The definitive air purifier buying guide from Breathing Space

Frequently Asked Questions about Air Purifiers
For over 30 years we have been the UK's largest independent supplier of specialist air purification equipment and our ethos has always been to provide only the very best quality purifiers coupled with good, honest advice. We will never try to sell you an expensive air purifier if a less expensive one will do the job just as well. This approach has seen us help thousands of customers choose the right machine first time and avoid the pitfalls of spending good money on bad or unsuitable products.

So which Air Purifier Will Work Best For Me?
A well chosen Air Purifier will filter out everything from basic allergens to tobacco smoke , viruses and even chemical VOC's ( volatile organic compounds - ie. the glue found in many new carpets etc). However different units work better on different issues, for instance one purifier might be the best in the world for destroying virus, but be fairly ineffective against tobacco smoke. Another may offer fantastic respite for asthma sufferers, but be virtually negligent in the removal of odours. We answer some common questions further down to help you choose, but of course you can always just pick up the phone and ask the question if you want to get it right in double quick time!

My other half is a smoker and I am not, which type of air purifier should I choose?
You should choose an air purifier which contains a hepa filter, but it MUST also have a genuine activated carbon granule filter. Carbon is the only thing that will adsorb the smell of the tobacco. As a general rule the more carbon in the filter the better the tobacco smoke removal. Consider the Stadler Form Roger for a truly excellent, compact machine costing less than £350.00 which contains specialist, upgraded carbon filters offering up to 50% better performance than some machines costing more than twice the price. If your room is bigger, then the new Blueair Classic Pro CP7i or the Airgle AG600 offer pretty much unbeatable tobacco smoke removal in rooms all the way up to 72m². Look for units with superior CADR (clean air delivery rates) these will provide faster removal of tobacco smoke odour. For more detailed information visit our Air Purifiers For Smoke and Odour removal section.

I suffer from Asthma, which unit would suit me best?
Over 5.4 Million people in the UK suffer from Asthma, 1.1 million of those are children. In fact more children suffer from asthma in the UK than in any other country on the globe. There are various particles that can trigger an asthma attack, and most of these can be filtered out quite easily with a good Hepa filter. However if you want the best possible chance of destroying ALL the allergy triggers then consider an Airfree air steriliser or a Class 1 Medical Device like the Airgle AG300 which are amongst the best in the world. Click here to visit our Air Purifiers for Asthma section.


I get terrible hay fever what is the main cause and can an air purifier help me?
Grass pollen is the most frequent cause of hay fever counting for no fewer than 90% of the cases in the UK. However, there are other common types like tree pollen ( from alder, hazel, birch and horse chestnut) and also weed pollen ( from plantains, mugwort and docks). The good news is that a well chosen air purifier will filter out pollen ( all types) very easily. The trick is to ensure the air purifier is powerful enough to exchange all of the air inside your room through the filters at least 4 or 5 times an hour so you need to make sure the unit you choose has a powerful fan ( to suck the pollens in) but is not too noisy, otherwise you will not want to use it!

For smaller rooms consider the excellent Blueair 3250i as a budget option. For larger areas consider the powerful Roger or stunning new Blueair T20i which not only purifiers the air, but cools and heats it too. For a Hay Fever sufferer the cooling effects of the T20i coupled with it's 99.97% pollen removal rate makes it a sturdy choice.

Perhaps one of the most effective leaps forward in drug free Hay Fever relief over the last couple of years has been the advent of genuinely effective, Wearable Air Purifiers. In a nutshell, why buy an air purifier for every room in the house, when you can constantly purify the air you are breathing wherever you go by simply wearing one. This is not as crazy as it may sound, Estonian manufacturers Respiray may just have perfected this section of the market with their latest offering. The Respiray Wear A+ is undoubtedly one of the best, most effective (and comfortable) wearable air purifier we have ever come across. You can view all of these units in our Best Air Purifier for Hayfever section.


I have a newborn baby and want the air in the bedroom to be as clean as possible, what type of purifier should I choose for this?
For totally silent bedroom operation, nothing is quieter than one of the Airfree Air Purifiers. These units are quite literally silent in operation and have no ongoing filter costs which has made them one of our most popular choices for nurseries every year for the last 20 years. There is a caveat, if the bedroom is facing a road which carries a lot of traffic, Airfree may not actually be the best option as the fumes from traffic combustion gasses are not removed by Airfree. If the bedroom is indeed near a busy road, the consider something from this section : Air Purifiers for Traffic Pollution  

Have more questions? 
Well don't be, you can either view our How to Choose your Air Purifier guide or go straight to View All Units , or better still, just pick up the telephone and give us a call on 01207 507444 and tell us what your specific problem is and we will probably have you pointed in the right direction in minutes!