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Air purifiers
Two numbers decide this purchase: the CADR your room actually needs, and what the machine costs to run for the years you own it.
🏆 Best Overall5 products compared
Best Air Purifier
Levoit Core 400S — Best for most rooms
PS8.7/10$189
See why it's #1 of 5Buying guides
What actually matters here
Picksights methodology
- CADR is the one performance number worth trusting here, because AHAM verifies it. The EPA guideline is a CADR of at least two-thirds of the room's floor area — that alone rules out much of what people buy.
- Running cost varies enormously. Consumer Reports measures a spread from around $65 to $259 a year between machines once filters and electricity are counted.
- Count the consumables, not just the filter. Carbon pre-filters need replacing every three months and can cost up to $50 each, on top of an annual HEPA.
- Be sceptical of HEPA-like wording: it does not meet the True HEPA standard of 99.97% of particles at 0.3 microns.
- Consumer Reports does not recommend ozone-generating purifiers at all — if a machine has an ionizer, you want to be able to switch it off.