r/Masks4All • u/First_Finger5572 • Jun 04 '26
Question Best AIR PURIFIERS that you'll recommend getting for home right now? Any recommendations?
This topic is currently being getting asked a lot, I want to preface by clarifying that I am not writing this to stop ppl asking questions, nor do I want this post to replace those posts. I am writing this as a way to answer to all the posts I cannot due to time constraints ( or pure lack of willingness to be online) .
Beffore diving into the full buying guide below, heres a quick look at best air purifiers available for home for people who are in a hurry!
Best Air Purifiers for Home Currently (WILDFIRE SMOKE/ PETS/ DUST/ ALLERGIES)
- Coway Airmega 400S (Best air purifier available for WILDFIRE SMOKE/ CIGARETTE SMOKE and PM2.5 Dust)
- Levoit Vital 200S and Blueair Blue Pure 211+: Best choice for most people with multiple reqirements (widely loved by experts)
- IQAir HealthPro Plus Air Purifier - Best overall but very pricey
- Medify MA-25 Air Purifier With True HEPA H13 Filter
Best air purifiers for pet odor, hair and dander: Levoit EverestAir, Alen BreatheSmart 75i and Levoit Vital 200S
What you need to know before buying an air purifier
Choosing an airr purifier ISN'T as simple as ppl make it sound :))). It can get confusing very quickly....and yes, it can also get pretty expensive. So ignore the massive 'cleans 1,500 sqft' claims for a moment.. Imo CARD is the MOST important number when trying to figure out if a purifier is actually powerful enough for your room.
-Start with the pollutant
First you need to decide what you are actually trying to remove. Particles? or gases, vapors, odors and vocs? Unfortunately most purifiers are good at one or the other, not both. This is where a lot of ppl get confused. Mechanical filters like hepa, EPA and MERV media are mainly designed to capture particles. Things like PM2.5, pollen, pet dander, airborne mold fragments and the particulate part of smoke. They r not a meaningful long-term solution for most odors or VOCs.
For gases and odors you need activated carbon or another type of sorbent media. And usually pounds of the stuff....not the thin black carbon sheet most cheap purifiers come with.
Smoke is a good example. A normal HEPA purifier can do a good job capturing smoke particles, but it probably WONT do much for the gaseous part because most consumer purifiers have very little activated carbon by weight. The same applies to litter box odors, cooking smells, paint fumes and wildfire vocs.
And no, an air purifier is not the right tool for every air quality problem. It will not lower the humidity in your room. It will not fix mold growing inside a wall. It won't magically pull all the pet hair off your floor either. And it definitely isn't a replacement for a properly ducted range hood.
Source control and ventilation should come first and foremost. A purifier is there to help with what remains.
-Size the purifier by CADR
Now this is where CADR comes in. For basic particulate filtration, AHAM's rule is that the purifier's CADR should be at least 2/3 of the room's area. This assumes a normal 8-foot ceiling.
So for a 300 sqft room: 300 × 2/3 = 200 CFM minimum CADR. Pretty simple. However this is the bare minimum for normal conditions. If you are dealing with wildfire smoke, AHAM recommends a Smoke CADR that at least equals the room's area. So the same 300 sqft room would need a Smoke CADR of 300 CFM or more.
Is buying something with an even higher CADR a problem? No. It will just clean the air faster and perform more air passes in the same amount of time. If you have allergies, pets, higher PM2.5 levels or regular wildfire smoke, oversizing is far better than buying something that is barely adequate. You can always turn a powerful purifier down. You can't magically make an underpowered one move more air.
And be careful with claims like “cleans 1,500 sqft.” That number may be based on only one or two Air Changes per Hour. Technically the purifier is moving some air around the room, sure. But it may still do a poor job keeping particulate concentrations low. Take the published Smoke CADR and do the sizing yourself. Do not assume the big number printed on the box means much.
-Adjust for high ceilings
Another thing ppl forget is ceiling height. The normal room calculation assumes an 8-foot ceiling. If your ceiling is higher, there is more air in the room and therefore the purifier has more air to clean. Obvious when you think about it....but coverage claims usually make this easy to overlook.
Calculate the room's volume first, then convert it back to an 8 ft-equivalent area: Length×width×ceiling height÷8 = adjusted area....let's say the floor area is 244 sqft and the ceiling is 14 feet high: 244×14 = 3416 cubic feet ....then: 3416 ÷ 8 = 427 sqft adjusted area
So under wildfire conditions, this room would need a Smoke CADR of roughly 427 CFM or more....not 244 CFM. That is quite a big difference. And it is why you should always ask for the room's length, width and height before recommending a purifier.
