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When you have problems with your air quality only the best air purifiers will be able to reduce the issue. Like many people, I have year-long allergies that can be horrible depending on my environment. Some people have allergies, asthma, cancer or lung diseases that make these products essential to the quality of their life. If you use home air purifiers you will see a reduction in tobacco smoke, hazardous VOCs (formaldehyde, pesticides, radon, asbestos, fuel, paint, etc…) bacteria, and mold. All of these are best if fixed permanently by other procedures, but sometimes situations occur where these toxins can’t be avoided.
Buying an air purifier is a great idea. A good air purifier can help keep you and your family healthy and can also fight against allergies. Allergies are caused by tiny particles called allergens. You can’t have an allergenic reaction if there’s none of those in the air. But what are the top 10 air purifiers? Let’s take a look.
Table of Contents
- What Air Purifier Technology Do You Need?
- Top 10 Best Air Purifier Short Reviews
- 1. GermGuardian AC4825
- 2. Honeywell 50250-S
- 3. Honeywell Compact Air Purifier
- 4. Hamilton Beach True Air Pet Air
- 5. Hamilton Beach 04383 True Air
- 6. Winix PlasmaWave 5300 Air Cleaner
- 7. Moso Natural Air Purifying Bag
- 8. The Honeywell Long-Life Pure HEPA QuietCare
- 9. Hamilton Beach True Air Odor Eliminator
- 10. The Honeywell QuietClean Compact Air Purifier
- Air Purifier Expectations
What Air Purifier Technology Do You Need?
Since so many best air purifier reviews are out there it can get confusing about what you really need for yourself. Most air purifiers will have a HEPA air filter unless they are filterless. Many people don’t understand that HEPA has several grades as well as thickness.
Activated carbon will only last 2-3 weeks if your air purifier is using it in a prefilter that is super thin. Ultraviolet light only works 99% of the time if bacteria and viruses are allowed enough time within the light to be destroyed. A lot of people need to pay special attention to these variables before they purchase what could be the best air purifiers for their issues. Below, I will try to hit upon some of your major needs and provide a quick solution for you.
You will notice that I labeled each type with a quality level. Nothing is below high quality because I think anything less is pretty much useless. On the right side of the website is my air purifier manufacturer list, but I can only recommend about 20% of my manufacturers to you.
The reason for this is the harmful technologies some companies use. Some of these technologies are in use with much better designs to make them safer, but many companies do not bother to invest in new designs. The U.S. government has successfully sued several brands for false advertising and the potential harm of ozone generators to humans.
The simple fact is what people need can’t be bought at Walmart or Target for discount prices. When you get to the level of “Super High Quality” not even good home air purifiers will be able to provide the level of air purification that is needed to service these issues.
When I promote the best air purifiers for you, I do it for a specific reason that I will describe within my reviews. Whether it is the quality, performance, ability to stop additional airborne issues or just the fact that price is right, you will receive information on buying the best air purifiers for your situation.
Top 10 Best Air Purifier Short Reviews
1. GermGuardian AC4825
Our Rating: (4.2 / 5)
Our list of the top 10 air purifiers is finished off with the best all-round choice for buyers air purifiers. It’s a three in one air purifier that removes everything from your air. It makes use of several filters and UV-C light to get all this done. The filter is one of the best HEPA grade filters and the unit as a whole is your best choice for top 10 air purifiers.
2. Honeywell 50250-S
Our Rating: (4.2 / 5)
The Honeywell 505250-S is a pure HEPA filter that is an ideal choice for rooms as large as 390 square feet. It is able to remove particulates from the air including viruses and bacteria. It has a spherical design that enables it to purify the air to a full 360 degrees. It’s large and loud as a result, but the filters can be replaced easily and it has a long 5-year warranty.
3. Honeywell Compact Air Purifier
Our Rating: (4.5 / 5)
This air filter presents the best choice for smaller spaces. The filter is a permanent HEPA grade filter and it has a three-year warranty attached to it. It’s no good for spaces larger than 85 square feet so buyers air purifiers should consider this for small spaces only.
4. Hamilton Beach True Air Pet Air
Our Rating: (4.2 / 5)
This is more of a dust collector than an air purifier. It might not purify the air up to HEPA standards but it does collect dust and do so silently. It’s also easy to keep clean and maintain. It emits a small UV light to kill bacteria. It is a good choice to keep small areas free of dust, but it won’t keep out allergies.
5. Hamilton Beach 04383 True Air
Our Rating: (4.5 / 5)
Hamilton is back on our top 10 air purifiers list. This is a HEPA filter that is ideal for keeping small rooms free of allergens. It doesn’t make a lot of noise either. It’s a simple and stylish filter that you clean by just vacuuming it out. This means that it also stays cheap to keep running over longer periods of time.
6. Winix PlasmaWave 5300 Air Cleaner
Our Rating: (4.6 / 5)
This air purifier is one of the more advanced ones in our list of top 10 air purifiers. Unlike the other air purifiers on the market, this doesn’t emit ozone. It also automatically adjusts to your purification needs using a built-in sensor to detect the air quality. It services a whopping 350 square feet. It is let down by the lack of a good warranty and germ filtering.
