How Many Air Purifiers Do You Need in Your Home?

Do you need one or multiple? Learn how many total units are necessary for proper filtration based on size & type of home.

How Many Air Purifiers Do You Need in Your Home?

If you have a 1,400 square foot home, you need two air purifiers for proper air purification. But if you have a living room with a 12×12 bedroom, a 15×10 kitchen, and a 14×14 living room, a single air purifier might be enough. You can even move it from one room to another to increase the circulation of clean air inside. A general rule of thumb is that approximately 100 CFM is needed for every 250 square feet of room space.

To get the square footage of your room, you'll need a measuring tape and a friend. Measure the length and width of your room in feet. Then multiply the two numbers, and this will give you the size. So how many total air purifiers do you need in your home? Generally speaking, it's best to have an air purifier in rooms where you spend the most time. This may involve the need for at least three air purifiers: one for the living room, one for the kitchen and one for the bedroom.

You will also need to use CADR (Clean Air Supply Rate) specifications to ensure that each air purifier has the ability to move and filter all of the air in each room. Air purifiers are designed to disinfect a room, not an entire house. In general, air purifiers should go in the busiest rooms, where occupants spend most of their time. Other high-priority rooms should be the places most affected by air pollutants, such as the living room, bathroom, or kitchen. Air quality in rooms with furniture that creates dust and other airborne irritants, or in rooms used to store toxic chemicals, such as basements and laundry rooms, will improve significantly with the addition of an air purifier. Several people have asked me if they can use a single purifier to clean their entire apartment or house.

For example, can I put a large purifier in the living room and avoid having to put purifiers in every room? The benefits would be great. This setup would be easier, cheaper and less noisy if the purifier is in the other room. For spaces up to 700 square feet, this one has a true HEPA filter (medical grade H13), making it ideal for homes with people who have allergies and asthma. With four fan speeds, CARB compliant and Energy Star certified. You even have different filter options (pure, fresh and smoked) depending on your needs. It will depend to a large extent on the levels of polluted air in your home, as well as the quality of the filtration technology in the model you have selected.

Unlike HEPA air purifiers, PCO air purifiers not only use a fan to suck in air and clean it but they also use natural convection to get air through your air cleaning unit. The biggest cost you'll face with air purifiers is filter changes, especially when you have a device in every room. Placing an air purifier 3-5 feet above the ground allows you to capture both horizontal and vertical air movement, increasing your purifier's ability to clean the air. A whole-house air purifier can be installed where air is let in through your HVAC system.

A very strategic position for an air purifier, especially a PCO air purifier, is at a point where it is closest to as many doors as possible without any obstructions. With this in mind, you can immediately see that when you increase your space there is more air that the device needs to process but unfortunately it can only handle the amount of air it is designed to absorb. Buying an air purifier that's too big for your room is an unnecessary waste of money and energy, and using one that's too small will affect air quality. The truth is that to truly guarantee the best air quality every room in your house must have an air purifier.

No, since most air purifiers have a low energy consumption rate identical to that of other smaller appliances. The clean air delivery rate of a purifier is a numerical and measured way of expressing how effectively a purifier can filter the air in a room. You will also need several PCO air purifiers in your home if you prefer to keep your bedroom doors closed. It's important to understand the difference between air purifiers and humidifiers so you can get the right unit for your home.

For example, you may need an additional air purifier to rectify deteriorating air quality in your basement or garage. Air purifiers clean stagnant indoor air by filtering particles in the air that are known to cause eye and lung irritation, cause allergies, and other negative health impacts. This air cleaning process allows the PCO air purifier to not only cover much more space than a HEPA air purifier but also to work in all rooms when the doors are left open.

Irene Rosenzweig
Irene Rosenzweig

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