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25 guides.
Enter your room's size and ceiling height to get the smoke CADR you need for allergies, smoke or wildfire days, and how many air changes an hour your current purifier delivers.
Pollen, dust mite debris and pet dander are large particles that settle fast. An allergy purifier needs high pollen and dust CADR, a sealed HEPA filter and a place where you actually spend time.
For asthma, how a purifier cleans matters as much as how fast. We chose filter-only models listed as mechanical by California, sized to the room, with an option for smoke and odor gases.
For a room over 400 sq ft, only a purifier with more than about 300 cfm of certified smoke CADR keeps up. These five do, and one big Coway that is not AHAM listed.
An office purifier runs eight to ten hours a day while you work beside it. It needs enough certified airflow for the room, a fan you can talk over and filters that do not need weekly attention.
On a smoke day, the number that matters is smoke CADR. These certified purifiers deliver the most of it for the money, and the EPA's own research shows what a box fan and four filters can do in a pinch.
Under $200 you can buy a purifier certified for a 390 sq ft living room. The trick is to compare certified airflow and filter cost, not the coverage number on the box.
A smart purifier earns its Wi-Fi chip with a good sensor and an auto mode you can trust. These certified picks do; we also say which sensor each uses and what it misses.
The 211i Max replaced the Blue Pure 211+, and it is one of the strongest purifiers AHAM lists at this price: 435 cfm of smoke CADR, very low power draw, and a choice of four filters.
The 411i Max is Blueair's small-room purifier: about the airflow of a Levoit Core 300, a quieter low setting, a particle sensor and app, and power draw lower than most lamps on its lowest speed.
Blueair's Classic 605 was a big steel box for large rooms. It is gone from AHAM's directory and from Amazon as a new unit. Here is what owners and shoppers should do instead.
CADR is the one standardized number for how fast an air purifier cleans a room. Here is how it is measured, how to use it, why smoke CADR is the one to compare, and its blind spots.
The Airmega 400 is Coway's large-room machine: two filter sets drawing air from both sides, a smart mode that reads particles and light, and a five-year warranty. It is also expensive.
The Mighty has been the reference mid-size purifier for a decade. It is still cheap to run, but it is no longer in AHAM's directory, it carries an ionizer, and Coway has a successor.
The AC4825 is one of the cheapest AHAM-listed towers, and its filters are cheap too. But its certified airflow fits a small bedroom, and its UV-C bulb adds upkeep without adding to the CADR.
The HPA200 is the HPA300's smaller sibling: two R filters instead of three, 200 cfm of certified smoke CADR, simple buttons. Honeywell still sells it, but Amazon now lists only its filters.
The HPA300 is the plain-box classic: lots of certified airflow for the price, simple buttons, no app and no sensor. Its catch is filter upkeep: three HEPA filters and four pre-filters a year.
Most air purifier mistakes come from the box: a coverage number that assumes one air change an hour, a filter name that means little, and running costs nobody mentions. Here is the checklist we use.
The Core 300-P is the small HEPA purifier most people start with. Its certified numbers fit a bedroom, not the 1,073 sq ft on the box, and its filters are cheap.
The Core 400S-P is the Core 300's bigger, smarter sibling: a laser particle sensor, auto mode and an app, with enough certified airflow for a living room up to about 360 sq ft.
The Vital 200S-P is Levoit's pet-household purifier: the most certified airflow in Levoit's mid-range, a side inlet that keeps fur off the filter, and a rectangular body that fits against a wall.
The MA-40 is AHAM listed with real airflow for its price and a lifetime warranty. Its weak points are a short filter interval, which makes running costs climb, and louder low settings than the best rivals.
Six air purifiers that earn their place on certified numbers: the right CADR for the room, sensible filter costs, and no marketing-only claims.
Winix's 5500-2 was the default mid-size purifier for years. Its replacement, the 5510, keeps the thick carbon filter and adds Wi-Fi. Here is what the certified numbers say.
The AM90 is Winix's taller Wi-Fi tower. Its certified airflow matches the 5510, but its carbon filter needs replacing four times as often, and Amazon has had it out of stock.