7. Moso Natural Air Purifying Bag
Our Rating: (4.2 / 5)
This isn’t your typical air purifier, as it is just literally a bag, but it doesn’t take up any electricity and still removes all the odors from a room. It’s best placed in a small room such as a bathroom. It’s both cheap and eco-friendly. This is another great option for buyers’ air purifiers who just want some odor elimination.
8. The Honeywell Long-Life Pure HEPA QuietCare
Our Rating: (4.3 / 5)
The Honeywell is back on our list of top 10 air purifiers with this true HEPA filter. A HEPA filter is the best kind of air purifier. It can remove almost all of the pollutants in your home. While this purifier is large it’s also quiet and comes with a five-year warranty. It’s user friendly and the filters can be replaced without a fuss, making this an ideal solution for a mid-size room.
9. Hamilton Beach True Air Odor Eliminator
Our Rating: (4.2 / 5)
Some buyer’s air purifiers are just after an odor eliminator. That’s pretty much what the Hamilton odor eliminator is. It won’t completely purify the air but if you have a room frequently occupied by pets then this is a great choice.
10. The Honeywell QuietClean Compact Air Purifier
Our Rating: (4.5 / 5)
Honeywell presents a great budget option. The downside is that even it’s rather small. It’s not great for a large room and definitely won’t be able to purify a whole house. This is still the ideal choice for keeping a small room, such as a child’s bedroom, free from dust and allergens.
Air Purifier Expectations
Most people don’t really know anything about air purifiers or what they are capable of. Most people buy air cleaners expecting huge changes in the air and expect dust to stop collecting in their home completely. Many factors have led people down the wrong path of cheap products and improper usage and that is truly a shame. Since I don’t want to make you scroll down the screen to read a long discussion I am going to get to the point so you can quickly see why finding the best air purifiers is so hard.
Cheap Air Filters – Many companies think they can get by with HEPA air filters that aren’t as good at “True HEPA” air filters and lower the price. Some of these are washable or reuseable air filters are simply a waste of your time because they don’t stop anything smaller than a hairball.
Size or Amount of Activated Carbon and HEPA – If you go to Walmart or Target you will see air purifiers for sale for seemingly great prices. They have the great True HEPA air filter technology and may even have a good Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR). If you look closer you may notice that the machine seems a bit small.
If you look at the specifications you will see something similar to 1lb of HEPA and 0.5lbs of activated carbon. These amounts will last you possibly 6 months for the HEPA and not even a month for the activated carbon. It’s just another easy way to trick you to think you have purchased the best for a great rebated price when you have just signed up for constantly replacing air filters at absorbent prices.
Washable and Reusable Air Filters – At first you may think “hey I am saving money by getting an air filter that can be used again”, but if you think about it how good can one of these be at catching fine particles. Well let me tell you they are useless and are a waste of money as well. It won’t help you with your issues and you will just stop using it because you will perceive that it doesn’t work. Please don’t correlate this to every air purifier on the market.
Fan Speed – Most people don’t think too long about fan speed and how it enables you to capture particles in the air. You may think “cool I can turn it down to be quieter so I can get some sleep and save energy”; however, all tests are done when air purifiers are in their highest setting and they lose a lot of their performance when not at this setting. If you have the speed too low the particles have enough time to settle on your floor, furniture, and walls before it reaches the air purifier. This is one reason many people think air purifiers don’t work.
Ionic Technology – I won’t say much about this since I talk about it over and over again throughout this website. Generally, ionic technology should only be used for commercial companies that clean fire and water damage to quickly make smells go away. Ionic technology is really good with smells, but poor with everything else because it just makes particles fall to the floor where they can be kicked back up into the air later and it doesn’t capture or kill bacteria, mold or viruses. You cannot even be around it for long without having the effects of ozone as a result. The U.S. government fined a lot of companies in the 1990s because of their high ozone output and just because the output is lower doesn’t mean it won’t reach this level if you keep it concealed in a small room for a long period of time.
Placement – One thing you will probably never think about is where you place your home air purifier. Most people don’t want it within view because they think it is an eyesore. I particularly like mine right under my nose, but that can’t be optimal all the time. The one place where they do get placed a lot is in corners and that will generally stop 30-50% of their coverage because most suck in air from all directions.
Smoke Absorption – I know plenty of smokers who have asked me about getting smoke air purifiers for their homes. I still wonder why they cannot just go outside to save their friends, family, and furniture the problems with second-hand smoke. Besides that, there are great air purifiers that can take in this smoke for up to 1 year (these are very expensive because of the amount of material needed to absorb). However, once it has filled up that air filter is going to stink real bad and you can’t just “hope” that it will air out by itself. Air filter replacement is needed immediately once you notice it is not providing you with the same level of performance.
Dust Collection – When I got my first air purifier I personally thought like many other people that it would make all the dust in my home go away. Unfortunately, this is not true and you will wonder why. Most dust falls to fast to be trapped in the air purifier. Also, dust collects on itself and gets too heavy very quickly and you will have to have air purifiers running in your house all day every day in every room to see significant differences in dust collection. I notice a little bit of change in my bedroom since it is 50% of the time. However, it has just made it a long process for the dust to collect in my room (you still have to clean).
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