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Choose the Best Home Air Purifier

Lowe's Editorial Team

By Lowe's Editorial Team
Updated November 22, 2022

Learn how to choose the best air purifier for your home. We’ll explain all the different types of air purifiers, including high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifiers and ionic air purifiers, so you can keep your home free of odors, dust and allergens.

People sitting on a couch next to a black air purifier.

Air Purifier Types

A silver air purifier.

Adding an air-purifying system to your home can make life much more pleasant by removing irritants, chemical fumes and odors from the air. Sanitizing the air can also help ease chronic breathing conditions, such as asthma and seasonal allergies. When selecting the best air purifier for your home, it’s helpful to know that these devices are categorized by the type of filtration system they use.

There are several different home air purifier types, including HEPA and ionic devices. You’ll want to choose a model recommended for the size of the room in which you plan to use it. So be sure to check the cubic feet specification on the box. Although there are many variations in design and performance, machines with a larger surface area tend to work more quickly and efficiently than those with a smaller surface area.

Read the manufacturer’s specifications to see how many cubic feet of air a purifier can process in one minute. The higher the number, the better the overall performance, typically. If you’re concerned about energy usage, consider a smart air purifier that you can configure to turn off automatically at a certain time or as you move from room to room, using your smart device.

What Do Air Purifiers Remove?

Removing Pet Dander with Air Purifiers: Common pets like birds, dogs and cats constantly shed small flecks of skin known as dander. These tiny particles travel through the air and collect on furniture and other surfaces in the home and can be very irritating for allergy sufferers. An air purifier with a filter that is optimized for removing microscopic particles — such as a HEPA filter — is ideal for combating pet dander.

Removing Pollen with Air Purifiers: Grains of pollen are produced by seed-bearing plants and are one of the biggest cuplprets for seasonal allergies. In addition to a quality air filter, a high-performing air purifier can help remove pollen from indoor air.

Removing Mold with Air Purifiers: Mold in the home can cause a variety of serious respiratory issues as well as unpleasant odors. Many air purifiers can aid in the removal of microscopic mold spores floating through the air. However, a purifier can’t remedy mold that has already collected on surfaces.

Removing Viruses with Air Purifiers: Some air purifiers are capable of filtering microscopic contaminants on which viruses can attach themselves from the air. While this may lower your risk of getting sick, an air purifier alone is not enough to totally protect against airborne viruses.

Removing Bacteria with Air Purifiers: Bacteria, like viruses, are another type of harmful microorganism that can travel through the air. Air purifiers that are effective against bacteria can help lower the amount you breathe in.

Removing Dust with Air Purifiers: Dust is the general name for a mixture of microscopic particles including, cloth fibers, pollen, animal dander, materials produced by dust mites and more. Most air purifiers are incredibly effective at removing larger dust particles and some are especially good at removing smaller ones.

Activated Carbon and Activated Charcoal Air Purifiers

Activated carbon air purifiers and activated charcoal air purifiers remove various types of odor-causing particles from the air, like pet odors and tobacco smoke, by reacting to them chemically and causing them to stick to the filter surface. The filter on this type of room air purifier must be replaced regularly, as indicated by the manufacturer, to keep your home odor-free. Although activated carbon and activated charcoal purifiers fight unpleasant smells very well, some models aren’t as effective at removing bacteria, viruses, mold and mildew from the room air.

UV Air Purifiers

Ultraviolet (UV) air purifiers employ UV-C light (a type of ultraviolet light) to kill many harmful and irritating microorganisms in the air, like mold, bacteria and viruses. UV-C technology is frequently used in a variety of applications in medical facilities to kill germs. Some UV air purifier models install in your home’s central air duct. Others employ both UV technology and activated carbon or HEPA filtration for added performance, as UV-C light alone may not remove odors as successfully as some other air-purification technologies. You’ll need to occasionally clean and replace the bulb on a UV purifier, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, to maintain the device’s effectiveness.

Electrostatic Air Purifiers

As the name suggests, electrostatic air purifiers use static electricity to cause irritants and other odor-causing particles in the air to cling to a removable collection plate. This type of purifier comes with the advantage of not requiring a filter, although some models do have an optional, replaceable prefilter. This model does require some maintenance: The collection-plate surface must be wiped down regularly, as indicated by the manufacturer. Some electrostatic air purifiers aren’t as effective against microorganisms as other types of purifiers.

HEPA Air Purifier

True HEPA air purifiers have especially dense filters that are capable of eliminating up to 99.97% of all particles in the air that are larger than 0.3 microns. The acronym HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air, and a true HEPA filter must meet the minimum filtration requirements outlined by the US Department of Energy. Some filters may be labeled only as HEPA, without the word “true.”

Some HEPA filters may not meet the same rigorous performance standards but may be fine for general applications. Severe allergy sufferers may benefit the most from purifiers with a HEPA filter, as they combat mold, pollen, dust, dander and pet hair well. Like all purifiers that use disposable filters, these devices will need filter replacements, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Some HEPA filters may not be as effective against strong odors as activated carbon or activated charcoal filters.

Ionic Air Purifiers

A white ionic air purifier.

Ionic air purifiers come in two basic varieties: filterless models and those that require a filter. Filterless air purifiers use electricity to create negatively charged ions that cause irritants to stick together and become too heavy to stay suspended in the air. Some filterless models may not use a fan, so they operate without noise. Other ionic purifiers are so called because they use a traditional filtration system that’s enhanced with ionic-clumping technology. Some ionic purifiers may not remove bacteria and viruses from the air as well as other air purifier types do.

Home Air Purifier Placement Tips

Home air purifiers are great at cleaning the air in specific areas of your home. Here are some tips on the best places to use them.

  • Room air purifiers are intended for use in a single room, so it’s best to have more than one.
  • Place a home air purifier in rooms where you spend the most time, like your living area and your bedroom.
  • Some models are more portable than others, so if you need a larger machine, look for one with wheels and a handle.
  • Check the cord length to make sure you can reach an outlet from your designated placement.

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