergens, smoke, and dander. An activated carbon layer in the filter also removes smoke, odors and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Filters are expensive but combine a pre-filter, H13 HEPA filtration and activated charcoal, so you only have to change one thing every six months or so.
One and Done: The Airdog X3 is pricey, but unlike most air purifiers, it uses a washable TPA filter that should last the lifetime of the unit. It’s also up to 20 times more efficient than HEPA, removing up to 9.9% of particles down to 0.0146 microns. A handy indicator light goes from red to green as it cleans your air, and it can handle up to 942 square feet.
Mimi Clean: Use the pint-sized Molekule Air Purifier Mini for small apartments, your office, bedroom or when travelling to remove dust, pollen, viruses and bacteria for safe, clean air. Its adaptive control detects contaminants, adjusting fan speeds on its own to ensure your space has optimal air quality.
About Air Purifiers
How do air purifiers work?
Air purifiers work by pulling air through a filter. All the air purifiers we recommend use at least a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter, which removes 99.97% of particles larger than 0.30 microns or better (a micron is 1/24,500th of an inch!).
Some air purifiers, like the one from Clorox, also use UV light to kill tiny viruses and bacteria that might be too small to be trapped effectively by most filters.
What about air purifiers with ozone generators?
The California Air Resources Board says that ozone generating air cleaners not only don’t work, they’re dangerous. According to CARB, “…ozone can harm the cells in the lungs and respiratory airways…. Exposure to ozone irritates and inflames the lining of the respiratory system.”
CARB says that the harmful effects of ozone generators include:
- Coughing
- Chest tightness
- Shortness of breath
- Impaired breathing
- Worse asthma symptoms
- Lung damage
- Death
Do air ionizers work to clean the air?
Kind of. Ionizers give all the particles in your air a negative electrical charge so they tend to stick to surfaces and drop out of the air. However, this only works on the certain particles, so most gasses, along with pollen and dust, are unaffected.
Worse, ionizers also create harmful ozone (see above). Because they can be harmful to your health and don’t work very well, we do not recommend using one.
How often do air purifier filters need changing?
In most rooms, you only need to change your filters every four to six months. If you have heavy dust or pets, it will be more often. Most models have an indicator light when it’s time. Models with UV sanitizers usually need those bulbs changed once a year, but as long as they’re still bright, they should still be working.
Taking out your filter and lightly vacuuming it once a month will help you get a lot more use out of it before it needs replacing.
What filters does my air purifier need?
Unfortunately, there’s no standard filter, each brand and often model uses different ones. We recommend buying an established brand of air purifier that will still be in business when you need more filters; and taking advantage of volume discounts on filters and stocking up when you can.
You should also look at filter prices when you’re shopping. Filter prices range from under $20 for a one-year supply to over $30 each.