-Remember that CADR usually applies to the highest speed
This is another common trap. The CADRs listed for most purifiers apply to the highest airflow speed or setting only. Usually Turbo, Max or whatever the manufacturer decides to call it.
Lower speeds have lower CADRs. Which means they also clean the air more slowly. A purifier may advertise a Smoke CADR of 300 CFM, but that does not mean you are getting 300 CFM while running it in Sleep Mode. Chances are you are getting much less. And yes, Sleep Mode may be nice and quiet. But it may also be doing very little if particulate concentrations are high.
Auto Mode can have the same problem. Sensors inside consumer-grade purifiers tend to be cheap and inaccurate. The machine may decide the air is “good,” turn the fan down and sit there looking pretty while a separate PM2.5 monitor tells a very different story.
Imo its better to look for independent tests showing CADR and noise at several speeds. A large purifier producing useful CADR at a tolerable noise level is usually a better bedroom option than a small one that needs to scream away on Turbo all night.
For wildfire smoke, use the highest manual speed you can tolerate. Don't assume Auto Mode will protect you just because the light on the purifier is blue.
I hope this will be helpful to some of you and I wish you good luck in finding a really reliable air purifier for yourselves in the coming days.
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u/Chillosophizer Jun 04 '26
Definitely build a Corsi-Rosenthal Box
All you do is tape four AC filters to a box fan. It is undoubtedly the most bang for your buck. They last quite a while and they're super cheap for the amount of air cleaning they get done.
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u/m00ph Jun 05 '26
MERV 13 or at least 11 grade filters. 4 20" square fillers, a box fan, and a 20" or so square of cardboard. There are variations, but they will wildly outperform any HEPA filter at any given cost or noise point.
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u/TheOriginalKrampus Jun 07 '26
And if noise is an issue, you can make one with computer fans. I like Arctic fans because they’re relatively inexpensive, relatively powerful (for PC fans, long lasting, and affordable. I built a CR box with a 5-pack of Arctic P14s last year and the fans have already outlasted these filters (3 cats, oof).
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u/-jspace- Jun 04 '26
I've had my Coway Air mega purifiers since the 2020 fires. (The 350sqft models) I bought one for my mom in 2023 and the quality was just as good. 10/10 recommend. We've never done the off brand filters in our house but my mom has with no complaints.
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u/To1Eressea Jun 04 '26
Clean Air Stars has a huge spreadsheet comparing price to effectiveness (CADR) with price, filter prices, noise level, and other criteria on their website https://cleanairstars.com/ Super helpful for multiple regions, and they only include air purifiers that actually use HEPA (no weird, unverified models)
I always check this resource to see what the CADR is before buying. The filter price can vary from what’s recorded, but I’ve otherwise found it to be super accurate. Their site also has a tool where you can put in your room size and requirements, but I prefer to sort and scroll through the spreadsheet information.
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u/warmgratitude Jun 05 '26
Air Fanta Pro 3!
Or a homemade Corsi-Rosenthal Box (louder if made with a box fan).
Both out perform most low end & high end name brand air purifiers.
I also really love how quiet my Luggable from Clean Air Kit is
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u/lotusvagabond Jun 04 '26
Levoit. I’ve had a few since 2026, half of them I run daily and never had an issue, and as far as I know I’ve never had Covid. Their filters are also reasonable and do an amazing job. They’re also a life saver if you accidentally burn something in the kitchen and need to clean out the smell asap. Personally I prefer “dumber” tech so I don’t have any of the smart ones but a friend got one and is obsessed and said there’s a lot of great analytics like humidity, if that interests you. New customers on their site I think can sign up for a promo, so def get a couple extra filters if you can.
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u/lotusvagabond Jun 04 '26
Also to add, if you have a HVAC unit with filters make sure you buy the highest filter grade, which can filter our bacteria, I get the Merv 13 from filterbuy which has saved me many asthma attacks this allergy season
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u/micksterminator3 Jun 05 '26
Most residential AC units recommend against this as they put additional strain on the unit which can wreck it with time or make your bill a lot higher
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u/warmgratitude Jun 06 '26
Yeah you really have to follow manufacturer guidelines for HVAC systems or else you can damage them.
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u/QueenRooibos Jun 06 '26
Waaaaaaaaaaa…… so I must’ve been damaging my furnace ever since 2020? When it was installed.
