Are Air Purifiers a Waste of Money? – All You Need to Know Before Buying an Air Purifier

Although popular, air purifiers are still not as commonly used. This is because there is a lot of uncertainty about how they work, if they even work, and whether they are a smart purchase or not. 

To answer these questions and more, we will discuss the working and benefits of air purifiers in detail.

So without further ado, let’s find out if air purifiers are actually worth your money or not.

Are Air Purifiers Worth the Money?

The one-line answer is yes; they are worth the hype and the money as well.

However, the longer answer is that they are indeed an excellent purchase if you buy the correct type of purifier. By “the correct type”, we mean an air purifier particularly meant to achieve your objectives. Let me explain further.

There could be different reasons for you to buy an air purifier. For instance, maybe you want your house to smell fresher, perhaps you want to reduce airborne pet hair and dander from your surroundings, or maybe you simply wish to have cleaner air to minimize the risk of allergies and breathing problems. 

Before investing in an air purifier, you must know that all of these purposes are served by different types of air purifiers. This means that just because a particular air purifier is good at removing pet dander and hair, doesn’t mean that it will get rid of odors as well. 

So, as long as you buy an air purifier that is good at doing what you want, you will not regret spending your money. 

To save you some time and effort, We will be discussing a few basic types of air purifiers in the next section.

Types of Air Purifiers and What They Do

Let’s look at the four main types of air purifiers and what they do:

HEPA 

HEPA purifiers are commonly used to filter out dust and other airborne contaminants like pollen, mold spores, and bacteria. These purifiers use a filter to trap tiny particles and push clean, filtered air out from the other end. 

Ionic

These purifiers use ionizing techniques to turn airborne contaminant particles into denser particles. Too heavy to float around, these particles fall to surfaces that you can then clean to eliminate unwanted impurities.

UV Light

UV purifiers are particularly great for killing harmful viruses that cause common sicknesses and health issues. These purifiers use UV light of a short wavelength to destroy the DNA of airborne viruses. UV purifiers can be a smart purchase if you have kids or if you tend to get sick quickly.

Activated Carbon

Purifiers with activated carbon filters are primarily used to remove odors and capture mold spores before they reproduce and create a bigger problem. People who want a fresher-smelling house should consider investing in this air purifier.

Air Purifiers – Advantages & Reasons to Buy Them

Before ending this post, let’s briefly look at some of the benefits and top reasons to invest in an air purifier:

  • They help decrease cleaning time and effort by controlling the overall dust quantity in the air around you. Air purifiers trap airborne dust particles in their filters and push out clean air.
  • They are beneficial for minimizing the risk of allergic reactions, asthma, and other breathing problems. Air purifiers clean air of pollens, mold spores and dust – all of which can cause health problems. They can help you sleep soundly, especially if you experience asthmatic or allergic reactions.
  • They are particularly beneficial for people with relatively weaker immune systems who tend to get sick easily. Kids and the elderly benefit the most from air purifiers in this regard.
  • They allow you to enjoy your pets without constantly being on the lookout for pet hair and dander. Air purifiers significantly reduce airborne pet dander and hair, keeping your house clean and protecting you from allergies as well.
  • They help make your house smell fresher by removing household odors. Carbon activated purifiers are particularly useful in keeping your home odor-free.
  • They are beneficial in houses that lack a sound ventilation system. They control smoke odor and also help decrease visible smoke by filtering it.
  • They help capture airborne mold spores before they get a chance to reproduce. This protects your house from odors and long-term mold production.

There are many more plus points of air purifiers, but the ones mentioned above are the few top ones. 

To ensure you don’t waste your money, buy an air purifier that best archives your particular desired goals.

Does Everyone Need an Air Purifier?

Yes, air purifiers are great for a number of reasons, but does everyone need one?

Well, not necessarily.

You probably don’t need to buy an air purifier if:

  • You live in a well-ventilated space, where the chances of smoke accumulation are low. Houses with a sound ventilation system generally have fresher air due to air circulation in and outside the house. 
  • The area where you live has lower levels of dust in the air. Regular cleaning alone should be enough to maintain cleanliness in such places.
  • You don’t experience any household odors in your house.
  • Either you don’t have pets, or you do, but they don’t have a shedding problem. If your pet’s hair and dander are not enough to bother you, you probably do not need to invest in an air purifier.
  • No one around you has a weak immune system and thus does not experience frequent allergies, sicknesses, flu, or breathing problems like asthma.
  • Your house and the area you live in naturally have good-quality air.

In short, if you are totally satisfied with the quality of air around you and do not feel the need to improve it, you probably don’t need to invest in an air purifier.

