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If you suffer from allergies or asthma, a good air purifier can be a godsend. These can help to ease symptoms by cleaning the air in your home, removing pollutants and irritants such as pollen, dust, pet dander and smoke. With good quality air purifiers available from £100 to well over £1,000, there are plenty of great choices for every budget.
But with machines ranging from downright useless to ultra-effective, it’s essential you do your homework before you choose which one to buy. To help you out, we’ve tested a whole bunch of machines to bring you the best of them – that is, the ones that quickly and efficiently clear the air and which are easy to both set up and use. Not sure what to look out for? Then have a read of our buying guide below where we’ve summed up the key factors you need to consider before parting with your hard-earned dosh.
How to buy the best air purifier for you
How much do I need to spend?
Air purifiers can cost as little as £100 or well over £1,000, but it’s not simply a case of the more you spend, the better the machine. Indeed, we found the Homedics Professional HEPA Air Purifier, which retails at £100, was far superior to some machines four or five times its price. But that’s not to say that an expensive machine is inevitably a waste of money, with the Blue Air Pro L providing a high-tech way of easing allergy symptoms for larger areas. Also remember it’s not just the initial financial outlay you need to think about, with operational costs ranging from a few pounds a year up to over £70 per annum.
How do air purifiers actually clean the air?
Air purifiers use different kinds of filters to do their job – usually a large washable, reusable pre-filter to collect the large particles, plus a finer filter, which is usually a disposable HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter. The length of time this lasts varies, but on average expect it to need replacing every six months (less if you use the machine less). It's the HEPA filter which catches all the really tiny airborne nasties, and these are capable of catching particles as small as 0.3 microns – which is more than three times smaller than a cigarette smoke particle.
What are factors should I consider?
Filtration performance should be a major priority. Your symptoms will only be eased to a noticeable extent with an air purifier that works quickly to clean the air.
Noise is another factor – you don’t want to replace one irritation (your allergies) with another (the sound of a jet plane in your room), although for many, the hum is something that doesn’t bother them. It’s also worth remembering that some machines are quiet on the lowest setting and loud on the fastest.
An air quality sensor - enabling the machine to switch itself on when the air quality becomes poorer – can be useful. After all, you can’t see when air quality dips - for example, if there’s a high pollen count.
Consider getting a machine with a timer if you want your machine to come on a few hours before you’ll be using the room, or if you want to be able to turn it off automatically.
Meanwhile, night mode can help if you want a quiet setting and dimmer lights while you sleep – although we found this doesn’t always work as well as you’d hope.
Is there an indicator to let you when the filter needs replacing or the unit needs cleaning? This is helpful as a clogged air cleaner won’t work properly. What about a carry handle– handy if you need to move it from room to room? Check the number of speeds as you may want it to be lower when you sleep or work and higher when the pollen count is high. Is the machine WiFi-compatible so you can set it from your phone? Is it easy to move around? Is there a remote control?
The best air purifiers to buy
1. Philips AC3256: The best air purifier under £500
Price when reviewed:£359.95
The Philips AC3256 is a fairly hefty investment, but it provides exceptional air purification, removing pollen, dust and smoke from the air at a rate that cheaper machines simply can’t compete with. It’s also got plenty of bells and whistles, too. The 24-hour timer is handy, and the in-built sensor allows the Philips to measure the quality of air in your home, indicate the current air quality status, and automatically switch itself on when needed. It’s not the smallest or lightest of machines, granted, though to be fair it is made to be floor-standing and it has a big carry handle – and while the higher speeds make a bit of noise, the lower settings (especially night mode) are practically silent. Given the price-tag, it’s a shame there’s no remote control – or better still, an app to link it to your smartphone – but this is still a great air purifier.