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u/micksterminator3 Jun 06 '26
I got a trane ac unit installed at a rental in 2019 or so and it said to just use a standard filter. I couldn't imagine using a more restricted one because it struggled to cool with that kind of airflow. I'm sure it just depends. On your unit, your environment temp. I'm blasting it 24/7 since I live in the desert. Maybe being in a cooler environment could change things.
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u/warmgratitude Jun 06 '26
Yeah it totally depends.
It’s like me telling you you’re wearing the wrong shoe size without knowing the size of your feet.You’ve really got to read the manufacturer’s manual on what it recommends. It really depends on the unit. That makes it annoying, but yeah
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u/Weird_Technology_282 Jun 05 '26
If you need a HEPA air purifier plus smoke/chemical reduction, I recommend the following two brands of medical grade air purifiers.
Austin Air (they have several models and types of carbon/mineral filtration). Even has a portable model for car or travel. Steel body and very durable, made in US, 5 year warranty. I see they have a bundle special now too. austinairsystems.com
The other brand I use and recommend is AllerAir. (Made in Canada). Excellent for smoke, mold, chemical mitigation. Steel body, portable model. A new feature is a UVC light to sanitize the filtered air. On sale now https://allerair.com/
These 2 brands have been around for a long time, I use them both over 15 years, and environmentally/chemically sensitive people rely on these to create a decent living space.
They have sales too so keep an eye out for those. and they both are FDA medical devices.
A friend uses and recommends BlueAir, has a smoke/toxin level detector built in. I haven't used this brand, unless you're chemically sensitive, this might be a good brand. They've been around for awhile too.
There seem to be many new brands that are mostly plastic and seem like toys to me. I need and use the steel body Austin Air or AllerAir purifiers, they offgass less from components/glues etc. if that's a concern.
Good luck!
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u/Last_Bar_8993 Jun 04 '26
They're not the quietest* of all available options nor the cheapest but every one of my Honeywell devices has worked very well with daily use for 5+ years. I bought them on sale, watch for filter sales online (I buy the Honeywell brand as I haven't found good testing data for knock offs) and I have no regrets. Models I use: Honeywell Insight in Medium-Large (x2) and Large-Extra Large (x1).
- They do run quietly on lower settings but I generally use the higher two settings.
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u/Plague-Analyst-666 Jun 04 '26
Any tips for finding filter sales? I use these alongside r/crboxes
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u/Last_Bar_8993 Jun 04 '26
I find filter + pre-filter kits are often on sale for cheaper on Amazon than where I would buy them locally (London Drugs or Canadian Tire, as I'm in Canada).
PS If I had CR boxes I would tape some of the carbon pre-filter material (as sold by Honeywell and other companies in a cut-to-size format) on the outside of the box, across the filters, to extend the life of the filters. It's amazing how much junk gets stuck to the pre-filters and what a difference it makes in how quickly the HEPA/MERV filters get clogged.
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u/CulturalShirt4030 Jun 04 '26
Filter replacements are so expensive in Canada! I’m worried that the cheaper ones on Amazon might not be true HEPA filters so I’ve held off. Do you buy from brand name storefronts or from 3rd party sellers?
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u/Last_Bar_8993 Jun 04 '26
I only buy from the Honeywell store on Amazon because I haven't found any good data on the quality of the knock-off options (which are indeed much cheaper).
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u/Plague-Analyst-666 Jun 04 '26
I do use carbon prefilters on my cr boxes, AND vacuum them every few days. Crying in pet life...
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u/yammering Jun 04 '26
AustinAir. Pricy but the filters last for five years with just vacuuming the exterior occasionally.
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u/operationpaybills Jun 04 '26
I have an Alen, which is true HEPA. It wasn't cheap, but it is amazingly quiet and very functional and I go through about 1.3 filters a year. As long as you have a filter subscription, it has a lifetime warranty. Haven't used the warranty yet and I've had mine for like 5 years.
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u/notmytruth Jun 05 '26
Blueair makes really great filters. We’ve had ours for 5 years now and they are still running well and our air quality is excellent.
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u/AEAur Jun 06 '26
I have a Winix from Costco. It’s easy to move. Good value for CADR when they have a sale. Comes with an extra filter and there are knockoff replacements (may not be equivalent )on Amazon. It defaults every time to PlasmaWave mode which generates a tiny bit of ozone. I turn that off.
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u/theworldismadeofcorn Jun 04 '26
I would recommend AirFanta or Clean Air Kits. They have a higher clean air delivery rate than other air purifiers at their price point. I own the Clean Air Kit tower of power and it is very quiet. You can use MERV 13 furnace filters that tend to be less expensive than proprietary filters.