Air Purifiers: the Noise Factor

By doing a little research and by reading this blog, you will discover that not all air purifiers are created equal. For many people, the amount of noise an air purifier creates is a deciding factor in finding the right one to purchase. Ironically, some of these shoppers are precisely looking for an air cleaner that will PRODUCE “white noise” to cover up other noises, such as neighborhood dogs, nearby traffic, or chatter heard from upstairs neighbors.

Most people looking to buy an air purifier prefer a unit that will provide a contemporary design while keeping distracting noise to a minimum.  Essentially, they want a unit that blends in with the decor of the room and won’t add more noise than absolutely necessary.

The king of quiet air purifiers is, of course, Blueair, which features the patented HepaSilent in all of their air purifier models.  Wondering if there might be a formidable foe among its competitors, I began crunching the numbers from popular air purifier spec. sheets. I was interested in finding out if low noise levels were an all-out-trade for low air flow. What I discovered was that in many cases it was, but that the Korean made Airgle 750 showed an impressive amount of air flow, at high speed, without blasting your eardrums to do so.

Below I show the graph of the alleged champion of quiet air purifiers- the Blueair ECO 10:

Note that at the highest speed setting, the ECO 10 produces a moderate air flow of 390 cfm, while keeping the decibels around 49 dB.  What’s more impressive about this unit is the fact that it can maintain this air flow while only consuming 10 watts!

Below is the graph for the Airgle 750:

In the case of the Airgle 750, the high speed setting produces 560 cfm of airflow while only generating a moderate noise level of 55 dB. There is, however, a notable difference in the power consumption- the Airgle requiring 65 watts. In terms of decibels and air flow the Airgle does a remarkable job, not to mention all the high-tech features not found in many of its competitors.

Some of the other air purifiers I looked at, such as the IQAir HealthPro proved to have similar low-noise design but could only produce 260 cfm on the highest setting. The Airpura 600 Series produce an impressive 560 cfm on high speed, but will definitely draw attention with its 62.3 dB fan noise.

So, the rumors are true and tested…if you are looking for the quietest air purifier while maintaining great air flow and energy economy, then the ECO 10 is the perfect choice.