Air Purifier Ratings – Comparing Air Purifier Models
When deciding on an air purifier for your home, naturally you’d like to know the ratings of air purifiers. It’s helpful to know the facts when air purifiers are put to the test in head-to-head competition … rather – comparison!
You’ll find some recommendations on line that use criteria such as looks, features and replacement filter prices as the judging factors in determining a ‘best buy’. This might not be the whole story though if the models being judged don’t work as efficiently as they could. Meaning, all air purifiers are not created equally when it comes to cleansing the air of dust, smoke and other airborne pollutants.
The good news is that there are two – and unfortunately only two organizations that do perform thorough testing on air purifiers. These are Air-Purifiers-America.com and the folks who publish Consumer Reports magazine.
But even then, they both don’t evaluate the same air purification models and they use different criteria and methods to conduct their independent evaluations.
Of course there is plenty of marketing produced by the manufacturers of air purifiers. They all want to ‘prove’ their units are superb at filtering out pollutants and airborne nasties. But as with all marketing we’re constantly bombarded with – Let The Buyer Beware. Sure, these units have been laboratory tested, but often the lab testing is actually sponsored and financed by the manufacturer. So there might be just a tad biased, don’t you think?
Kudos to Consumer Reports though. In there dedicated effort to produced unbiased reporting, they conduct there air purifier testing very scientifically. CR’s testing is conducting in a sealed room. Only the air within that environment is being evaluated. They also take great pains to measure dust and smoke particulars that they introduce into this sealed testing chamber.
The criterion Consumer Reports uses is the efficiency at various speeds of the air purifier unit. Plus, just how loud does it operate at its various speeds. And naturally, the most important criteria – how well does the air purifier actually perform at removing the dust and smoke particles that were introduced into their enclosed environment.
The testing done by Air-Purifiers-America.com is more of a ‘real world’ environment. Their evaluations are conducted in an office-like setting with ventilation turned off and the doors and windows closed. Situations not unlike what a user would actually encounter. What Air-Purifiers-America.com wants to determine is how well it cleans the air. Period. All other factors are not as paramount as accomplishing the #1 task of an air purifier – and that is cleaning the air.
Air Purifier Ratings Results
Air-Purifiers-America.com rated the IQAir HealthPro Plus top of the heap. It’s not cheap by any standards, costing around $900, but their testing showed it performed the best job at actually purifying the air. Ironically, the methods used by CR did not rate this unit as high.
IQAir HealthPro
Testing conducted Air-Purifiers-America.com resulted in a recommendation for IQAir HealthPro. When Consumer Reports evaluated air purifiers, they rated place the IQAir HealthPro far down the list.
Confusing, isn’t it!
Tests hailed this unit for being the best air purifier for folks suffering with sever allergies. It is loud though and expensive. The Health pro does a great job of cleaning the air within a large space but it also excels when placed in small rooms too.
Alen A350 Air Purifier
The Alen A350 tested remarkably well and did about the same great job as the IQAir HealthPro – but at half the price! This unit is designed for a smaller space to clean though (400-800 sq ft). You may not have heard of the name before but the Alen A350 air purifier does a fine job, especially in rooms of around 250 sq ft.
Top Three Room Air Purifier Ratings
CR recommends the Whirlpool Whispure AP45030S as a “best buy”. This air purifier model was rated “Very Good” for dust and smoke removal when the fan speed set on ‘high’. But testing showed that it only rated “Good” when the Whirlpool Whispure model’s fan speed was set to ‘low’. The cost for the Whirlpool Whispure AP45030S is approximately $230.
The second best rated room air purifier tested by CR is the Kenmore (Sears) Progressive 83202. This unit, like the Whirlpool model was rated “Very Good” for eliminating smoke and dust when set on ‘high’ and only a “Good” rating for operating efficiency on the low speed setting. The Progressive 83202 runs about $270.
Coming in a very close third is the Hunter Permalife 30547. Scoring only a point lower in the rating scale, the Hunter Permalife 30547 also is priced around the $270 mark.
Yes, it is hard to get a clear winner in the air purifier ratings. Each testing and rating organization conducts their evaluations differently, but the above air purifier models are a good place to start.