Paul is our go-to-guy for air purifier and dehumidifier reviews. His apartment has become a de facto HouseFresh test lab where he pits the latest clean air technology against the perils of city center life. When he’s not putting a purifier through its paces, Paul likes to endlessly dig through dusty record shops (making his dust-free apartment even more important).
Having an air purifier in your room can bring about a wide range of health and lifestyle benefits. From ridding the air of pollen and mold that may trigger allergies to eradicating harmful bacteria, viruses and pollution that can make you sick. They could also help reduce the number of chores you have to do by busting dust before it has the chance to settle on your surfaces.
All of which undeniably sounds great, right? So why wouldn’t you want this clean air throughout your home? After all, you wouldn’t tidy your bedroom and declare that the whole house is clean, with the same principle applying to the air we breathe. While a cleaner may work wonders in one room, as soon as you leave, you will again be exposed to the harmful particles that are rife throughout indoor spaces.
That’s why we’ve collated six of the best air purifiers to help transform the air throughout your home. But to cover a larger area, you’ll need a purifier that’s up to the task.
For a whole-house purifier to work effectively, it needs a powerful fan so that vast quantities of air can be drawn in, cleaned and redistributed. It also requires significant, quality filters, ideally using a combination of HEPA and Activated Carbon, that can capture a high percentage of pollutants and clean the air quickly.
With these critical factors in mind, you can find an excellent air purifier to transform the air throughout your home below.
The Top 3 Whole House Air Purifiers
Why You Should Trust This List
Most lists of “best air purifiers” are nothing more than a ranking of the current bestsellers, regardless of actual capabilities. If you pair that with the fact that there are a ton of air purifiers that promise the world with their marketing but fail to deliver, then you end up with countless publishers recommending crappy units with big marketing budgets behind them.
We don’t want to repeat the same mistake.
That is why here at HouseFresh, we test and review every air purifier we recommend in our home lab. We can compare them using first-hand data that doesn’t rely on manufacturers’ specifications. Here’s what we do:
- We create particulate pollutants in our home lab with the help of incense sticks.
- We use a Purple Air Indoor sensor to record how long the air purifier takes to reduce the levels of PM1ug/m3, PM2.5ug/m3, and PM10ug/m3 particles in the air.
- We track energy consumption with an electricity usage monitor.
- We measure noise levels in decibels across all power levels available.
We can compare air purifiers across various use cases with all this data. On top of this, we also track initial costs and long-term costs associated with each unit.
As each of you will have different-sized homes and requirements, we’ve included six excellent options to suit varying needs and budgets. Each unit has the powerful fans, filters and technology required to clean air in large spaces, so check out the complete list below.
1. Levoit Core 600S
Levoit is well-known, well-trusted and certainly well-loved by us here at HouseFresh. Therefore, it may come as no surprise that their flagship purifier, the Core 600S, offers excellent protection from an array of airborne pollutants, even within a large, whole-house environment of up to 1,588 ft².
Its affordable yet highly innovative technology sets Levoit apart from other manufacturers. Their trademarked VortextAir fans allow the unit to draw in vast air from the room alongside a top-of-the-line H13 HEPA filter, eradicating even the smallest particles.
These factors are key reasons why the Core 600S boasts such a high Clean Air Delivery Rating (CADR) of 410 CFM, making it an excellent purifier to clean air within your home. As well as top-level performance, you’ll find a cleaner that is incredibly easy to use.
With a host of smart features, such as its Auto mode, you can reap the benefits of clean air without continuously monitoring your device.
SPECS & FEATURES
| Purifier technology: | Pre-filter, H13 HEPA and Activated Carbon filters |
| CADR (CFM / m³/h): | 410 CFM |
| Recommended room size: | Up to 1,588 ft² |
| Filter life: | 6 months |
| Noise level (low – high): | 26 — 55 dB |
| Dimensions (in inches / in cm): | 23.6H x 12.3W x 12.3D inches / 60H x 31.3W x 31.3D cm |
| Weight (in pounds / in kg): | 13.7 lbs / 6.2 kg |
| Energy consumption: | $102.11 per year |
| Time to clean our test room | 15 minutes |
What We Really Like:
👍 Three stages of filtration, protecting you from both VOC and Particulate Matter particles
👍 Rapid removal of pollutants, even in large spaces
👍 Ultra-quiet on low fan speeds for round-the-clock purification
👍 Easy to control, with a simple touch screen panel, along with App and Smartspeaker compatibility
What We Think Could Be Better:
👎 The design of this unit isn’t the most attractive
👎 Would be great to see longer lasting filters
2. Smart Air Blast Mini
One of the critical factors to consider when choosing a whole-house purifier is power. Without a great fan and motor speed, the cleaner struggles to process air efficiently within an ample space, using more energy for little reward. That’s where the Blast Mini excels, however. Built with power and performance in mind, making it the perfect solution for extra large spaces up to 915 ft².
