Quiet Air Purifier Buying Guide
Looking for an air purifier for bedrooms or nursery? Then you will need quiet air purifiers.
But, how do you know that a certain purifier is quiet enough for your bedroom or nursery?
There are four simple ways of knowing if a purifier is silent enough for your bedroom or nursery:
1. Try it !!
If you are buying it locally, then try it on the spot.
2. Look at the decibel level (dbA).
Basically, decibel is a measure of how loud a sound is. If you are trying to buy quiet air purifiers online, look at the decibel level of that machine at the lowest setting. Do not just trust when the product spec. says it’s quiet, especially if its claim is not accompanied by the actual measurement of noise.
An air cleaner with the lowest setting of 10-20 dbA is considered almost silent because it would sound like a rustling leaf or quiet whisper sound. Thirty decibel can still also considered quiet, but not silent, as the machine would be as loud as library or living room with no TV.
A machine with 45-55 dBA at the lowest setting produces background noise, like a refrigerator hum, and window AC noise. Some people like it this way because it gives white noise and actually helps some people to fall asleep.
But what if the decibel data is not available ?
Then look at the user reviews.
3. User Reviews.
User reviews are very useful in gauging whether a certain air purifier is quiet enough. Often, users comment on how loud a particular machine is and compare the noise with something. Some consumer review sites even often include videos of some air purifier brands, so you can actually judge whether an air purifier is suitable as a bedroom air purifier or a nursery air purifier through the videos.
These reviews are pretty trustworthy, and in fact, regardless whether the air purifier company gives information about the dba level, we still encourage you to look at the user reviews. You can find reviews on quiet air purifiers or silent air purifiers in consumer opinion sites like this one, or even YouTube. Or, you can find reviews in vendor’s site, including: Amazon.
4. Air purification technology used.
Another way to gauge whether an air purifier is a silent air purifier is by looking at the air purification technology used. This is because the two things which makes the air purifier not quiet is the engine and the fan, and these are related with the air purification technique.
Most air purifiers use either one of these technologies to purify air: physical filtration, or electronic filtration. Machines which utilize physical filtration use filters with pores to sieve air pollutants. Electronic filtration is achieved by producing ion through application of high voltage.
Air purifiers which use physical filter, for instance HEPA filter or HEPA-like filter, have to have a fan to draw the air into the air purifier and then push the air through series of filters. This means the fan has to be powerful enough, and that is the reason why HEPA air purifiers tend not to be silent.
