Best Smart Wi-Fi Air Purifiers to Improve Indoor Air Quality

  AUTHOR: Carlos Paras
 UPDATED: November 20, 2024

Air purifiers probably aren’t the first thing you think of when shopping for smart home devices. But the quality of the air inside of your home is a very important factor to the health, safety, and comfort of those who live there.

Negative health effects from air pollution can be experienced immediately in the form of coughing or difficulty breathing, but sometimes the consequences aren’t realized until years later. Exposure to indoor air pollution has been linked to heart disease, lung disease, cancers, and a plethora of other health conditions.

Air quality and air pollution are most often equated to car exhaust and smog, but there are other things in the air that can affect air quality and your health. Dust and pollen, as well as smoke from forest fires and tobacco products can cause breathing problems and allergies. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can also contribute to adverse health consequences.

VOCs are gases emitted from certain products or processes. Paints, lacquers, paint strippers, pesticides, glues, permanent markers, and gasoline are examples of everyday items which can produce volatile organic compounds. The concentration of VOCs is much higher indoors than they are outdoors. This is mainly due to the enclosed environment and lack of ventilation.

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How to Pick the Best Smart Wi-Fi Air Purifier

When shopping for a smart Wi-Fi air purifier there are a few key features to consider. You want to make sure that you are choosing the best air purifier for your home. Some of the factors to consider are: the type of filter, room coverage, and smart technology included with the air purifier. Let’s go through each of these components now.

Types of Filters for Air Purifiers

UV Light – Certain air purifiers use UV-C light to reduce indoor air pollutants like mold, mildew, bacteria, and viruses. UV light isn’t a filter in the strict sense of the term because there is no actual material to trap air pollutants. Instead, a process called ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) kills germs in the circulating air.

As air is forced through the purifier, it is exposed to a UV light source. UV-C radiation kills microbes in the air by damaging their DNA. UV-C light has been shown to be effective at killing airborne influenza virus. And a recent study has found that UV-C light efficiently and safely inactivates airborne human coronaviruses.

Activated Carbon – Some air purifiers use activated carbon filters to trap chemicals, gases, and VOCs. As air travels through an activated carbon filter, a chemical reaction occurs and organic compounds stick to the carbon’s surface, removing them from the air.

While activated carbon is very effective at capturing odors and hazardous gasses, it is not as effective at capturing particulate pollution like pollen, pet allergens, and PM_2.5. Fine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in size is known as PM_2.5. Long term exposure to PM_2.5 has been linked to increased mortality from heart disease and lung cancer.

HEPA Filters – High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are made up of a complex web of fibers consisting of fiberglass or other synthetic materials. HEPA filters must meet a standard of removing 99.97% of airborne particles that are 0.3 micron in size or larger.

HEPA filters can effectively filter dust mites, pollen, mold, spores, and bacteria. Although the standard to be labeled a true HEPA filter is the ability to trap particles 0.3 micron and larger, a NASA study published in 2006 found that HEPA filters can efficiently filter particles 0.01 micron in size. This means HEPA filters may be able to capture the virus that causes COVID-19 which is approximately 0.125 micron in diameter.

The one drawback with HEPA filters is they cannot filter VOCs. For this reason, HEPA filters are often paired with activated carbon filters.

Room Size

Room size is another factor to consider when shopping for an air purifier. The amount of coverage an air purifier has will not only determine how effective it will be, but it can also affect the price of the unit.

An air purifier’s coverage is usually shown in square feet per hour. Some manufacturers will also display the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR). The CADR is usually shown in cubic feet per minute (CFM).

Noise Level

The amount of noise an air purifier makes can also be a deciding factor when shopping. The noise level will usually be displayed in decibels (dB). An air purifier with a low operating decibel level is a plus for those who want to improve air quality without a lot of noise. And some enjoy the low level white noise an air purifier makes while they go to sleep at night.

Smart Technology

The advent of smart home technology has brought with it some innovative and helpful features which are now being incorporated into air purifiers. The ability to control an air purifier from virtually anywhere, even from miles away, is definitely a plus. Simply, download an app onto your smartphone and you can control and monitor the air purifier without being in the same room with it.

An air purifier’s app can provide monitoring of air quality and filter life and some apps allow programming to schedule when the air purifier is on or off. Some air purifiers can be synced with Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home Assistant. This gives the ability to operate the device with simple voice commands.

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