This guide contains:

Background on air purifiers
Features to look for in air purifiers
How to find the best air purifier for you

This independent guide was created to help you understand the basics of air purifiers and to help you choose the right air purifier for you. We do not sell any air purifiers ourselves, so you can be confident that all of the information in this guide is independent and unbiased.

Background on air purifiers
There are a couple types of air purifiers- portable and central filtration systems. Portable air purifiers are generally smaller, less expensive, and generally designed to handle one or two rooms. Central air purifiers are more expensive and are usually installed in heating or air conditioning systems and tied to the duct work throughout the home or office.

As mentioned above, there are several different ways of cleaning the air inside a building. These are the major air purifying technologies:

Filtering- By drawing air through filters, most of the larger particulates in the air are trapped on the filter and removed from circulation. Air passing through the outside of the filter is now cleaner than it was going in, and the cycle continues. The filters are designed to be either disposable or washable, and you should change/wash your filter as recommended to ensure that it works at the optimal level.

Air ionizers- this technology operates by replenishing the supply of negative ions in a given area. The negative ions then attach themselves to the particles in the air, and then become too heavy to remain airborne and end up on the floor. Like electronic air purifiers, air ionizers usually draw less electricity than HEPA systems.

Ozone generator units- this technology operates by introducing small quantities of actual ozone into the air to reduce other airborne pollutants. The FDA has established that any device that puts out more than .05 ppm (parts per million) of ozone is not safe in any inhabited structure, like a house. Most air purifier makers will substitute terms like 'saturated' or 'trivalent' oxygen for the word 'ozone', but they mean the same thing.

Ultraviolet light- this technology uses ultraviolet light waves that will actually kill bacteria, mold, fungus, yeast and other organic pollutants. UV air purifiers help to clean and sterilize the entire environment, yet produces not odors, ozone emissions, visible light, or other by-product. Ultraviolet light technology can be cost-effective over the long term because there are no filters to replace, and the ultraviolet light bulbs usually last several years.