The Blast Mini is the most powerful cleaner on our list of top recommendations, boasting a CADR rating of 435 CFM. This performance results from Smart Air regarding high-powered fans and high-quality filters as the nucleus of their purifiers, rather than futuristic design or smart features. We witnessed this firsthand when this unit obliterated all pollutants in our real-world tests in just 17 minutes.
Although this purifier won’t raise eyebrows amongst Smart tech specialists, it will impress those with a penchant for easy-to-use and practical design. With a simple one-button control dial, convenient castor wheels and effortless filter installation, this purifier will be up and running in a matter of minutes and deliver clean air throughout your home in no time.
SPECS & FEATURES
| Purifier technology: | Mesh Pre-Filter, H13 HEPA Filter + optional Activated Charcoal filter |
| CADR (CFM / m³/h): | 435 CFM |
| Recommended room size: | 915 ft² |
| Filter life: | 13 months |
| Noise level (low – high): | 36 — 49 dB |
| Dimensions (in inches / in cm): | 24.8H x 22.6W x 13D inches / 63H x 57.5W x 33D cm |
| Weight (in pounds / in kg): | 59 lbs / 26.8 kg |
| Energy consumption: | $284.38 per year |
| Time to clean our test room | 17 minutes |
What We Really Like:
👍 Super-long lasting HEPA filters
👍 Easy to set up and use
👍 Not too loud when on highest settings, unlike a lot of other powerful units
👍 Boasts the highest CADR score we’ve seen
What We Think Could Be Better:
👎 Would be difficult to move up or down stairs to target different floors
👎 Fairly energy intensive on higher fan speeds
3. Blueair Blue Pure 211+
Blueair is widely considered a leader in the air purifier market. And for a good reason, too — you’ll find game-changing HEPASiltent technology inside their purifiers.
This offers air purifying results you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere, thanks to an excellent HEPA filter combined with electrostatic charging technology that removes 99.99% of pollutants and grants this unit an impressive CADR score of 350 CFM.
Capable of performing 4.8 air changes an hour within a 540 ft² space, this unit will make an excellent option for the average home or apartment. But that’s not to say this unit won’t work for larger spaces either, capable of cleaning spaces upward of 1200 ft² well within an hour. While its ultra-lightweight and space-saving design makes it easy to maneuver around larger homes for more targeted results.
As well as super-efficient purification, you will also find this unit is made much more user-friendly, all thanks to the HEPASilent technology. As more significant pollutants are captured, you’ll find you can keep this purifier running at lower fan speeds, making it much more energy efficient and quieter for unintrusive use.
SPECS & FEATURES
| Purifier technology: | Washable Pre-filter, HEPASilent Technology, and an Activated Carbon filter |
| CADR (CFM / m³/h): | 350 CFM |
| Recommended room size: | 540 ft² |
| Filter life: | 6 — 8 months |
| Noise level (low – high): | 31 — 56 dB |
| Dimensions (in inches / in cm): | 20H x 13W x 13D inches / 51H x 33W x 33D cm |
| Weight (in pounds / in kg): | 12.5 lbs / 5.67 kg |
| Energy consumption: | $120.57 per year |
| Time to clean our test room | 18 minutes |
What We Really Like:
👍 Fast acting purification with unrivaled efficiency
👍 Customizable design through external mesh pre-filter
👍 One button operation for greater ease of use
👍 360-degree air intake for well-rounded performance
What We Think Could Be Better:
👎 Larger home owners may not want to move the purifier around
👎 Can get a bit loud when on highest fan speed
4. Taotronics AP003
Now, you may be thinking, how on earth is a budget purifier supposed to clean the air throughout my entire house? And you’d be correct; it probably wouldn’t unless you lived in a modern shoebox apartment. But if you double up and harness the power of two AP003 units, placing them strategically between rooms, you may be surprised at what this small but mighty machine can do.
