Which air purifier is better to buy? In stores, the abundance of air purifiers dizzy. You read reviews on the Internet and do not understand - where is the truth, and where is the order of marketers. So we decided to put everything in its place: we will take several household air purifiers and compare the purity of the air at the exit from them.
It is unlikely that anyone will argue with the fact that dirty air is harmful to he alth. At home, the air can be even dirtier than outside. Plant pollen accumulated over the years, wool, dust, fumes from household chemicals, in addition, skin flakes of our pets and even furniture excretions, various bacteria, fungi - all this is added to the street air entering the house.
The air cleaner should bring the air in order. Should, but does it? Let's see how models of different brands cope with this and try to determine the best air purifier.
Which air purifiers did we compare
We chose the most popular, technological and expensive air purifiers, wanting to know which air purifier cleans the air the best. In total, 8 topair purifiers of famous brands: Daikin, BORK, IQAir, Ballu, Tefal, Xiaomi, Philips and Panasonic.
| Model | Average price, rub. | Area of the room, m2 |
| Daikin Ururu MCK75JVM K | 49 500 | 46 |
| BORK A803 AirEngine | 69 990 | 80 |
| IQAir He althPro 250 | 99 990 | 85 |
| Ballu AP-155 | 9 250 | 20 |
| Tefal Intense Pure Air PU4025 | 18 999 | 35 |
| Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2 | 13 490 | 42 |
| Philips AC3256/10 | 32 950 | 76 |
| Panasonic F-VXK70R | 44 890 | 52 |
How we found out the effectiveness of air cleaners
You can evaluate the efficiency of air purification by measuring the number of particles in the air that enters the device, and checking what the result is “at the exit”. All measurements were made in the same room using a laser professional fine particle counter, which is able to record the number of suspended particles with a size of 0.3 microns.
The room is not small, so you can not be afraid that the difference between the initial measurements and the operation of the tested devices will affect the result.
No sooner said than done: the initial indicator of the level of air pollution in our office is about 2 million fine particles, the size of which is from 0.3 microns per 1 cubic meter. foot, or more than 70 million in one cubic meter (1m3=35.314666721489 cubic feet). The value was recorded by a laser analyzer of suspended particles in the air - the game is fair.
It is important that the measurement of the purity of the air flow emanating from the air cleaners was carried out when each model was operating at maximum speed - there is a greater likelihood of a so-called slip through the pollution filters. We brought the analyzer to the purified air distribution grille.
| Model | Performance up to | Designed for area m 2 |
| Daikin Ururu MCK75JVM K | 450 | 46 |
| BORK A803 AirEngine | 600 | 80 |
| IQAir He althPro 250 | 440 | 85 |
| Ballu AP-155 | 170 | 20 |
| Tefal Intense Pure Air PU4025 | 150 | 35 |
| Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2 | 310 | 42 |
| Philips AC3256/10 | 367 | 76 |
| Panasonic F-VXK70R | not specified | 52 |
What is the result
Then it only remained to compare the performance of fine particle residues at the outlet of different air cleaners, which were recorded by the particle counter. And this is what happened:
- DaikinUruru MCK75JVM K – 55,000 fine particles per cu. foot (nearly 2 million per cubic meter).
- BORK A803 AirEngine – about 44,700 particles ranging in size from 0.3 microns per 1 cu. foot of air (about 1.5 million percubic meter).
- IQAir He althPro 250 – 0 particles as small as 0.3 microns per cubic foot.
- Ballu AP-155 - 24,000 particles per cubic foot (meaning about 805,000 per cubic meter).
- TefalIntensePureAirPU4025 - about 18,000 per cubic foot (about 630,000 per cubic meter).
- XiaomiMiAirPurifier 2 - about 15,000 particles in size from 0.3 microns in one cube. foot of air - and this is 518,000 particles in a cubic meter.
- Philips AC3256/10 – approximately 12,000 particles in one cube. foot, which means - about 420,000 particles in 1 cubic meter.
- Panasonic F-VXH70 - 8700 particles per cu. foot (or 304,500 cubic meters).
