Sanitizing your indoor air goes beyond buying quality air purifier systems with a wide coverage capacity. So your money and efforts aren’t wasted, you’ll need a good knowledge of how and where to place your unit.
For effective purification effect, air purifiers are best run at the highest speed and set in obstacle-free locations. You’ll also tackle the problem better by positioning your unit near the airborne pollutant sources.
This review will share an essential and detailed guide on the appropriate speed to run your air purifier. You’ll also learn the best areas to set your purifying system so you can enjoy its full benefits.
What Speed Should I Run My Air Purifier On?
The speed your air purifier runs on should be determined by the room size the unit is positioned. For instance, let’s assume that you bought an air purifier unit with a 700 square feet capacity (as indicated). Meaning that if run at maximum speed, your purifier should effectively cover a 700 square feet room area.
You have to run the unit at the highest speed as it conforms to your room’s size for optimal performance. Reducing the speed will only delay the time it’ll take your purifier to clean your room’s air.
It’s advised that you keep your air purifier running 24 hours per day. However, this isn’t feasible for every home due to the extra cost. Still, there are other appropriate ways you could use your unit to achieve maximum functioning.
If it’s your first time installing a purifying system in a room, run it at the highest speed. Then, depending on the room’s proportion, the air purifier should stay that way for about 40 minutes to three hours.
You’ll halve the time if you’re running a large unit capacity in smaller room sizes. Conversely, a larger unit capacity should eliminate about 95% airborne particles in less than an hour for a room that size.
After you’ve purified your room’s atmosphere by running the air purifier at the highest speed, don’t switch it off immediately. Doing this could return the air to its initial unclean state in less than no time. Instead, you should lower the unit’s speed to number one or two.
The reason for this is so you can retain the purified air flowing around your room. Should you decide to switch off the air purifier, you’ll need to start the process all over. You’d have to run the unit for long at peak speed as though you’re installing it in a new room.
What Is the Best Setting I Should Run My Air Purifier On?
Installing your purifying units in the right places could help you gain an extra 25% efficiency. Contrarily, placing them at the wrong spots could make you forfeit up to 40% of the unit’s purifying effect.
When determining the appropriate setting for your air purifier, there are several things to consider. These factors will help ensure that your purifying unit is situated to combat indoor air contaminants effectively. Let’s explore some of the best locations to set your air purifier:
Set Your Purifier Near Air Contaminant Sources (Like Odor, Mold, or Gas Source)
Your air-cleaning unit should be set in places with the highest concentration of pollutants. If you’re not sure where, consult the help of an air quality expert. Using an air quality calibrator, the expert would be able to detect highly polluted areas in your home.
The logic behind this is to fix the solution right at the problem’s source. So it makes sense to set your unit where the odor, mold, or smoke emanates from.
The good news is that you can fish out these sources easily without the help of an expert. Therefore, the basic sense organs can prove useful in determining air pollutant sources.
Obvious pollutants such as mold and smoke can be easily seen with the eyes. In addition, the nose can pick up foul smells or odors coming from a particular place.
Another medium is through sources of allergic reactions. For example, you may notice that you often react in a particular area of your home, like the bedroom, than other areas. This could be a pointer that there’s a high concentration of allergens in that room.
Set Your Purifying Unit Four to Five Feet Above the Floor
Indoor air flows specifically in either a horizontal or a vertical direction. Slight temperature changes usually determine the direction. For example, it moves upwards to the ceiling as the air gets hotter.
It’s best you set your air purifier some distance above the ground (four to five feet will do). This way, your purifier is positioned to capture both the vertical and horizontal movement of the air in your room.
An excellent position for an air purifier to achieve this is when it’s mounted on the wall. Most wall mounted purifying systems are raised three to five feet off the floor surface. Therefore, you can set them in areas of your home with a great amount of airflow.
That way, your purifier can quickly suck air into the system, purify it and release the clean air into the atmosphere.
For office space Installations, you can use smaller air purifiers (10 lbs and below). Your office desk is an excellent place to set the unit.
Your air purifiers can be set on a nightstand or close to your window for bedroom use.
Don’t Set Your Purifying System in a Corner
You won’t get the best results by setting your air purifier in the corner of your house. The reason is the airflow around corners is low and limited. So setting your unit in a corner will hamper your purifier’s air cleaning efficiency.
You might end up sanitizing the air in that corner effectively while the air quality in other areas remains poor. Units set in corners are blocked in two directions, making them unable to perform optimally.
Keep Obstacles Off Your Air Purifier’s Way
You’ll help maximize your purifier’s functionality by clearing away obstacles that impede the clean airflow.
You might be tempted to utilize the free space behind your television for your unit. Try not to fall for that temptation. It’s vital to keep the area around your unit (at least 3 feet) cleared from all angles for maximum effect.
Another common and often neglected obstacle are books. Avid readers who enjoy the feel of fresh and clean air while reading are most likely to fall victim. It’s easy to build a pile of books near your unit over time, unknowingly hindering its ability to circulate clean air.
The aim is to give your purifying system sufficient space to execute its cleaning duty effectively and adequately.
Should I Run My Air Purifier on High or Low?
Knowing how to run your air purifier daily post-purchase is essential so the unit can last. The recommended duration is a couple of hours (that’s two to three hours) every day. It’s also advised that you run it at the highest speed for those hours.
Some people prefer to keep theirs running at a low speed all day long. Others burst their units at top speed for an hour or two stretches and then switch it off.
If you settle for running your purifier throughout the day, you should do it at full speed intermittently. This will help ensure a more effective air purification operation. Also, running it intermittently helps regulate the amount of electricity consumed by your unit.
So you could keep it at full speed for two hours. Afterwards, you could switch to a reduced speed for the next two hours. The only problem here is that you may have to set a timer to help you stay on track.
However you decide to run your purifying unit, you should also consider the level of air pollution involved. A densely polluted environment will require a different approach from a moderately polluted area.
If your home environment is densely polluted, then it’s okay to keep your unit on all day. However, you should get ready to replace your filter more frequently. This is major because your unit’s filter could wear out quickly from overuse.
Ensure that your purifying system’s intake grills and pre-filters should be cleaned regularly. This helps to provide quality air emission and circulation.
Also, an extended usage will most likely sap more energy which could incur additional electricity charges.
When purchasing an air purifier system, it’s ideal to buy one with a broader coverage area than your room. It’ll enhance the cleaning efficiency if your unit’s capacity is at least 20% larger than your room. So for a 200 square feet sized room, you’ll buy a 240 square feet capacity air purifier.
At night, you could switch your air purifier to run at low speed before retiring to bed. However, before running your purifier close to your bed space at night, confirm that it doesn’t release ozone. This can be easily determined from the product’s package and manual.
An ozone emitting cleaning system can be dangerous to the health of humans and even animals. If a room is poorly ventilated, running such a purifying unit extensively can result in a poisonous ozone build-up. Also, the ozone produced can cause respiratory issues and aggravate allergies.