Using air purifiers in your home is a great way to clean the air and make it healthier to breathe for you and your family. If you’ve never used an air purifier before, you may have some questions. One of the most common questions we get from customers is, “How many air purifiers do I need?” The follow-up question to that one is usually, “How big of an air purifier do I need.”
In this article we’ll cover the basics so you can confidently shop for the air purifiers that will best match your situation and keep your indoor air healthy.
One Air Purifier or Multiple Air Purifiers?
Should you purchase one air purifier that will cover the entire house or multiple air purifiers for individual rooms? In our experience and the experience of many of our customers, buying multiple dedicated air purifiers makes the most sense.
To begin, whole-house air purifiers cost more upfront than portable units, and by quite a bit. The average cost of a whole-house air purifier ranges between $2000 and $6000. This cost does not include what your local HVAC company will charge to install the unit. Also, there is currently a very limited selection when buying a whole-house air purifier, so you will be pretty limited as far as the product manufacturers and brands available.
Single unit purifiers are not only more affordable up front, there is no need to have a professional install them. Simply plug it in and turn it on and you can immediately begin to clean your home’s air. There are also units for every budget. You can buy a small unit for as little as $99 or a larger unit for $600.
Also, many individual air purifiers have been designed with certain problems in mind. For instance, there are air purifiers that help with allergies, asthma, smoke, VOCs and chemical sensitivity, and pets.
Don’t worry though, you don’t have to buy an air purifier for every single room in your home. What makes the most economic sense is to limit the use of an air purifier to only those rooms you spend the most time in. For most people, this includes bedrooms, living rooms and home offices.
Now, let’s take a look at that other question we get frequently asked.
How Big of an Air Purifier Do I Need?
You know how you wouldn’t try to tow an RV trailer with an economy-sized car but would instead use a 4X4 pickup truck? This same idea applies to air purifiers. These units are designed to be able to handle certain sized rooms.
To ensure you select the right air purifiers for your various rooms, you’ll want to look for a voluntary label called the AHAM Verifide Label. This is administered by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) and shows that the air purifier has been independently tested.
What exactly does AHAM test for? For something called the clean air delivery rate, or CADR. CADR represents the measurement given for how many cubic feet of air the air purifier is able to clean in a one-hour cycle.
So, what you’ll want to do is match the size of your room (volume of the room) to the right CADR rating to know it can handle the job. If shopping online, you should be able to find this CADR rating in the product’s description or specifications. If in a physical store, the rating will be listed on the box. You should also be able to find a square footage recommendation for each unit.
Measuring Your Rooms
Don’t try and guess the square footage of your rooms, measure them instead. It’s actually very easy to figure out the measurements and you’ll be sure to then get the right sized air purifiers.
- Using a measuring tape, measure two perpendicular walls
- Jot down the length of each wall (in feet)
- Multiply these two numbers together to get the total square footage of the room. So, for example, a 20-foot wall x a 10-foot wall = 200 square feet.
Don’t worry, if your walls are odd lengths, like 15 ½ “ or 12 ¾ “, just go ahead and round up to the next whole number to make the math easier. Rounding up won’t make much of a difference at all in the total number but it WILL make your life easier.
You may also have an area in your home where two rooms are connected by a wide doorway or opening, as living rooms and dining rooms often are. And you may want one air purifier to be able to handle both rooms. You’ll need to do a little more math to select the right size air purifier to cover the entire space. Simply measure each rooms individual square footage and then add those two numbers together. So if your living room is 350 square feet and your dining room is 250 square feet, you’ll need an air purifier with a CADR that can handle 600 square feet.
Do Air Purifiers Use a Lot of Electricity?
Typically speaking, an air purifier will not use any more electricity than any other smaller device in your home. Most air purifier’s electricity consumption can be compared to that of a lamp or small television. You should not see a major impact on your electricity bill.
And that’s a good thing, because air purifiers are manufactured to be run all day. They are not like an air conditioner that you may turn on and off. To effectively clean your home’s (or room’s air) you’ll want to keep the unit running and be sure to change the filters as often as the manufacturer recommends.
Have Any Questions?
Do you still have some questions about how many rooms you should focus on or how to make sure the unit you choose can handle the size of the room it will live in? Get in touch with us. We are always more than happy to answer any questions you may have. We like to think we don’t just sell air purifiers, we help families breathe easier.
