Air Purifier Technologies / Types of Air Purifiers
Choosing an air purifier technology or type of air purifier can be a pretty daunting task; with so many varieties and so much marketing hype and promotion by the various air purifier manufacturers, it can be difficult to make a confident, informed decision. Our goal is to help give you an unbiased review of the most common air purification technologies on the market today, as well as some insights into some new technologies that are gaining interest in the market. As a distributor for a variety of manufacturers, we want to assist you in identifying the air purifier best suited to your own specific needs and budget. Certain technologies are typically best suited to specific types of contaminants; in many cases, an air purifier that incorporates more than one technology, or the use of 2 or more air purifiers, will give you the best results possible for your situation.
We will discuss the following air purifier technologies (click on the name of the technology in the chart for detailed information):
HEPA - recommended for particulate reduction
Dust
excellent
Dust
Mites
excellent
Mold
Spores
very good
Pollen
very good
Pet
Dander
very good
Tobacco
Smoke
fair
Chemicals
& VOCs
poor
General
Odors
fair
Bacteria/
Viruses
poor
Activated Carbon - recommended for chemicals and odors
Dust
fair
Dust
Mites
fair
Mold
Spores
poor
Pollen
poor
Pet
Dander
fair
Tobacco
Smoke
very good
Chemicals
& VOCs
very good
General
Odors
excellent
Bacteria/
Viruses
poor
Electrostatic Precipitators - not recommended
Dust
very good
Dust
Mites
very good
Mold
Spores
good
Pollen
good
Pet
Dander
good
Tobacco
Smoke
fair
Chemicals
& VOCs
poor
General
Odors
fair
Bacteria/
Viruses
poor
Ionic / Ion Generators - not recommended
Dust
good
Dust
Mites
good
Mold
Spores
fair
Pollen
fair
Pet
Dander
fair
Tobacco
Smoke
fair
Chemicals
& VOCs
poor
General
Odors
fair
Bacteria/
Viruses
poor
Ultraviolet Light - recommended for microorganisms
Dust
poor
Dust
Mites
poor
Mold
Spores
fair
Pollen
poor
Pet
Dander
poor
Tobacco
Smoke
poor
Chemicals
& VOCs
poor
General
Odors
poor
Bacteria/
Viruses
excellent
Incineration - recommended for microorganisms
Dust
poor
Dust
Mites
fair
Mold
Spores
fair
Pollen
fair
Pet
Dander
poor
Tobacco
Smoke
poor
Chemicals
& VOCs
poor
General
Odors
fair
Bacteria/
Viruses
good
Ozone - WARNING: not safe for home use!
Dust
poor
Dust
Mites
poor
Mold
Spores
fair
Pollen
poor
Pet
Dander
poor
Tobacco
Smoke
fair
Chemicals
& VOCs
poor
General
Odors
fair
Bacteria/
Viruses
fair
As you can see from our ratings, no single air purifier technology adequately addresses all contaminant classes. For this reason, most high-end air purifiers will use a variety of technologies to achieve broad-spectrum contaminant removal across all major contaminant groups. For instance, both the Austin Air and Airpura brands use a combination of a HEPA filter (for particulate contaminants like dust, dust mites, mold spores, pollen and pet dander) and an activated carbon filter (to remove harmful gasses, chemicals, smoke, and odors). Airpura also offers an optional UV sterilizer to improve effectiveness against microbiological contaminants like bacteria.
It is also important to note that just because an air purifier uses a specific technology, it does not necessarily mean that it can effectively remove the types of contaminants that the technology can normally remove. For example, many inexpensive air purifiers contain an activated carbon or "charcoal" filter, but they often contain only a very small amount of carbon and are almost completely useless at removing odors and airborne chemicals.