*This* Air Purifier Can Help Filter Wildfire Smoke—And Ships Today

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For a few days, smoke from wildfires in Canada has spread into areas of the northeastern United States—and continues to head south. The level of particulate matter in the air from smoke on Wednesday was considered unhealthy from Detroit to Philadelphia, according to AirNow.

You can plug in your zip code on AirNow to see real-time air quality data. If you see it ranked between "unhealthy" and "hazardous," it's a good idea to stay inside, advises the Environmental Protection Agency. And even if you're living in a part of the country that isn't affected, you still might be wondering about the indoor air quality in your space.

If you are healthy, you're usually not at risk from short-term exposures to smoke, per the EPA. And an air purifier, like one that uses a HEPA filter, is one of the bests way to improve the quality of your indoor air, according to The New York Times. Bonus: If you suffer from seasonal allergies, it could also provide relief.

ICYMI, an air purifier is a portable device that can filter allergens like smoke, dust, dirt, and bacteria out of the air around you. Sure, an air purifier won’t magically make your allergies go way, but it can help you feel less itchy, swollen, and congested, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

Check out a preview of some of the best air purifiers here:

And there is evidence to back this up. Patients with dust mite allergies who used air purifiers for six weeks felt so much better that they were able to take less of their regular allergy medication, finds a study published in the Yonsei Medical Journal. Air purifiers lowered concentrations of allergens like cat dander and respiratory viruses by more than 50 percent, reports another study in the Journal of Asthma. That's great news for people with asthma or allergies.

Air purifiers can even reduce your risk of being infected with the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. One study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that two air filters cut down exposure to simulated exhaled aerosol particles by up to 65 percent.

One important element to look for in an air purifier is a HEPA filter (which stands for high-efficiency particulate air, BTW) filters, per the AAAAI. These are considered the gold standard of air filters—they can remove at least 99.97 percent of contaminants (think: dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and other airborne particles), according to the EPA, and circulate the air in a room multiple times an hour, trapping particles at each pass.

But choosing the best air purifier for allergies largely comes down to personal preference—and there are factors to consider like size, style, and cost. Here’s how to find the right air purifier for you.

Check out this list of the best air purifiers, plus their replacement filters, according to online reviews and selection criteria recommended by editors and allergy experts—and start breathing easier.

1. Best Same Day Delivery Air Purifier: LEVOIT Air Purifier

New Jersey-based Women's Health Executive Editor Abigail Cuffey keeps LEVOIT air purifiers in her kid's rooms. "I like the round cylindrical shape, and the sound, even on high, is like white noise or a fan," she says. "I swear the kids sleep better when the air purifiers are running, and it just makes me feel safer overall as a mom. Changing the filters is always an eye-opening experience to see just how much yuck is in the air."

Not only is this air purifier super affordable, but it's also an Amazon best-selling item. It has nearly 45,000 customer ratings and more than 34,000 of them are five-star ratings! Most of the reviews celebrate how fresh and clean their homes smell now (especially if they've dealt with pet odors in the past).

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2. Best For Durability: Coway Airmega 200M True HEPA and Activated-Carbon Air Purifier

Cuffey also uses this air purifier in her kitchen, dining room area, and primary bedroom, and absolutely loves it. "I like the look of them, for one, but the true magic is the air cleaning," she says. "The light on top tells me when air quality is poor—they're working overtime at the moment with the wildfire smoke situation in New Jersey so I'm running them on high—or great, which always a comforting thing! I like knowing when it's ramping up and getting to work. The filters are also easy to change, a big plus."

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3. Best For Smoke: LG PuriCare MiniPortable Air Purifier

This air purifier is totally worth the investment, says WH Fitness Editor Jennifer Nied, based in New York City. "It's roughly the size of a water bottle, charges up quickly, and automatically clears the air around my desk," she says. "The light on top lets me know how clean or not the air is. The best part—it is whisper silent. I can stash it in my bag for easy breathing at a restaurant or even traveling."

Nied says that when she recently turned on both this air purifier and her Galanz, the smoke smell was gone from her apartment within 15 minutes.

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4. Best For Bedrooms: Rabbit Air Quiet HEPA Air Purifier

Not only is this a top-performing device (it has a 4.8-star average from reviewers), it also has a discreet display, so its glow won’t keep you up at night. An added bonus: It can filter a room as large as 625 square feet twice an hour.

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5. Best For COVID: PureZone Air Purifier

This ultra-quiet machine removes particles and sanitizes the air silently, so it won't mess with your sleep or annoy you. Air purifiers with a HEPA filter can sanitize the coronavirus out of your air “down to a certain droplet size—0.3 microns,” says Dr. Purvi Parikh, MD, an allergist with Allergy & Asthma Network. The model is on the smaller side, so it's perfect in a smaller room.

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6. Best For Families: Galanz Personal Air Purifier

Nied is also a fan of this air purifier, especially for cleaning up pet hair. "I've relied on this purifier to keep dog hair and dander at bay and allow my toddler to coexist with my pup after I found out she's allergic to dogs," she says. "It's portable and I can move it around the apartment easily depending on where we're hanging out. We all breathe easier."

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7. Best For Temperature Control: Dyson Hot+Cool Air Purifier

Dyson is known for quality products, and its Pure Hot + Cool Smart Tower Air Purifier doesn’t disappoint. It captures 99.97 percent of allergens as small as 0.3 microns, making it great for tackling allergies due to pets, dust, smoke, pollen, and mold. It even has an activated carbon filter to weed out pollutants and odors. And—this is cool—it also works as a heater and air conditioner, so you can stay comfortable while breathing in clean air.

