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5 Great HEPA Air Purifiers for Homes
HEPA air purifiers can change your life. If you’re trying to figure out which one you need for a large room, such as a primary bedroom or living room, this list will help.
If you’re trying to figure out which is the best HEPA air purifier for a large room, such as a primary bedroom or living room, you’ll find out here.
If you have asthma, allergies to dust, pollen, pet dander, or want to reduce the spread of viruses in your household, HEPA can help so much. These machines are are designed to capture particles as small as 0.3 microns in a filter with an efficiency of 99.97% to improve your indoor air quality.
Top Picks
Check out our favorites here. Or scroll down for in-depth reviews.
- Best Overall (I own 4 of these): LEVOIT Core 300S Air Purifier with Smart WiFi & Auto Mode
- Runner Up: BLUEAIR HEPA Smart Air Purifiers for Bedroom
- Most Powerful: Honeywell HPA5300 InSight HEPA Air Purifier
- Best with Ionizer: Coway Airmega True HEPA Purifier with Auto, Timer
- Style Choice: BISSELL air320 Smart Air Purifier with HEPA and Carbon Filters
Why You Need a HEPA Purifier
Any household will benefit from having a HEPA air purifer or two. I have four – two upstairs and two down. If you’ve heard that air purifiers can make you sick, we can debunk that myth for you.
When the pandemic started, I wanted a way to let contractors into my home safely. I did a lot of research on HEPA and realized they could not only help stop viruses, but also the dust allergens that plague my existence. Here’s what I learned.
HEPA reduces the spread of airborne viruses and bacteria. Are you tired of catching respiratory viruses or norovirus (“stomach flu”) every time anyone in your household gets them? These units reduce the spread of those and other illnesses.
These purifiers will reduce allergens in the air, including pet dander. If you have allergies, they’re such a big help. You may even find they improve your sleep quality by reducing nightly post-nasal drip coughs.
If you have asthma, improving indoor air quality is one of the best things you can do for your health. These units will reduce pollutants that trigger attacks.
They reduce pollutants from wildfires. If you leave in an area that has raging wildfires for a couple of weeks. Every year, these filters will greatly reduce the pollutants that come into your home.
How Does HEPA Work?
True HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filters are designed to remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles that are 0.3 microns or larger in size. This includes particles such as dust, pollen, pet dander, and some types of bacteria and viruses.
To qualify as a true HEPA filter, it must meet the standards set by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and be able to capture 99.97% of particles that are 0.3 microns or larger in size. These standards are based on the most penetrating particle size (MPPS), which is the particle size that is most difficult to capture.
What to Look For in an Air Purifier for a Bedroom
When you’re choosing a HEPA air purifier to buy, one of the first things to look at is what room size they are recommended for. While any air purifier will eventually clean all the air in a given room, it needs to do that at least a couple of times an hour to be of much use.
And that’s why different units are rated for different sized rooms. This article focuses on the best HEPA purifiers for large rooms, such as living rooms, large primary bedrooms, etc.
Ionizers are not necessarily a plus! Obviously opinions differ on this, but some ionizers produce ozone as a byproduct, which can irritate the lungs and worsen asthma symptoms. And they don’t make HEPA more effective. The units with ionizers that I’ve included have manufacturers claiming they have been tested and don’t put out ozone.
Some units offer a UVC feature. UVC (ultraviolet C) light is a type of ultraviolet light that kills bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms near it. The problem with UVC is that if it’s not properly used, it can damage your skin and eyes. And while killing pathogens sounds great, it’s actually not as efficient as a filter that pulls them in.
Other things to consider include the cost and frequency of filter replacement for each model you’re looking at. For many units, you can get generic filters, but read reviews to make sure people who’ve tried them are happy with them.
The noise level also matters. Air purifiers usually have multiple speeds, and the higher ones are louder, but you shouldn’t need them all the time at home. If you’re going to put it in a bedroom, it’s gotta be quiet enough to let you sleep.
Some features to look at: multiple speeds, automatic shut-off, scheduling through an app (requires wifi) and air quality sensors (which turn up the fan speed as needed) can be good to have.
One last consideration: if you have central heat and air, and you use the higher grade filters to catch allergens, and you change them as often as you should, then you may be able to get by with a lesser HEPA unit. I do this
Best HEPA Air Purifiers for Small to Medium Rooms
Pictured here is one of the four Levoit Core 300S purifiers I own. Levoit was recommended to me as a reliable brand that's affordable, and it truly makes a difference.
This unit can be operated from a smartphone app as long as you have wifi. If not, they still work, but only by touching the buttons on the top panel.
In addition to letting you operate it from your phone, the wifi app lets you see how much life the filter has remaining and tells you the air quality level in PPMs. It works with Alexa and Google Assistant, and also lets you set schedules.
It has a built-in air quality sensor that tells it when it needs to kick the fan up a notch. Most of the time, it stays in very quiet low fan mode. When I burn something in the kitchen, it goes to medium or high until the polluted air is gone.
