Air Purifier Noise
One of the qualities people most ask for in an air purifier, is quiet operation. A unit that can remove particles, allergens, spores, gasses, chemicals and all matter of indoor air pollution from a large space without making any noise is what most customers who come to ClearFlite are looking for. It is a tall order to say the least!
Years of heavy television advertising by the Sharper Image company has firmly planted the idea in the minds of the public that an air purifier can do a remarkable job without making a sound, or moving much air! With the exception of Blueair, which has done an exemplary job in designing the flow of air so that it is as quiet as possible, most models of air purifier that actually work, emit noise to some degree. An internal fan is typically the reason for the noise, but it is also the reason that the air purifier works; dirty air is pulled into the unit and clean air emerges.
HEPA air purifier models as well as the electrostatic and ionization units that work effectively all have fans which emit sound. Typically the air purifier will be fairly quiet on the lower speeds, make an audible blowing noise on the mid-speeds, and be fairly loud on the highest speed. But it is on the highest speed, where an air purifier has enough power to pull air from the far reaches of the room. A silent air purifier with no fan is simply not able to move much air. The air very close to the air purifier may be cleaned effectively, but the idea that it will mysteriously pull air from clear across a large room silently and without a fan is fantasy.
Although effective air purifier units do emit noise, there are variances which make some models much more easy to live with than others. ClearFlite has found that there are models from different manufacturers that make almost the same amount of noise but the pitch is different. The higher the pitch, the more the air purifier noise will have a whine in it, which can be irritating. The lower the pitch, the more comfortable the sound.
Athough the air purifier brands which ClearFlite has chosen to carry do emit sound, we have selected those with a lower pitch. The sound is just that of the blowing of a fan. It is not as loud as a room air conditioner fitted in a window, but there is a blowing sound. In most cases, the sound becomes background noise which is not obtrusive at all. In the case of air purifier units used in bedrooms, the sound often becomes white noise which covers other sporadic sounds in the house thus allowing the owner to sleep better. Many customers tell us they cannot sleep without an air purifier in the room, and have to take one on vacation!
Blueair's design, which is a combining of electrostatic and HEPA technology where the flow of air is charged before it moves through the filter, makes the airflow less constricted and thus quieter. Yet even on a Blueair air purifier, there is still a strong blowing sound on the highest speed. Most manufacturers are trying very hard to reduce the noise, but it is extremely challenging. An air purifier that truly removes toxic elements from the air is most likely going to make some noise.