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8. Best For Dust: VEVA 8000 Air Purifier

This air purifier removes super-small particles like dust and dander and eliminates odors. Users say it literally brings a breath of fresh air into the room. “HEPA does not work well for dust mites, but does work for house dust, which has larger particles,” says Dr. Parikh. (BTW, if dust mites are an issue for you, Dr. Parikh recommends using hypoallergenic covers on your pillows and mattress.)

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9. Best For Allergies: Honeywell HPA300 HEPA Air Purifier

This purifier filters and circulates room air up to five times per hour, and captures up to 99.97 percent of microscopic allergens.

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10. Best For Living Rooms: Winix True HEPA Air Cleaner

Perfect for larger spaces, this air purifier can filter the air in rooms up to 400 square feet, and uses a four-stage filtration system to ensure it's pumping out the cleanest air possible.

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11. Best Quiet Air Purifier: Blueair 7470i Smart Air Purifier

This air purifier can filter a large bedroom or living room in 12 minutes. In addition to removing certain bacteria and viruses from the air and small particles like dust and pollen, its filter is also made with a layer of activated carbon to get rid of odors and other chemicals. It's also made with HEPASilent Ultra technology that keeps noise minimal.

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12. Best For Pets: LEVOIT Pet Air Purifier

A huge thing when choosing an air purifier for pet dander is to look for one with a HEPA filter, Dr. Parikh says—this should be able to catch and trap dander, so it ends up in your filter, not your body. This Levoit air purifier features a HEPA filter, and is specially designed to take out pet dander while eliminating pet odor.

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13. Best For Mold: Germ Guardian 3-in-1 HEPA Air Purifier

Mold spores can float around your place without you even realizing it. This Germ Guardian filter takes out up to 99.97 percent of allergens like mold so you can breathe easier. A pre-filter traps dust and mold before it even gets to the HEPA filter, so you won’t have to replace the main filter as often. It also features a UV-C light to tackle airborne viruses.

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What should I look for in an air purifier?

When shopping for an air purifier, it's important to keep a few things in mind. The first is to look for a filter that can remove 0.03 micron-sized particles and 99.97 percent of allergens. Look to the product description to find this info, says Dr. Sanjeev Jain, MD, board-certified allergist and immunologist at Columbia Allergy.

You can also check to see if the air purifier is effective by making sure it has a seal from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) and Allergy Standards Limited (ASL). "The AAFA and ASL have teamed up to create a certification program to help guide consumers to choose effective allergy and asthma-friendly products including air purifiers," says Dr. Jain.

Other things you can consider when shopping for an air purifier include the following.

Type Of Filter

This can tell you a lot about how effective an air purifier is, like what kinds and size of particles they are able to filter. The filter will usually have a rating that will tell you more about how well it works. "Filter rating systems such as the minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) are commonly used by industry professionals to rate the filter on its ability to remove certain particle sizes from the air," says Dr. Jain. "In general, a higher value on these grading scales indicate a filter capable of removing smaller particles from the air, which is ideal."

“Generally, look for a HEPA filter,” says Dr. Kara Wada, MD, an allergist-immunologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “This filters out particles that are 0.3 microns or larger.” They also filter out the vast majority of dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria, she says, adding that it can also help filter out viral particles.

HEPA filters can typically filter out most kinds of particles, says Dr. Jain, and so they might have MERV ratings of 13, 14, or 15. HEPA filters are ideal for most home settings. For reference, purifiers with a MERV rating of one to four can filter out small particles such as pollen, dust mites, sand, and carpet fibers, while something with a MERV rating of 17-21 can filter out even smaller particles like combustion smoke and carbon dust. These kind of filters can help trap allergens to reduce a person’s exposure while indoors, especially when particles are more likely to be airborne like during vacuuming, using a fan, or using central heating or air conditioning, says Dr. Jain.

What You Need To Filter

Before you make a purchase, you should consider what you're trying to remove from the air. For example, you may need a a filter that works for smaller particles if you're trying to remove smoke. If not, you might be able to get away with a filter with a lower MERV rating for dust mites, pet dander, or other indoor allergens, says Dr. Jain.

If you experience irritation to chemicals like perfumes and other solvents, you may also want to make sure your filter is made with activated charcoal, which can remove the chemical vapors, says Dr. Jain.

Filter Size

"The size of the air purifier appropriate for you will depend on the size of the space you wish to filter," explains Dr. Jain. Most air purifiers contain specs that indicate the size of the room it's able to filter. But ideally, the filter unit should be able to circulate the room air through the filter six times every hour, adds Dr. Jain.

“I recommend people use air purifiers in the rooms that they frequent most often such as the bedroom and main living space,” says Dr. Wada.

Price Point

Some air purifiers are a lot pricier than others, so you may want to keep price point in mind, but that doesn't mean you can't find an effective and affordable option. Just make sure that you pay special attention to the air purifier's product specifications so it works for your needs.

Other Features

Other things you may want to consider are the air purifier's sound, or its ability to also humidify air. Some machines are noisier than others, so if that's something that will bother you, that could help rule out some options. Some machines also contain a humidification feature.

"This may be beneficial during the winter or for patients with an irritated airway or nasal passages from asthma or allergies," says Dr. Jain, though he recommends using these with caution, as they can also promote the growth of dust mites and mold. To avoid this, keep humidity in the house between 30 and 50 percent.

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