So then, who should buy an air purifier? How to know if you need one or not? 

In a nutshell, you should consider getting an air purifier to improve the overall air quality around you. For instance, getting rid of harmful bacteria or viruses, airborne dust particles, mold spores, toxins, unpleasant odors, and other contaminants.

If you want to achieve any one or more of these goals, air purifiers can be an excellent investment. 

In addition to these apparent goals, air purifiers can also be used to improve your physical health. They help with allergies, asthma, and other health problems. Air purifiers also help people suffering from frequent asthmatic attacks sleep better. They are also a great way to reduce airborne pet dander and hair around you.

Like any other machine, air purifiers also require consistent maintenance, but the results are worth the effort and cost. 

Getting Your Money’s Worth – Things To Consider Before Buying 

In this section, I’ll discuss a few factors to consider while buying an air purifier to ensure that you make the right purchase.

How Much Does Filter Replacement Cost?

As discussed above, air purifiers require consistent maintenance; otherwise, they lose efficiency over time. However, this maintenance should not cost you so much that it becomes a burden.

Pleated filters need to be replaced or cleaned every 6-12 months, while carbon activated filters should be replaced every three months.

Filters of a big air purifier can cost anything between $20 and $200, while carbon filters usually cost around $50. 

Expensive filters can become a burden on you if replaced regularly. Therefore, it is essential to know about the maintenance costs of an air purifier before buying it. Buy a machine only if you afford to pay for its maintenance. 

Room Size

Another crucial factor to consider while buying an air purifier is the room’s size where you will keep the machine. 

Air purifiers usually have the recommended room size in their specs. To ensure that you get an air purifier best suited to your room, you should compare the room’s total area with the recommended area mentioned by the air purifier

An air purifier with an area equal to or greater than your room is the ideal choice. An air purifier with a lesser area would be ineffective in a large room. 

However, this doesn’t mean that you should get as big an air purifier as possible. Just get one that is according to your room’s size. An oversized air purifier would simply be a waste of money.

Placement 

Another factor that comes into play regarding an air purifier’s efficiency is its placement. Where you keep your air purifier can directly affect its efficiency. 

So, what is the best place to keep your machine? The answer varies depending upon the type of air purifier. Let’s discuss this further.

HEPA and carbon activated filter purifiers work similarly. They filter out contaminants and push out clean air with the help of fans. However, since they use fans, they need a bit of space around them to function properly. Therefore, these air purifiers should not be kept in corners, under tables, against walls, or behind furniture. 

The best place to keep them is at a distance of 2-3 feet from any walls or furniture around. 

On the other hand, ionic purifiers don’t have fans. Instead, they work by releasing charged ions around them in all directions. Therefore, in order to maximize their efficiency and get the most out of your investment, you should keep them in the center of your room. Placing them near a wall or any obstacle would hinder their performance. 

Electricity Consumption

In addition to checking the maintenance costs of your air purifier, you also need to check its energy consumption. 

Air purifiers usually need to run constantly to give the best results. This is why their electricity consumption rate cannot be ignored. In fact, you must consider it before buying it. Compare the numbers of different variants with each other to find the optimal choice. 

An easy trick is to find an air purifier with the “Energy Star.” Energy Star is a government-backed label that indicates energy-efficient appliances without any bias. 

Noise Level

Last but not least, the noise level of air purifiers is another essential factor. Remember, you’re not going to keep this device outdoors or in a corner where it won’t be heard or seen. In fact, it is going to be indoors, probably in the center of your living room or bedroom, etc. In such a place, a noisy appliance would be quite bothersome. 

As mentioned before, carbon and HEPA filters use fans to function. Fans make noise – less at low speed and more at high speed. So if you get an air purifier too small for your room, it would need to run at high speeds. 

However, if you buy an appropriately sized air purifier, you would rarely need to run it at higher speed levels. 

This further emphasizes the importance of getting the correct size air purifier.

Wrapping it up…

By now, you should have a clear idea about investing in air purifiers. They serve many different purposes, so it’s essential to get the correct type of air purifier according to your needs.

In the end, we can reasonably conclude that air purifiers are not a waste of money.

In fact, they can prove to be an intelligent one-time investment if bought after thorough research and maintained properly after purchase. 

Saving some money by buying a smaller-than-needed air purifier would leave you with a less efficient machine that makes a lot of noise. If you want to save some bucks, it’s best to get an air purifier with low energy consumption and maintenance costs. 

Got more questions? Please feel free to reach out – we would be happy to provide further insight!