How long does it take an air purifier to clean a room?

If you’re new to using air purifiers, you may have found yourself wondering how long it will take the unit you’re looking at to clean the air in a room. While there isn’t a single answer to the question, it’s relatively simple to calculate, given, a few basic pieces of information. Here’s what you need to know about how long it will take a best air purifier to clean a room and how you can find this answer for any air purifier you’re interested in.

First off, what do we mean by clean?

Before we can figure out how long an air purifier takes to clean the air, we need to define what we mean by “clean.” For simplicity’s sake, we’ll be calculating how long it takes for an air purifier to cycle the air in the room through one full time. While there are instances where multiple air changes are beneficial, using one air change as the basic metric for clean air keeps things easy.

How to figure out the time an air purifier will take to clean a room?

 To figure out the amount of time it will take for an air purifier to cycle, you’ll first need to know the size of the room you’ll be using it in. For a simple example, we’ll say the purifier is being used in a room that measures 20×25 feet, or 500 square feet.Next, you need to know the square footage rating on the air purifier. For most models, this rating will represent the maximum space in which the purifier can conduct a full air change in one hour.

With this information, it’s fairly easy to work out how long the purifier will take to cycle the air through once on its highest setting. The first step is to divide the square footage of the space by the purifier’s maximum capacity. In this case, 500/2,000=0.25.

Now, we’ll multiply this ratio by 60, the number of minutes in an hour. Returning to the example, we find that 60×0.25=15. So, in this case, the model would take about 15 minutes to perform one air change in a 500 square foot space. Keep in mind that some models are among the most powerful in the residential market in terms of the amount of air they can move, so most air purifiers will take longer than this.

Other factors you need to consider

As you’ve probably already guessed, the example above has been simplified to make for a convenient demonstration. In reality, you should assume that the estimate you get from this calculation is a bit lower than the time it will really take to perform one air change. Manufacturer estimates of the amount of air a given purifier will move usually reflect ideal conditions, so the actual rate of air flow will be a bit lower in real-world use.

If you have unusually tall or short ceilings, this will also affect the math. Air purifier square footage ratings are usually based on standard 8-foot ceilings. If your ceilings are a different height, you’ll have to adjust the square footage accordingly to account for the volume of the room.

Finally, there are a few air purifiers whose ratings reflect more than one air change per hour. For example, a best air purifier is rated for up to 815 square feet. That rating, however, is based on two air changes per hour, rather than one.