You’ve probably been looking for an air purifier for large areas if you live in a big household (e.g. with grandparents, kids, extended family, and more). True enough, if an air purifier isn’t rated well for a room, it won’t clean the air fast enough and it might even make the motor suffer!
But you might be wondering: what is the best air purifier for large rooms out there? Well, there are a lot of units to choose from – all with their corresponding pros and cons. Air purifiers aren’t exactly a one-size-fits-all because they still depend on the floor area (and even ceiling height) of the room you want to clean all the time.
That’s why we’ve taken extra effort to test different units below to help you decide. We’ve tried several air purifiers that were built for large rooms and we’ve let you know our thoughts about them.
Choosing the best air purifier for large areas
Big rooms need a lot of cleaning power, which is why you need to pick a unit that’s suitable for your needs – with the right specifications depending on the room in question. If you are wondering how to choose the best air purifier for a large room, the only key points you’ll need to know are:
- rated room size (that’s suitable for your room)
- filters (should be HEPA or higher + activated carbon)
- user-friendly controls
- low noise levels
To start, we’ve tested our top pick, the Coway Airmega 400 Smart Air Purifier, in a studio-type apartment. Jenny (our teammate’s friend) and her dog Lassy. Her apartment gets dusty due to the typical NYC pollution – and she doesn’t have all day to sweep, vacuum, wipe, and/or get her curtains and sheets laundered (going to the Laundromat is a must on her schedule).
Rated for 1,560 square feet of room size, the air purifier ran for about 4 hours on Jenny’s apartment, which is around 900 square feet in area. When we first came into the apartment, it smelled musty and dusty, but we’ve noticed a big change once the air purifier started running.
Running the air purifier all night was also a breeze thanks to its timer, which has up to 8 hours for its settings. It even has a low noise level, which Jenny says is great for her insomnia since she is a light sleeper who can’t stand loud noises (the air purifier is only at 43.2 dB on the highest fan setting).
Given its fast-cleaning action due to its MAX2 Filter, which combines a Green True HEPA and an Activated Carbon filter, it’s no wonder we’d also recommend this unit if you’re looking for an air purifier for home gym – or any other room with a wide studio-type design or space.
Can an air purifier be too big for a room?
No, it’s never “overkill” to have a large air purifier for a smaller room. The main reason is that you can simply turn the unit on its slowest fan speed to save up energy if it’s intended for larger rooms. Let’s take a look at another one of our handpicked air purifiers – the Shark HE601 Air Purifier – which we tested in a small condo unit (400 square feet).
The condo unit belongs to Mark, our college colleague, who works from home as a financial analyst due to the pandemic. He admits that he sometimes forgets his leftover Domino’s Pizza and/or beer on his table while binge-watching Netflix. The result: a musty-smelling condo unit.
He told us that he does get lazy when it comes to cleaning his unit and would like an air purifier, but he’s debating whether or not to get a unit that’s made for smaller or larger rooms. To answer his question, we’ve tested the Shark HE601 by running it for 4 hours at the slowest speed (it has a total of 4 speeds to choose from).
Mark was astounded that he no longer smells the lingering pizza around the living room area (which, he says, sometimes extends to his bedroom and he hates it). That will reduce his need to scrub or go get his bedsheets laundered.
The reason behind the smell-reducing technology is the NanoSeal HEPA, which comes with an Advanced Odor Lock. It not only gets rid of pizza smells but also smoke and other pungent condo unit odors. That’s even aside from the HEPA filter, which does the main job of removing dust from the air.
Benefits of a large room air purifier with washable filter
A washable filter is always a plus point for any air purifier because it reduces the need to buy and replace parts. It not only saves money in the long run but also helps keep your air purifier motor in tip-top shape.
Ronnie’s small apartment (just a few blocks away from Mark’s condo unit) was our testing site for the MILIN Air Purifier. As Mark’s friend, Ronnie was informed days later about our test of the Shark Air Purifier so he wanted to try a unit for himself as well.
We ran the unit for about an hour and it instantly helped Ronnie with his allergy symptoms, which he says annoys him a lot whenever he needs to work on his reports. The next day, Ronnie told us about his sleeping experience with the air purifier and said he was impressed. True enough, this air purifier has a low noise level of only 25 dB on its sleep mode.
The best air purifier for large rooms with pets
Do you have pets at home? You might be worried that the air purifier settings could get messed up by your dog or cat due to their curious little paws. However, we had a different experience testing the Medify MA-50 Air Purifier back at Jenny’s apartment.
Jenny complains that Lassy often fiddles with anything with lights and buttons so we figured to test out the air purifier’s “child lock” feature. Indeed, it locks the settings into place and Lassy can’t do anything about it!
Having a HEPA air purifier is one matter (it did freshen the apartment within 3 to 4 hours) but having button protection for the unit is always helpful for homes with pets (and even kids). That’s why we recommend this unit if you have those pet (or toddler) problems.
Conclusion
We’d say that all the air purifiers for the large rooms we tested above are successful with cleaning and improving the air quality of the chosen apartments and condo units – and we’re confident that they will clean yours, too! If you’re still on the fence about getting a large room air purifier, this is a sign that you should get one!
