Are you wondering if a large air purifier will work in a small room? An air purifier works to improve the air quality of a room by filtering out the airborne pollutants in the environment. Unfortunately, some people purchase air purifiers without considering the size of the air purifier or the room where it will go.
The ideal air purifier must be large enough to filter all the air in a room but not too large to where it will consume excessive amounts of electricity. While a large purifier will work in a small room, you may not be optimizing the energy consumption based on the space.
We will address the issue of size regarding air purifiers and rooms as you continue reading the article. Our air purifier specialists will help provide calculations that you can make when choosing an option for your room. Keep reading further to learn more if an air purifier can be too big.
Is Your Air Purifier Too Big for a Small Room?
A large air purifier can undoubtedly work in a small room in your home or building. Large air purifiers have more than enough power and technological resources to purify the limited amount of air space in the environment. These air purifiers are designed to handle larger areas in home like a living room or basement.
But why would you want to use a large air purifier in a small room when it will consume too much unnecessary electricity and increase your monthly power bills? You are better off choosing a small-to-medium size air purifier for a small room so that it consumes less electricity while still being able to purify all the air in the room.
The Different Sizes of Air Purifiers
Here is a general rundown of which air purifier you need for rooms of varying sizes:
- Small-Sized Air Purifiers – Recommended for rooms no more than 200 square feet in size. Typical rooms of this size include bedrooms, bathrooms, and home offices.
- Medium-Sized Air Purifiers – Recommended for rooms up to 400 square feet in size but no less than 200 square feet. You may have a large bedroom, bathroom, or small studio condo which fits this size category.
- Large-Sized Air Purifiers – Recommended for rooms up to 1,500 square feet in size but no less than 400 square feet. Rooms of this size usually include kitchens, living rooms, basements, attics, and large studio apartments.
Every air purifier unit has a square footage capacity to help you determine whether it can effectively filter all the air in your specific room. All you need to do is find out the square footage of the room and compare it to the square footage rating of the air purifier. Once you see a match, then you will know which air purifier is best to use for that room.
Some air purifiers can even purify an entire house rather than one room. These kinds of whole-house purifiers can save you the trouble of having to purchase a separate air purifier for each room. Just make sure the size rating on the whole-house air purifier matches the total square footage of your home to ensure it can purify every room.
Along with a square footage capacity, the air purifier will have a CADR rating that determines the amount of air that is cleaned in cubic feet per minute. If the air purifier does not display a square footage capacity, you can find it by using the formula CADR x 1.55 to find the maximum room size.
How to Calculate the Square Footage of a Room
You don’t need to hire a property surveyor to figure out the square footage of a room if you don’t know it already. Grab an extra-large tape measuring tool and measure the length and width of the room. Then, multiply the length and width together to determine the square footage.
Let us go over a couple of scenarios which incorporate this formula:
- A bedroom 10’ x 12’ = 120 square feet
- A living room 25’ x 25’ = 625 square feet
- Two connecting bedrooms 10’ x 12’ each = 240 square feet
Of course, you may have a situation where you want to purify an open living room connected to your kitchen or a home with two stories. In these cases, you would add up to the total square footage of the open living room and kitchen or the two stories of the home.
Here is an example of these scenarios:
- An open kitchen (10’ x 10’) and open living room (20’ x 25’) = 600 square feet
- A two-story home (1,200 square feet per story) = 2,400 square feet
You can use one air purifier to purify the connecting open kitchen and living room. As for the upper and lower stories of a home, you would need two separate air purifiers with a 1,200-square-foot rating each to purify them.
Where to Position the Air Purifier in a Room
There is always a good and bad place to position an air purifier in a room. Even if the air purifier has a rating that matches the entire square footage of the room, it might not be as effective and efficient if you put the air purifier in the wrong place in the room. As a result, it will end up consuming more electricity than necessary to purify the room.
Here are some tips to maximize the efficiency of your air purifier to save money on electricity:
- Do not place the air purifier in a corner on the ground. Many people mistakenly think this will target the air in the entire room, but it only targets the lower airflow rather than the higher airflow where you sit and stand.
- Do not place objects or other obstructive materials near the air purifier because they could block the air going in and out of the machine.
- Clear out all humidity, odor, smoke, mold, and mildew from a room before using an air purifier in it. An air purifier is meant to target microscopic pollutants and toxins in the air only.
The most ideal places for air purifiers are the tops of dressers and tables. If you go this route, make sure no other objects are on the dressers or tables.
Conclusion
A large air purifier consumes just as much electricity to purify a small room as it does a large room. However, it may be overkill if you are placing it in a small room that does not have a lot of square footage. If you already have a large air purifier purchased, you can rest assured that it will clean the air in a small room like a bedroom.
But, if you want to save money on your monthly power bills, it is imperative to know the square footage of your small room and then purchase an air purifier with a matching square footage rating. That way, it will consume much less electricity while still purifying the entire room.