If your family suffers from allergies or asthma, the dust mites, mold spores, pollen, and pet dander in the air inside your home can be a major problem. But using HEPA filters can help trap these contaminants and alleviate the symptoms. HEPA stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air, and using a HEPA vacuum will trap some particles, leaving others to be removed by air filtration from the room or the entire house. So, can an air purifier help allergies? The answer is yes – as long as you get a machine that uses a true HEPA filter and is the right size for the room. Air purifiers work to reduce the amount of pollen in the air, which should relieve allergy symptoms.
However, results will vary from person to person. The exact operation of an air purifier will depend on the size of the room, the local climate, the model of the purifier, and your own personal health. It's important to be aware of bold claims from manufacturers – Honeywell got into legal hot water for exaggerating the effectiveness of its air purifiers. It's also important to remember that only particles that pass through the air filter will be captured. To help you filter your options and breathe a little easier, we spoke to an expert and compared several different brands for this list of our picks for the best air purifiers for allergies. Anyone can benefit from an air purifier, but if you suffer from frequent allergies, you may want one that specifically filters out particles that can cause allergic reactions.
We chose the Germ Guardian 3-in-1 Digital Air Cleaning System with Pet Pure Filter, which uses a combination of True HEPA filter and UV-C light. An air purifier with a legitimate HEPA filter will really help your allergies if it's the right size for the room. It also has a filter tracker that can tell you how many hours of runtime your filter has before it needs to be replaced. HEPA filters are 99.9% effective at helping prevent other viruses, as they capture and trap dust, pollen, mold and other potentially harmful particles in the air. Some filters are reusable and washable, but require meticulous maintenance – so they are not usually found in the most effective air purifiers.
As air moves through the filter, contaminants and particles are captured, and clean air is expelled into the living space. Air purifiers help filter out most of the air particles that aggravate allergies, as well as small contaminants that have settled on your furniture, walls and floors after a long year in quarantine. Particles that cause pet allergies can be removed by using an air purifier equipped with a HEPA filter. They filter what's in the air and not the pollutants that settle on walls, floors and furniture.