WHAT'S GREAT:
- Will clean the air of a 219 sf room in 12 minutes, on high. This means 5 air changes per hour for most bedrooms, which is plenty.
- Auto sensor detects poor air quality and increases fan speed to take care of it
- Wifi controls are convenient and offer many extra features.
- Very quiet, and has a Sleep Mode that turns off the lights so they don't glow where you're trying to sleep
- App tells you the current air quality so you know it's working
- 3 fan speeds
- Very easy to use and change filters
- Filters last about 6-8 months, depending what they're up against.
- You can clean filters with a vacuum occasionally to extend their life
- Has a nice weight and stability and won't be easily knocked over by kids or pets
WHAT'S NOT SO GREAT:
- Most complaints are about the wifi app and getting it set up correctly.
- They market several specialized filters (for pet hair, smoke, etc.) but most reviewers believe they all do the job equally well and the only difference in the price
Levoit Replacement Filters
Check out the Levoit filters for this unit. Note that there are also generic filters made for it that get good reviews.
This BlueAir unit cleans the same amount of air in the same time as the Levoit Core 300S. It also has an app for controlling it via wifi and auto mode.
The biggest difference between this and the Levoit is that according to the manufacturer, all BlueAir units contain a "small ionizer." They claim they're engineered not to produce measurable amounts of ozone and are certified to comply with the California Air Resource Board criteria.
You'll get different opinions on whether ionizers are good, bad or harmless. My research suggested they don't add any benefit and can be harmful, so I went with Levoit. But a lot of people report great results from BlueAir.
WHAT'S GREAT:
- Cleans 219 sq ft room in 12.5, on high.
- Runs quietly and uses low energy
- Smart Air Purifier app works with voice control or phone. Includes Clean Air ETA feature, RealTrack filter monitoring and Welcome Home
- Brightness options and child lock on control panel
- Filters last 6-9 months
WHAT'S NOT SO GREAT:
- Some complaints about scheduling via the app
- Has an ionizer and doesn't make that clear in the description
- A few complaints about customer service from those who needed it, though at least one person received great support
BlueAir Replacement Filters
Here's the genuine BlueAir filter for this unit. These generic filters also get good reviews.
While most HEPA units have perfectly adequate 3 stage filtration, CoWay offers 4 stage filtration. That fourth stage is an ionizer. As I said above, I don't trust ionizers personally. But many people do, and Coway says this one doesn't put out measurable ozone.
Even better, you can turn the ionizer on or off, as you prefer. So that's not a negative for this unit. It just means if you don't use the ionizer, you are getting the same stages of filtration as other models.
Filters for this unit last 12 months - but they're also typically pricier than for the other models.
WHAT'S GREAT:
- Rated for 361 sq. ft. rooms
- 12 month filter life
- LED displays air quality at all times
- Ionizer can be turned off
- Auto mode
- Display lights can be turned off for sleeping
- Timer feature
WHAT'S NOT SO GREAT:
- No smartphone app
Coway Replacement Filters
Check out the Coway replacement filter, and also this generic version.
This unit is twice as powerful as the others, providing 4.8 air changes to a 500 sf room every hour. That's powerful. And it's a familiar brand many shoppers trust.
The filters on this can seem a little confusing. While other units in this list have one filter with layers to handle pre-filtering, true HEPA filtering, and odor filtering, this one has separate filters. Pre-filter, true HEPA, and an optional odor filter.
WHAT'S GREAT:
- Air quality indicator
- Provide 4.8 air changes to a 500 sf room
- Auto mode
- Comes with 2 stage filtration - pre-filter and HEPA. Odor filter is optional.
- HEPA filter lasts 12 months, but separate pre-filters and odor filters need to be replaced every 3 months
WHAT'S NOT SO GREAT:
- No smartphone app
- Noisier than other units (although that's to be expected since it's more powerful)
- Some reviewers felt it made no difference to air quality
- Pre-filter and odor filter need to be changed every 3 months
Honeywell Replacement Filters
See Honeywell's replacement filter options here. Note that Honeywell recommends you don't buy generics, but here's one generic filter with great reviews.
Honestly, a little of what you're buying with this one is style. It's a great looking purifier that many shoppers will love the look of.
But it's also a great HEPA purifier. It's the second most powerful on the list, after the Honeywell, filtering a 327 sq. ft. room with 4.8 air changes/hour.
WHAT'S GREAT:
- Style - this has a cool retro look that's very different from most purifiers
- "Library quiet" and energy efficient
- 3 stage filtration
- Auto mode: particle sensor monitors and shows you color-coded readings of your indoor air quality. It adjusts its fan speed as needed to keep the air clean.
- Filter life: 6 months
- With every purchase, Bissell donates to homeless pet shelters
WHAT'S NOT SO GREAT:
- No smartphone app
- Some complaints about it being too loud, despite manufacturer complaints
Bissell Replacement Filters
See Bissell brand replacement filters here, or a highly-rated generic.
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