So what makes this purifier (or two) cut it with some of the best in the business? Well, with three stages of protection, including a washable pre-filter, substantial Activated Carbon and H13 True HEPA filter to boot, you’ll find your air quality transformed, with dust, mold and odors soon becoming a thing of the past.
Despite costing less than 100 bucks, Taotronics have still managed to create a unit that boasts a CADR score of 226 CFM. While the skeptics may believe this to be too good to be true, we saw this with our own eyes, as this cleaner cleared our test space of all pollutants in under half an hour!
You’ll also get some handy features built into this purifier, with an accurate air quality sensor that feeds back real-time readings from within your space, so you know when to ramp up its fan speeds.
SPECS & FEATURES
| Purifier technology: | Washable pre-filter, Activated Carbon, and H13 True HEPA filters. |
| CADR (CFM / m³/h): | 226 CFM |
| Recommended room size: | 322 ft² |
| Filter life: | 3 — 6 months |
| Noise level (low – high): | 32 — 52 dB |
| Dimensions (in inches / in cm): | 21.8H x 14.1W x 7.9D inches / 55.4H x 35.8W x 20D cm |
| Weight (in pounds / in kg): | 19 lbs / 8.6 kg |
| Energy consumption: | $63.44 per year |
| Time to clean our test room | 29 minutes |
What We Really Like:
👍 Great option for tighter budgets
👍 Comes with three-stage of filtration
👍 Air sensor is unique and incredibly accurate
👍 Low energy usage means you’ll save more money on bills
What We Think Could Be Better:
👎 Not always available online
👎 Relatively new brand so time will tell on customer service and performance longevity
5. Alen BreatheSmart 75i
The Alen BreatheSmart 75i is a purifier that oozes class and high quality. Whether its sleek design, simple controls or superior performance, this unit will undoubtedly impress and can be trusted to transform the air within a whole house setting. The cleaner can completely cycle the air in a 1,300 ft² space every 30 minutes.
With this purifier, you’ll get three stages of protection: a pre-filter, a ‘Pure’ filter that is stacked full of Activated Carbon, and an H13 HEPA. These mechanical filters work in tandem with an optional Ionizer to capture 99.9% of pollutants as small as 0.1 microns, leaving your space free from allergens, VOCs and smoke particles.
When we tested the 75i for ourselves, we were hugely impressed with the purifier’s speed and simplicity. Taking just a matter of minutes to set up, with an intuitive touch screen control panel and proving to eradicate pollutants easily, clearing our test space in just 24 minutes.
This all comes on top of an efficient build that runs at a ‘pink noise,’ whisper quiet volume on its lowest speed and draws a minuscule amount of energy despite being a larger unit.
SPECS & FEATURES
| Purifier technology: | Pre-filter, B7 Pure filter, H13 True HEPA filter |
| CADR (CFM / m³/h): | 347 CFM |
| Recommended room size: | up to 1,300 ft² |
| Filter life: | 12 – 15 months |
| Noise level (low – high): | 25 – 49 dB |
| Dimensions (in inches / in cm): | 27H x 18.5W x 11.5D inches / 68.58H x 46.99W x 29.21D cm |
| Weight (in pounds / in kg): | 27 lbs / 12.2 kg |
| Energy consumption: | $97.76 per year |
| Time to clean our test room: | 24 minutes |
What We Really Like:
👍 Covers a large area, with quick results
👍 Modern aesthetic with intuitive capacitive controls
👍 Energy efficient and whisper quiet performance
👍 Long lasting filters, with a lifespan of up to 15 months, even with 24/7 usage
What We Think Could Be Better:
👎 Is on the expensive side
👎 Fairly large unit so will need to consider where it will fit
6. IQAir HealthPro Plus
Last, but by no means least, is the HealthPro Plus from IQAir. This purifier is one of the top units on the market and will offer true peace of mind that your home will be protected from pollutants. This is thanks to its advanced filter technology and powerful fans that enable the purifier to cover spaces as large as 1125 ft² with incredible results.
Taking a closer look at the HealthPro Plus’s filters, you’ll find three stages of protection. Initially, from a Pre-Max Filter that will tackle any larger particles such as hair, dust or lint. This paves the way for the HyperHEPA filter, whose innovative design goes above and beyond what you will find in other purifiers, removing 99.95% of ultrafine particles down to 0.003 microns in size.
This is accompanied by a V5-Cell Filter that uses a colossal amount of Activated Carbon to capture VOCs, chemicals and odors from the air. Boasting the best filters around, you’d hope this purifier can draw in vast quantities of air to put them to the test.
