And beyond that, it even has humidifying and cooling capabilities to help keep spaces dry and comfortable, too. Chances are, you’ll need more than one air purifier to manage the air quality throughout your whole house. If you’re on a budget, you could buy three or four of these Dreos for the price of a single model from other top brands, without giving up much in the way of performance. That’s enough to clear up to 99.97% of common airborne pollutants across 540 square feet, which is the ideal size for a family room, master bedroom or large office.
It’s important to note, however, that HEPA filters will work for a very long time before they get plugged with household dust. Levoit made their filter quite a bit bigger than it needs to be for levoit air filter the airflow capacity of the machine, so many households can count on it lasting a year or more. Levoit used to simply claim that this air purifier was suitable for rooms up to 129 square feet.
They’ve since updated their marketing to include a theoretical CADR of 40 cubic feet per minute, which means you’d filter the air in a room that size just more than twice per hour. With dust coming in the door or a person moving around, you could easily have more dust coming into the room and swirling around than the Levoit can keep up with. Simply remove the plastic covering from the filter, reinsert and switch on using the power icon button on the top of the unit.
To keep it at peak performance, you’ll want to ensure no sides are obstructed. The motor is in the top part of the air purifier, which is also where the clean air is dispersed. If you leave the Levoit running for long enough, it can probably capture all of the dust from some small rooms. If your outside air quality is good enough (or your room is sealed tightly enough) that you’re not worried about outside dust coming in through the doors and windows, you probably don’t need an air purifier at all. Here are other air purifiers to consider, which we include here based on expert guidance from our previous reporting and Select reader interest. They may be worth considering if you need to clear the air in a larger room than mine or if you want a dual-function purifier.
Purifiers are often seen as useful for helping those with allergies, but they actually can be useful in any indoor space. In addition to helping ensure your air is pure and breathable, they can also keep odors at a minimum, which is especially useful if you have pets or regularly cook meals. If you have an area where cigarette levoit air filter or cigar smoke is an issue, a purifier can help with that, as well. The unit also has a memory function, which means that it remembers its previous setting before powering down, including fan speed and night-light setting. Our match smoke test assessed how well the purifier absorbed particles released by burning matches.
A smartphone app provides detailed air quality data, and people can control the air purifier even when out of the house. Additionally, the company claims that its UV-C light is certified not to produce ozone. However, this Germ Guardian purifier cannot detect air quality, and users report it is ineffective in larger rooms.
We measure factors such as how much noise they make when running, as well as their long-term costs for energy consumption and replacement filters. And we consider subjective factors like the ease of operation and maintenance, the presence or absence of distracting lights (which can disrupt sleep), the user interface, and the physical size and aesthetics. This Levoit air purifier stood out to our testers for its combination of value, performance and intelligent smart design. The unit’s three-stage filtration, including a True HEPA filter, helps it capture airborne pollutants down to .3 microns in rooms up to approximately 400 square feet. But some purifiers are better than others, according to our latest round of testing, which took our total number of reviewed models up to 45. Testing takes place in labs at the Institute and in consumer testers’ homes, allowing us to evaluate the devices in real-world conditions.
That said, after we created the abnormal smoke conditions at the outset of the tests, from then on the New York test room was subject to only the natural, ambient air conditions and whatever leakage infiltrated the test room. So we deliberately countered that setup in our Los Angeles office, where we tested our top pick, the Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty, and our large-space pick, the Blueair Blue Pure 211+, on handling ongoing smoke from burning incense sticks. And in that test, we learned that we had to run the machines on high to get meaningful purification (which both models achieved, cutting the particulates by half or more in 50 minutes).
In her role as chief technologist and director of engineering at the Institute, Rachel helped develop the test protocol for this category. With regard to indoor air quality, she is a leading advocate for the adoption of rigorous industry standards. Rachel has also tested dozens of air purifiers in recent years at her home on Long Island, NY. The model line comes in five different levoit purifier sizes that target rooms ranging from small (75 square feet) to extra large (500 square feet). This mid-sized model, previously the brand’s largest, claims to clean the air as often as five times an hour and remove up to 99.97% of airborne particles, including viruses. What separates the best air purifier from other compact options is its 3-stage filtration system.