Asthmatic individuals and people with pollen allergies are the most common group that require an air purifier. Unfortunately, while there are a good number of suitable and effective air purifiers, not all of them work quietly. So, this inspires the question, ‘how can I make my air purifier quieter?’
The quietness of an air purifier is related to several factors, the most important of which is the design. Nevertheless, if you already own a noisy air purifier, you can make it quieter by reducing the fan speed. You could put it in a room with objects that can absorb the sound waves, such as carpets and sofas.
These are just a few of the many methods that you can use to make your air purifier quieter. More solutions will be unveiled as you read through this article, and in-depth explanations will also be offered.
Do Air Purifiers Make A Lot Of Noise?
You might have noticed that even though your air purifier gets the job done, they are undoubtedly noisy, right? This has led most people to wonder if all air purifiers are built like that. Nevertheless, that may not always be the case.
That’s because most air purifiers come with a decibel rating, but many people are unaware of that. So, the noise you are hearing might be the ambient noise of your air purifier.
This means that although all air purifiers make noise, not all of them make too much noise. For some, the noise they make can be too low to notice. At the same time, others make a lot of noise when they are in operation.
How Can I Make My Air Purifier Quieter?
Although most of the air purifier’s noise is ambient noise, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be anything else.
Some people purchase air purifiers with low decibel ratings, but they still suffer the same dilemma. This means that other things could make an air purifier loud besides its natural ambient noise.
Reasons For A Loud Air Purifier
If you find out that your air purifier is too loud, then it could stem from one of the following:
The Air Filters Are Dirty
Nearly all air purifiers (especially the passive ones) are designed with air filters. The principle of operation of many air purifiers has the device acting as a channel. The unclean air comes in from one end, and the clean air goes out the other.
It’s during this process that the filters get to work. These filters are created to trap the particles in the air when the air passes through the purifier. The particles here range from dust, pollen, smoke, etc.
With this mode of operation, it’s only a matter of time before the air filters get clogged with dirt. When that eventually happens, your air purifier would start making louder noises than usual. Whether this would be a buzzing sound, a droning sound, or something else would be dependent on the device.
The Fan Speed
Some people feel like its air-cleaning properties are abysmal when their air purifier is at a low speed. Thus, they would usually turn it to a higher setting to remedy that.
Some individuals could feel like their room is too dusty and prefer their air purifiers to work double time. They feel that turning up the fan speed would get the purifier to work more efficiently
Although not many air purifiers denote the decibel they operate, they all try to operate quieter. This means that at a low or medium fan speed, the air purifier still functions at low noise a priority.
However, when fan speeds are turned up high, it would consider efficiency and speed above all else. Of course, this would result in the sound that most of us hear when the air purifier is in operation.
Location
Many of you might not know it, but the location of your air purifiers matters a lot. Sure, you may want to keep your device somewhere within reach, but you would have to consider its location nevertheless.
An air purifier operating in an empty room with wooden floors and ceilings makes more noise than others. You are probably wondering why right? This logic dictates that sound is released to the surroundings as your air purifier makes its little ambient noise.
The sound could be amplified, redirected, or absorbed by the surroundings. However, an empty room cannot absorb such sounds (except its walls are made of special sound-absorbing materials). As a result, the walls and ceiling usually redirect and amplify the sound, making it louder than it should be.
You could also understand this logic from the few times you may have walked into an empty warehouse. When you walk into an open warehouse, you recognize that even your footsteps are louder than usual. This phenomenon also occurs when you walk through an empty hallway or step into an empty space.
Thus, if you keep an air purifier operating in an empty space without any sound absorbers, expect a louder noise.
The Age Of The Air Purifier
Although you may want to deny it, sometimes your air purifier may have worked for long enough. When this happens, its efficiency reduces, and you may start experiencing issues with it, such as high operational sounds.
How To Make An Air Purifier Quieter
So, I have listed many reasons your air purifier would be loud. This means that, there are also ways through which you can make it quieter. Some of these methods include;
Wash The Air Filter
When the air filters of your purifiers get dirty, you could remove them from the air purifier and wash them. This process is easy enough for many air purifiers without requiring any specialized tools. While for others, the air filters would have to be removed by a qualified technician.
If your purifier falls into the latter class, you would need a technician to remove the filters in your stead. Most air filters can be brought back to life by running over them with detergent and running water. However, some might require special cleaning tools as well.
Although some air filters can be rewashed, a special class only allows for replacements. This class is also purported to be more efficient than the washable kind.
However, any issues that develop with these can only be remedied by replacement. So, if your air purifier uses such a filter, you can only replace them.
Reduce The Fan Speed
If your air purifier is too loud, it could be working at a very high fan speed. So, to reduce the noise it makes, you can reduce the speed of its fans.
You shouldn’t worry that your air purifier will be inefficient when you do this. The only change here is that it would take longer to clean your home. So, if you can afford the wait, you should do this.
Change The Location Of The Air Purifier
Air Purifiers are noted to sound louder in empty rooms. So, make sure to place your air purifier in a room with sound-absorbing items such as carpets, sofas, etc.
If your air purifier is too loud for your bedroom or living room, you could change its location. However, a change in the location of an air purifier may not have much of an effect on its capability. So, you could move the air purifier to a room that is close by.
Buy A New Air Purifier
Age also plays a significant effect on the efficiency and capability of your air purifier. So, if yours is too old, you should consider changing it and buying a newer one in its place.
Are you unsure if your air purifier has become too old? Then you should check its warranty.
If your purifier has gone some years past its warranty period, then it could be getting past its active lifespan. When this occurs, a replacement is usually in order.
Consider A Whole Home Air Purifier
The most common air purifiers in homes right now are the portable versions. However, this type of air purifier can only handle a small area. As such, most homeowners purchase them for all rooms in their homes.
Doing this, however, can triple or quadruple the ambient noise of the air purifiers. The second constructive interference occurs; you could feel like you’re living close to an airport.
Hence, instead of buying multiple portable air purifiers, why not just go for one big one. There are air purifiers that would probably only fit in the basement or the garage. These air purifiers can be connected to all rooms in a home since they are powerful enough to handle that.
Which Are The Quietest Air Purifiers?
The quietest air purifiers are those with low sound decibel ratings, and some of them include:
- The Winix A230 air purifier, with a rating of 25dB.
- The Levoit Core 300 air purifier, with a rating of 24dB.
- RabbitAir MinusA2, with a rating of 20.8dB.
- The Blueair Blue Pure 411 air purifier with a rating of 17dB.