Good air quality can be ruined with a mold infestation, in which choosing the best air scrubbers for mold can help you breathe fresher air. But what exactly is an air scrubber and how is it different from an air purifier?
The technology behind air scrubbers is the negative ion system, which cleans the air within the air itself, unlike the filter system of an air purifier. Air scrubbers are also typically used for industrial settings, which make them bigger and noisier than regular air purifiers.
There are models out there that combine negative ions and HEPA in an air scrubber. If mold is a problem in your household or construction area, an air scrubber can help do the job. Their negative ion technology will eliminate mold spores and funky odors in the air.
What is the best air scrubber?
We saved you the time to search Amazon – the best place to look for air scrubbers – and we listed down below some of our suggestions. Amazon has a lot of choices so you can’t go wrong, plus they have great customer service. Here are our picks for the best air scrubber:
1. Dri-Eaz F284 DefendAir HEPA 500 Air Purifier Negative Air Machine Air Scrubber
- Airflow: 250 to 500 CFM
- Best for: attics, sewage, making home repairs
This air scrubber has a 2-stage filter system which not only has negative ions but also a HEPA filter for thorough cleaning. What we like is the variable speed, allowing you to adapt it to many room sizes without being overkill and consuming too much electricity. You can daisy-chain or link this unit to up to 4 units on 1 outlet.
It has a 3-amp draw on a 115V power supply while it has a 2.9-inch H2O static pressure. As for the durability, it is made with rotomolded polyethylene to prevent the inner workings from being easily worn out during frequent use. You can also optionally install a carbon filter (F397), which is sold separately if you want to enhance its odor-reducing capabilities.
2. ALORAIR CleanShield HEPA 550 Industrial Commercial Air Scrubber
- Airflow: 270 to 550 CFM
- Best for: home repairs, construction sites, salons, printing shops
As an air scrubber that is ETL listed, it also has a HEPA air cleaner filter and variable speed for its airflow. Due to the portable design, it is easy to install and move from one area to another. Aside from that, like most air scrubbers, it is stackable to save space.
This unit has an intake size of 16 inches and an outlet size of 8 inches. It has a GFCI auxiliary outlet and also has a circuit breaker for safety purposes. To make maintenance easy, it has tool-less filter changes and a HEPA filter change light feature. Moreover, it is backed by a 10-year warranty for the roto-mold housing.
3. BlueDri BD-AS-550-BL Negative Machine Airbourne Cleaner HEPA Scrubber
- Airflow: 250 to 500 CFM
- Best for: construction site, home repairs or remodeling
Made for homes under construction or remodeling, as well as for industrial settings, this one has a 3-stage filter system, which has a pre-filter, carbon filter (optional), and a HEPA filter. With its 1/3 HP motor rated at 2.5 amps at 115V / 60 Hz, this air scrubber can also act as a whole-house air purifier in some situations.
As with most of our picks here, it is of heavy-duty, is roto-molded, and is capable of daisy-chaining. There is an intake filter LED light indicator to lessen your maintenance time. The unit is also safety certified by ETL Intertek US for quality. It is backed by a 1-year warranty on all parts except the housing, which is backed by a 5-year warranty.
4. MOUNTO AF500 1/3hp 500cfm Industrial HEPA Air Scrubber
- Airflow: 250 to 500 CFM
- Best for: sewage, attics, fire damage restoration
Also equipped with a HEPA filter and a pre-filter, this 40-pound negative ion air scrubber has a portable handle for easy traveling. The motor is at 1/3 HP while there is a variable speed switch for your convenience. The HEPA filter change light will let you know when the unit needs maintenance.
It has an air outlet opening of 8 inches and a 12-inch air inlet opening. As for the current, the unit draws 2 amps. The power cord is at 25 feet long and it is backed by a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty.
What is the difference between an air purifier and an air scrubber?
To let you know how air purifiers and air scrubbers operate at a glance, here is a comparative table between their features:
| Feature | Air scrubber | Air purifier |
| Cleaning method | Negative ions | HEPA filters |
| Where does it clean the air? | Outside of the device | Inside the device |
| Price | Usually expensive | Low to mid-range prices |
| Ideal usage | Large homes, whole-house, industrial settings | Small to medium-scale rooms, offices, bedrooms |
| Stackable | Yes | No |
Do air scrubbers work for mold?
Yes! Air scrubbers use the negative ion system to exchange particles within your indoor air, which takes care of pollutants and bad smells. Thus, it will work as a smelly house remedy with proper usage and positioning within the house or area.
Since many of them are built with higher CFMs than most air purifiers, they will be much more effective for large-scale mold problems or even dusty and polluted air. However, you do have to invest in them much more than with air purifiers due to their price range.
What’s unique about an air scrubber is that you can stack them together to improve the combined air cleaning power you aren’t satisfied with the single air scrubber alone. This would be applicable for industrial purposes, such as warehouses, factories, and the like.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, if you want to know how to disinfect the air and want an alternative to air purifiers, air scrubbers are worth a try. They might be bulkier and noisier than regular air purifiers, but if you need to clean the air and walls from the mold while you remodel your home or while in a construction site, we’d recommend air scrubbers to do that.