And you wouldn’t be disappointed. IQAir state the minimum air this purifier can process is 440 cubic meters per hour. If that wasn’t impressive enough, the purifier we bought to test for ourselves exceeded this number, reaching a whopping 494m3/h.
SPECS & FEATURES
| Purifier technology: | Pre-max filter, V5-Cell Filter, HyperHEPA filter |
| CADR (CFM / m³/h): | 330 CFM (estimate) |
| Recommended room size: | Up to 1125 ft² |
| Filter life: | 4 years |
| Noise level (low – high): | 25 — 69 dB |
| Dimensions (in inches / in cm): | 28H x 18W x 16D inches / 71H x 38W x 41D cm |
| Weight (in pounds / in kg): | 35 lbs / 16 kg |
| Energy consumption: | $467.08 per year |
| Time to clean our test room | 25 minutes |
What We Really Like:
👍 Incredible filters that last for 5 years!
👍 Trusted by hospitals and schools to clean the air from harmful allergens and viruses
👍 Unrivaled particle removal efficiency
👍 320° EvenFlow air distribution
What We Think Could Be Better:
👎 Huge purifier that will need a designated space
👎 Higher purchase and operating costs
Common Questions About Air Purifiers for Whole House Air Purifiers
🤔 How much area does an air purifier cover?
The area that an air purifier can cover varies from purifier to purifier. More powerful units that utilize high-quality filters will be able to clean the air in a large space as opposed to a smaller budget purifier.
Typically, a powerful air purifier can cover upwards of 1,000 sq. ft, which is ideal if you want to improve air quality in more than one room. Every purifier will specify its maximum room coverage so that there is no guesswork required, and you can make an informed decision.
🤔Where should I place my air purifier for maximum efficiency?
Ensuring your purifier is set up in an optimum location is vital to clean the air effectively. You should focus on the areas you spend the most time in and areas that guests frequent or where pets sleep if you have them.
It pays to be strategic about this placement too. Place the cleaner between these high-traffic locations and leave doors open so that one air purifier can cover multiple rooms simultaneously. This way, you won’t have to move it around as often to cover the whole house.
It’s also advisable to place the purifier so that air can flow all around it. This may be trickier with some of the largest units, but ensuring it isn’t pressed up against the wall, allowing for air inlet and outlet vents to operate at their optimum, will deliver the best results.
🤔 How long will it take for an air purifier to clean my home?
How long an air purifier will take to clean your home will depend on how powerful it is and the current quality of the air inside your home. A failsafe way to see how quickly a purifier will perform is to check out the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) advertised on each unit.
You can also check out the air changes per hour (ACH), which details how often an air purifier will change the air within a set space. The higher this number, the more often the air will be filtered each hour, resulting in better air quality.
How We Picked Our Top Choices
We don’t recommend units without being 100% confident in our real-life performance testing process. That’s why we test all the models we recommend in the same room (sized 705 cubic ft) performing the same job (removing incense smoke).
This allows us to compare units side by side and create “best” lists like this one. The most important features we considered when making this selection were:
- Power – By including units with powerful motors and fans, such as the Smart Air Blast Mini, we can ensure each purifier will be able to clean gallons of air from within your space.
- CADR – If a purifier is going to be able to purify the air in a large space, it will need to have a high CADR score, just like the Levoit Core 600S, whose rating is over 400 CFM. These ratings are independently verified, testing units under the same conditions, proving to be a great indicator of how well a purifier will perform.
- Filtration – To capture the myriad of pollutants in all homes, a cleaner will need quality filters under the hood. Each of the units featured in our top recommendations includes a combination of HEPA and Activated Carbon to provide fresh, clean air, with the IQAir HealthPro Plus setting the bar for filter technology.
- Speed – If challenged with cleaning vast amounts of air, you’ll want a purifier that can do so quickly. We can analyze how quickly a purifier can clear the space of all pollutants by testing each recommended purifier. Just as the Blueair Blue Pure 211+ did, clearing our test space in 18 minutes.
SOURCES
Monthly energy consumption costs have been calculated using our air purifier electricity usage calculator, which allows us to calculate daily and yearly costs associated with running an air purifier for 24hs a day.
You can customize the result by air purifier wattage and by state. In the case of the calculations we shared on this page, we used California as our base state for energy prices.
Last update on 2023-06-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API