Are Air Purifiers a Waste of Money & Time?

There’s a huge battle between two groups of people noticeable these days. One group that believes in air purifiers for being absolutely odor removing genius and even a pet fur eliminator in some cases. While the other group denies all these facts and considers it as a luxurious waste of money.

Brands are highly promoting air purifiers stating irresistible features and elements. In such circumstances, as a new-to-this-topic, you sit there contemplating, are air purifiers a waste of money actually?

Are Air Purifiers Worth It: Facts, Myths, Problems, Benefits & Getting the Best…

See let’s think practically. Name me one thing or tool that is going to bring benefits to everyone. Is it even possible? Think about it, an air purifier has some certain jobs to do that might not fit into someone’s need list. For example, professionals do recommend a good air purifier to those suffering from allergies.

However, this is also true that some brands are surely targeting costumers in the wrong way. And this is by promising a few features that probably the purifier won’t be able to provide. And that’s the reason why this whole argument exists.

I’m not favoring any one side for sure. Let me talk to you from every perspective and you’ll know the reasons by the end.

Some Quick Facts!

Your home’s indoor air is dirtier than the outside space. Can you guess the extent? It’s almost two to five times more. So, you know why people have this worry and need to purify their indoor airs this desperately. Especially during winters.

Studies show that around one million portable air purifiers units were sold throughout 2018. Every one out of four Americans has an air purifier in their homes. There’s a reason why the numbers are skyrocket.

Some Misconception About Purifier.

Before jumping into whether you should get an air purifier, I’ll have to declare a few things. There are some popular myths going on about air purifiers that definitely ruins people expectation after buying one. So, I want you to be well aware of what to not expect from an air purifier. Some common ones are.

  • Air purifiers will get rid of flying dust particles completely.
  • Every sort of allergies is dealt with air purifiers.
  • There’s no need to do housekeeping.
  • If HEPA filter is written on the body, this means it’s surely a good working air purifier. These are capable of removing odor.
  • There are no hard and fast rules for setting up the purifier’s speed.
  • Purifiers are capable to eliminate tobacco smoke, germs and viruses entirely.

None of the above-mentioned claims are true when it comes to most of the air purifiers. Maybe to some extent, but not entirely. So, don’t have these mentioned hopes, since it’ll be very unrealistic once you buy one.

Varieties Are Fancy, But Not Important.

When we talk about air purifiers, quite a few types of pop right inside my head. Yes, there are a lot of varieties available that promise different claims. However, to make it simple, let’s focus on the common types available.

Basically, there are five types of air purifiers. These are specialized to deal with air contaminants in their own way. The list includes:

  1. Odor Air Purifiers.
  2. Ion Air Purifiers.
  3. Electrostatic Air Purifiers.
  4. Paper Air Purifiers.
  5. Fiber Air Purifiers.

Quite a lot, right? To be honest, not all of them are truly fabulous. The best air purifier is surely not limited to declaring one certain type. It should be doing what it claims and that’s all. But this does not happen with exaggerated claims included options.

The simplest design type is surely an air filter purifier. It just gets some of the bad stuff out by pulling air through the system. But overhyped versions such as air ionizers and UV light purifiers are often skeptical and confusing.

Let’s have a check on Ionizers.

A good working ionizer should pull the negative charges out from the air. These ions basically keep dirt attracted to themselves. Once they are eliminated, dirt falls and sticks to surface. And so, it becomes easier to clean them up. In short, the tool does not clean air but simply helps. However, there are troubles like producing O3 which might be another reason for doubts.

Taking the instance of UV light purifiers is also logical.

They are known to damage the viruses and bacteria completely. However, these bacteria and viruses do need to be exposed to UV light for a reasonable amount of time. Otherwise, they can come back to life once again. Also, the UV light purifier has a bad record for producing unnecessary O3.

That’s why you should not be falling for gimmicks and too unrealistic air purifier useless claims while making a purchase. This is one of the prime reasons for air purifiers not being effective inside your house. And so, you need to avoid certain types and so-called odor removing systems that just wastes your money.

Getting the Best Out of Purifiers?

You must be thinking by now that air purifiers are absolutely waste. But don’t yet come to a conclusion.

Actually, you can enjoy benefits from this device. But it has to be a suitable choice that matches well with what your family or house needs. And to make that happen, you need to have two considerations. These are about buying a purifier and placing them inside your house.

Before Making Purchase is a Critical Phase.

I understand that price tag is a huge factor for buying any tool or good. But it’s not the only one. Please make sure you think about the other important and notable features when buying something expensive.

Air purifiers are moderately priced. So, you should be careful about picking the right factors that benefit your home environment with this addition. Rather than being all tied up to the fact that cheap will save you money.

Here are a few factors that are going to ensure you are spending the money on something helpful.

  • You should check the CADR of the air purifier. This is basically the rating for describing what cleaning speed the air purifier comes with. The clean-air delivery rate or CADR should be between 300 to 350.
  • Not every sized air purifier will work for any room. You should consider the size and dimension of your space to pick a proper model. This will give you better efficacy while using. One trick is to go for a size that is designed to handle an area larger than what you are picking it for. So that later you can enjoy the finest functions even at lower speed settings. This will also help in lowering the noise.
  • Your purchasing process needs to be simple. And so, the association of home appliance manufacturers or AHAM has this amazing benefit. This is a certification program that verifies a proper and reputable air purifier. You should look for the AHAM’s verified mark. The verified devices are safe to use as well as provides a sense of relevance to standards.
  • You should look for an air purifier that provides the True HEPA standard. There are many ploys for marketing that states HEPA-like or HEPA-type terms. But these are not the actual industry unit to determine a particular air purifier.
  • The actual HEPA air purifiers meet the standard of eliminating at least 99.97% of 0.3-micron diameter particulates with a lab setting. Of course, the real-life experience will be much less. However, still, these are the ones you can be only assured to provide maximum possible efficacy.

The Right Positioning Can Increase Performance.

Another thing that you need to verify with an indoor air purifier is its positioning inside your home. You should not put the apparatus anywhere that seems to have enough space and forget about it entirely. That way you won’t be able to enjoy the complete benefits.

So, to make that happen, you need to put a purifier at the center of your home. It should be away from furniture or obstacles. The unit needs to be at least fifty centimeters away from walls. That way only, this device can work with proper airflow.

Are Air Purifiers a Waste of Money

Are Air Purifiers a Waste of Money?

So, are air purifiers good or bad? Well, the simple answer is they’re both. Everything in this world is a waste of money if you don’t have a solid reason to use them.

Air purifiers are of course a valuable asset if you are smart enough to get yourself a good one. These are surely good to improve the quality of your indoor air. But don’t look for unrealistic claims to come true with any air purifier.

If you are willing to invest in a device that can get rid of pollutants and particles to some extent then surely go for it. Considering the fact that air purifiers can increase the speed of purification, it’s definitely not a waste of money.

You need to have a proper cleaning regime for your home. That’s equally important if you want to see the purifying working. Also, that way, you will have a dual strategy that keeps your home space fresh enough to breathe freely.

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