How long should I leave my air purifier on per day?

You’ve made the decision to purchase an air purifier for your home or office. Good choice! You are one step closer to breathing pollutant-free air, improving your indoor air quality, and investing in your short- and long-term health. Now, you may be asking yourself – how long should I leave it running? Should I leave it on all day or are a few hours sufficient? Read on to learn more about the optimal amount of time to use your air purifier.

What is an air purifier?

The goal of an air purifier is to pull contaminated or polluted air from inside your home into the device, treat the air using various filtration and depollution technologies, and release it back into the room pollutant-free. Depending upon the quality of the filters and filtration technologies, air purifiers can dramatically improve indoor air quality and remove a variety of contaminants from the air including allergens such as pet dander, pollen, and dust; mould and its spores; fine particles; and smoke. This is not an exhaustive list, however, as every air purifier has different capabilities. Air purifiers with activated carbon filters, for example, have the ability to remove odours from your air at home as well.

For those experiencing allergy symptoms or are suffering from respiratory illnesses and diseases; for those wanting to protect themselves from the dangers of indoor and outdoor air pollution and improve indoor air quality; and/or for those looking for extra protection during epidemics or pandemics such as the flu or COVID-19, investing in a high-quality air purifier can be a life-changing decision that could dramatically improve quality of life even if left running for only half an hour per day.

Once I’ve purchased my air purifier, how should I use it?

This is a common question amongst air purifier owners. What is the best way to use your air purifier at home to optimise your air quality?

Air purifier placement

First of all, it is important to ensure proper installation of your air purifier in a place that will enable it to entrap the largest quantity of polluted air. A few things must be considered, most notably air flow and the various sources of contaminants in your home or space. The following provides a short but effective guide in helping you choose the right location for your air purifier:

DO

• Place it near the highest concentration of pollutants in your home or space
• Places with visible smoke and/or mould
• Sources of unpleasant odours such as cigarette smoke or in the kitchen
• Places in the home where you most experience allergies
• Places in the home where you spend the most time
• Place it where there is the most airflow (such as near doorways or windows) 
• Any new air that enters your space will quickly be purified before being dispersed
• Move it around regularly! 
• This maximises the air that your air purifier will be able to treat

DO NOT

• Place it in a corner or tight space 
• Airflow is the lowest in these locations
• Place it where it will be near obstacles 
• Avoid installing your air purifier in places where air flow is impeded (i.e. behind furniture or in a closet)
• Place it in a high-humidity environment 
• Heavy, humid air reduces filter capacity
• Place it near other electronic devices 
• Electronic devices may interfere with your air purifier
• Block the air purifier’s grilles 
• Ensure that they are always clear of obstacles²

You can read more about air purifier placement here.

Length of time to leave it on

Depending upon your brand of air purifier, the manufacturer might recommend an amount of time to leave your air purifier running. However, in general, the duration of use required depends on the size of your space and the amount of indoor pollution (which varies throughout the year). This is why most manufacturers will recommend you to leave your air purifier running all day, especially if it comes equipped with an automatic setting. This setting allows your device to monitor the quality of your air in your home for you and to adjust its speed depending on the levels of pollutants that it detects. Eoleaf air purifiers come equipped with an automatic setting that tracks contaminant concentration in real time (which can be viewed on the screen of our handheld remote control), changing its speed according to the detected levels of pollution. Furthermore, our air purifiers are extremely energy efficient, so you don’t have to worry that your device is consuming a great deal of electricity when left running for many hours.

If you prefer to leave your air purifier on during shorter periods of time, it can be left running anywhere from a half hour (to purify small rooms) to a couple of hours (to purify larger spaces), and you can try out its maximum speed setting to make the most out of the short time period. This mode is particularly useful if you want to purify the air as quickly as possible (for example: before receiving visitors, before a meeting, in between two patients, etc.).

Keep in mind that Eoleaf’s air purifiers on speed 5 (their fastest speed setting) make noise equivalent to regular office sounds! To best harness your high-quality air purifier’s capabilities, make sure to turn on your device daily.

Most HEPA air purifiers consume a minimal amount of energy - around 50 to 100 watts of energy every hour based on the airflow speed. At Eoleaf, the maximum speed of our largest model does not exceed 55 W! If you choose to leave your air purifier running for 24 hours 7 days a week, the monthly energy bill would amount to around £5 to 10 each month. If you do leave your air purifier running all of the time, it is highly recommended to clean your pre-filter about once a month. They trap heavy amounts of dust and allergens, and cleaning them on a regular basis is important in preserving the efficiency of the filter as a whole. Also, ensure that you change your filters at regular intervals for optimal maintenance of your device. For Eoleaf products, filters only have to be changed once a year. This is essential maintenance!

For businesses, we do recommend turning the device off when you close shop for the night and turn it back on in the morning to save energy. Same goes for individuals if you do not use it in your bedroom at night.

Try Eoleaf air purifiers for remarkable efficiency and purification quality

Eoleaf’s air purification devices come equipped with 8 different filtration technologies, all of which serve an important and complementary purpose in cleaning your breathing air. Those 8 filtration technologies are as follows:

1. Pre-filter
2. Natural bamboo fibre
3. Antibacterial coating made with lysozyme and silver ions
4. Medical-grade HEPA H13 filter
5. Activated carbon filter
6. Photocatalysis
7. UVC sterilisation
8. Ionisation

To read more about this, take a look at our article on the filtration technologies we use here.

Our devices are modern and easy to use, offering the most advanced technologies available on today's market. By connecting to the Tuya Smart mobile app, you can control your device remotely and track your indoor air quality in real-time. Our air purifiers adapt to all room sizes and settings from homes and office spaces to hotels and medical practices. Choose Eoleaf to start breathing fresh air today. 

Resources

¹ Yoda, Y.; Tamura, K.; Adachi, S.; Otani, N.; Nakayama, S.F.; Shima, M. Effects of the Use of Air Purifier on Indoor Environment and Respiratory System among Healthy Adults. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 3687. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/10/3687

² Where to place Air Purifier? (7 golden 'best place' rules + bonus tip). LearnMetrics. (2022, July 5). Retrieved January 5, 2023, from https://learnmetrics.com/where-to-place-air-purifier/