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Philips AC3256/30 Air Purifier, Anti-Allergen with NanoProtect S3 Filter
Key specs – Power settings: 5; Dimensions (WDH): 34 x 47.4 79.8mm; Weight: 9.5kg; Indicator to let you when the filter needs replacing?: Yes; Warranty: 2 years
2. Homedics Professional HEPA Air Purifier: The best cheap air purifier
Price:£100
We didn’t have huge expectations for this machine given the low price-tag, but it’s up there with the big boys when it comes to clearing pollutants. It’s capable of removing cat and dog allergens, house dust mites and pollen from the air with impressive speed, meaning you can expect a dramatic reduction in anything from hay fever symptoms to asthmatic wheezing that keeps you awake at night. Not one for those who like lots of whizzy features such as timer and automatic settings, but if you want something affordable that will make a difference to your life, then it’s well worth considering. It’s pretty quiet on the lowest setting (although loud on the highest) – and it’s even endorsed by Allergy UK. At this price, you could even think about buying more than one for different rooms, although if you only have one, then be warned – it’s a bit awkward to move around due to lack of carry handle.
Buy the Homedics AR-20 from Homedics.co.uk
Key specs – Power settings: 3; Dimensions: 18 x 41 x 46cm; Weight: 11.25lbs; Indicator to let you know when the filter needs replacing?: Yes; Warranty: 2 years
3. Bionaire Air Purifier: The best air purifier under £200
Price:£149
The most expensive air purifiers have an air particle sensor that uses a light scattering measure to detect the air quality and then adjust the airflow to match the level of filtration to the needs of the room. Precious few units under £200 have this handy function, but the Bionaire packs that in along with an eight-hour timer and an impressively efficient performance when it comes to house dust mite and pollen. It isn’t quiet – there are machines that are quieter on full power – but if you can live with the hum, we think it’s a small price to pay for keeping your home free of pollutants without having to turn your machine on and off as needed. The British Allergy Foundation likes it too – they’ve given it their seal of approval.
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Bionaire Air Purifier with Permanent Filters and Particle Sensor
Key specs – Power settings: 4; Dimensions: 29 x 21 x 75cm; Indicator to let you know when the filter needs replacing? Yes; Warranty: 2 years
4. Blue Air Pro L: The best air purifier for bigger rooms
Price:£1,259
Feast your eyes on this design-led, award-winning and seriously powerful machine aimed at larger (for example, open plan) living areas. Drawing air in from the side, it captures nearly all airborne particles, meaning you sneeze and wheeze less. The touch screen on top is easy to use, while the machine itself is among the quietest we tested, as well as being handily mounted on casters for easy manoeuvring. It has a sensor, but there’s no timer as the idea is you leave the unit on low speed at all times – and because there’s very low energy consumption, this is easily your best bet. So while it costs a bomb, we think it’s a great investment if you want a super-efficient unit that also happens to look great. In truth, there’s no need to spend this much unless you’ve got a large living area – and it’s a shame there are no luxuries such as Wi-Fi thrown in – but if you can afford it you won’t be disappointed.
Buy the Blue Air Pro L from Blue Air
Key specs – Power settings: 3; Dimensions (WDH): 50.4 x 24 x 79cm; Indicator to let you know when the filter needs replacing?: Yes; Warranty: 5 years
5. Vax Pure Air 300: The best air purifier under £300
Price:£240
While it isn’t the cheapest of machines in our roundup, this tall cylindrical air purifier offers remarkable value for money when it comes to removing pollutants from the air and it’s particularly easy to set up and get going. Like the Philips machine, it has clever air monitoring technology so that you can set it to automatically work harder when pollution rises in your home, plus a timer and sleep mode. Unlike the Philips machine, you also get a handy remote control. It’s quite loud, but if you don’t mind that, it’s hard to think of a machine that gives you more bang for your buck – and to top it all, it gets the British Allergy Foundation Seal of Approval.
Buy the Vax Pure Air 300 from Argos
Key specs – Power settings: 5; Dimensions (WDH): 32 x 32 x 76cm; Indicator to let you know when the filter needs replacing?: Yes; Warranty: 2 years