Air Purifiers

Air purifiers come in many varieties, but the best of them share certain qualities. At the top of this list is that they're able to clean whatever volume of air is necessary, no matter how big a room is, and that they can work fast, cleaning all the air within a single room several times every single hour. The number of times that a purifier can filter the air in a certain room in its entirety within one hour is known as either the air change rate (ACR) or, less commonly, the air efficiency rate (AER). Look for an air change rate of six, or even higher if possible. Unless all the air in a room is constantly being cleansed of its potentially harmful microscopic materials, you run the risk of breathing in those materials and letting them into your lungs.

The clean air delivery rate, or CADR, is another crucial metric to take note of when it's time for you to choose a purifier. The clean air delivery rate tells you how much air a purifier can handle – that is, how much air it can effectively clean. Air purifiers should offer a clean air delivery rate that's equal to two-thirds of the total area, in square feet, of the room in which the purifier will be installed. So, imagine you're planning on putting a purifier in your living room, and your living room measures 30 feet by 30 feet (just to make the math easier here). In that case, the total area of your living room is 900 square feet, so you would want an air purifier with a CADR of 2/3 of 900, or 600.

There are secondary considerations that are also important when it comes to deciding which purifier to buy. For one, a room purifier should work quietly; people soon tire of purifiers that distract them with unnecessary noise. The good news is that most air purifiers are fairly quiet, especially when compared to many of the other devices and gadgets you probably already have around the house. A store representative should be able to tell you how loud, in decibels, a given purifier is when it's at work.

Good air purifiers are also easy to clean. Many you can simply scrub by hand from time to time – a simple process. Also, the best of these don't require you to change their filters all the time. (The costs of frequent filter changes can really add up quickly.) You'll want an energy-efficient air purifier as well, so you won't have to pay any more on your electric bill than you have to each month. The U.S. Department of Energy, fortunately, makes finding energy-efficient purifiers easy, thanks to their Energy Star label. If a purifier comes with an Energy Star, you'll know it's adept at conserving power.

Finally, the best air purifiers provide something that isn't tangible and that you can't quantify, and that's a better quality of life. Many people who suffer from a respiratory disorder, even something as mild as seasonal allergies, can find themselves trying to relax at home but feeling lousy because their nasal passages are blocked. They sneeze and wheeze and just feel more sluggish than they ought to. Yet once a purifier has been put to work cleaning the allergens and toxic particles from the air in a room, many people with such conditions feel much healthier. They get all the oxygen they need to, they feel much more energetic, and they can taste food and smell aromas far more effectively than they've been able to in a long time. It's this kind of improvement that makes a purifier a treasured addition to so many homes.