As worries about air pollution and our carbon footprint grow, and as the number of people with allergies skyrockets, the manufacture of air purifiers is a large and lucrative business. With all the different kinds of purifiers (HVAC, HEPA, ultraviolet, etc.), there is a proliferation, nay, a veritable wealth of choice.
Which means, of course, that there’s a lot of competition. A lot.
Which also means that the companies that design and make these air purifiers really have to sell you on their particular product, to try to make sure you don’t buy someone else’s instead. Does this mean they strive to make their products better and better, so theirs will be the obvious choice?
Not always, unfortunately.
For example, take air purifiers that use the “high efficiency particulate air” or HEPA type system. This kind of filter, which consists of a multitude of fibers arranged randomly inside, is known as one of the most efficient types of purifiers. The problem is that when manufacturers realized how good and how popular these appliances were, they started applying the label “HEPA” when it was perhaps not entirely warranted.
Sometimes they make claims about efficiency based on how the air purifier would perform if it really were a high-quality professional system like those used in hospitals and laboratories, yet the performance of their actual purifier often turns out to be much lower.
It may not be that a HEPA-type filter isn’t used in their air purifiers (though occasionally that is the case), but sometimes the quality isn’t as good as the heavy duty professional versions because of cost- and corner-cutting. There may be leaks between the HEPA filter pack, the filter frame, and the air purifier housing. Or, given that the HEPA media can easily be damaged, it might not have been pleated properly inside the filter pack. Any of these things will reduce the efficiency.
The Allergy Consumer Review website suggests that if any manufacturer does not state the actual efficiency of their product, or even more significantly, doesn’t guarantee and certify it – look elsewhere.
Another way that some manufacturers “fudge” their numbers is to exaggerate the rate of air flow through their products. Or they give numbers that would apply to their product if the various filters weren’t actually installed inside. (The filter, of course, slows down the flow because the air is being forced through it in order to be purified.)
Still others, when trying to sell air purifiers to deal with gaseous pollutants in the air, claim that their products can eliminate all of those with a single activated carbon filter. These are excellent for many things, but still can’t handle other chemicals like formaldehyde and hydrogen sulfide. So an appliance using activated carbon also needs another filter made of a chemically active compound of aluminum oxide. Some manufacturers say that filters made of the mineral zeolite can handle these other chemicals, but the scientific evidence does not support that claim.
There are other ways that manufacturers cut corners as well, to make their products so inexpensive that they will win the competition for the consumers’ money. Yet the products themselves are frequently inefficient or don’t do the job at all.
The best way to choose which purifier is most suitable is to check with organizations that have tested and researched them, to judge performance claims against actual performance. The Consumers Report has tested many air purifiers, and a lot of allergy organizations have done so as well. The one thing you should not do is simply take manufacturer claims at face value.