All air purifiers made the air cleaner - they did it, but IQAir was the only one able to completely remove fine dust hazardous to he alth from the air
Why air purifiers performed differently
It's all about the filters. On the one hand, their set in all air cleaners except Daikin looks the same: pre, high efficiency HEPA and carbon.
What about Daikin? It has many different filters. Corrugated, which works in conjunction with a plasma ionizer (in this case, a positive charge is given to contaminants, and the filter attracts them), catechin, a filter with a titanium-containing mineral that allows you to destroy odors, viruses and bacteria, as well as photocatalytic.
There is also a streamer charge source that generates so-called fast electrons - they mustneutralize formaldehyde molecules, as well as other harmful chemicals.
But, as you can see, this "not sickly" set, although it provided a reduction in air pollution, did not allow Daikin to break out into the lead. The most important disadvantage of Daikin is the absence of a HEPA type filter, which provides highly efficient mechanical air purification. In our opinion, this is one of the main reasons for the insufficient air purification effect shown by the device.
Mechanical air purification with HEPA filters is a prerequisite for the best results
Other air purifiers (BORK, Ballu, Tefal, Xiaomi, Philips and Panasonic) have mechanical air purification from pollution, including with the help of HEPA filters. But even they weren't able to achieve a perfect result, although Panasonic, for example, made the air really cleaner - a good result. And yet - 0 particle counter did not show. Why?
Firstly, the design of devices is often such that a small part of the air, getting inside, passes by the filters. It is simply not cleaned and is mixed with purified air at the outlet - the meter shows pollution.
Secondly, most household air cleaners have thin, small filters with a small working area, which negatively affects both efficiency and their service life: in order for them to clean well, they have to be changed often.
About ionization and hydration
Many manufacturers supply air purifiers with various additional functions and options. For example, they build in an ionizer, a humidifier(Some comparison participants have these modes, for example, Daikin, Panasonic). But is it so useful for the main function - air purification?
Ionization. During the operation of the ionizer, the air is saturated with charged particles (ions), they "catch" dust, which then settles on the floor, walls and other surfaces faster.
But the fact of the matter is that it does not go anywhere from the room, but settles, except for furniture and walls, and, for example, in the lungs of a person. And by the way, if you just walk near a dusty surface (not to mention touch it) - and fine dust is back in the air, we breathe it in again.
The benefits of air ionization are not obvious: the dust from the room does not go anywhere and can harm he alth even more
Humidification. Actually, this is a good thing. In our climate, indoor air is often dry. But for effective humidification, it is better to buy a separate device - a humidifier.
And not only because "additional" humidifiers often have a small capacity and a small water box. This is half the trouble.
The main thing is that due to constant humidity inside the device, the cleaning properties of the main filters of the air cleaner may decrease. The same HEPA filters, for example, can absorb water.
| Model | Moisture | Ionization |
| Daikin Ururu MCK75JVM K | ● | ● |
| BORK A803 AirEngine | - | - |
| IQAir He althPro 250 | - | - |
| BalluAP-155 | - | ● |
| Tefal Intense Pure Air PU4025 | - | ● |
| Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2 | - | - |
| Philips AC3256/10 | - | - |
| Panasonic F-VXK70R | ● | ● |
Combining a purifier and a humidifier in one device is undesirable. Moisture is bad for the performance of some air filters
There is a winner
Have you found the best air purifier? Our comparison showed that among the popular air purifiers of well-known brands sold in Russia, only IQAir (a little-known brand in Russia, but a recognized world leader in air purification), in particular the He althPro 250 model, completely rids the air of the most dangerous fine dust and other pollution from 0.3 microns (cleaning efficiency - more than 99.97%).
PS By the way, we measured the cleaning efficiency of particles as small as 0.3 microns. According to the manufacturer, IQAir air purifiers trap particles 100 times smaller - from 0.003 microns, with an efficiency of more than 99.5%.
The material uses information from reviews and tests conducted by the Hi-Tech Mail. Ru project.
hi-tech.mail.ru/review/iqair-he althpro-250-air_cleaner/
hi-tech.mail.ru/review/air-cleaners-test2/
