Portable Air Cleaners

Types of portable air purifiers

There are two types of devices classified as portable air cleaners: the ones designed for travelling, and the ones meant to be moved from room to room (as opposed to central or whole house air purifiers).

On the whole, these are handy devices that can travel together with you wherever you go. They don't require installation, they are compact and lighweight, easy to store and transport. You certainly need one if you are a constant traveler, if you often change apartments or offices, if you are always on the move, if you have an RV or vacation house.

Technologies of portable air cleaners

Portable air purifiers use exactly same technologies as room air cleaners: HEPA filters, pre filters, activated carbon filters, ionic air cleaners, ozone generators, and UV light. And, of course, they can also combine several technologies in one for better effectiveness. Most of them have vehicle adaptors which lets you use them in RVs or even as car air purifiers. If you are going to take your purifier with you in your trips, it makes sense to save its original box, as they are often designed to be easy to reuse, unless the purifier is supplied with a travel case.

You can also consider buying a portable air cleaner if you are planning to use one purifying system in your entire house or apartment by moving it from room to room and targeting various problems within your home: odors, dust, pet dander, viruses, etc. For this purpose, it's better to buy a device combining multiple technologies and fighting effectively all types of pollutants.

Choosing a portable air cleaner

When buying a portable air purifier for your home or office, there are several points worth considering:

• do you need a portable device for traveling or for using within one house/apartment?
• what is the main airborne contaminant you wish to protect yourself from?
• what is the size of the room where you are going to use the air cleaner: hotel room, vacation home, RV, etc.
• how much can you spend on an air purifier?

The first question will help you decide upon the size, shape and weight of your appliance. Of course, for traveling you will need a lighter and smaller device, which will also cost more.

The second question will help you choose the main technology your air cleaner should exploit. Check the air cleaner comparison chart to find out what technologies are best for combatting various pollutants.

The third point defines the capacity of your air purifying system. Again, the bigger the space to be cleaned, the more expensive the device.

And the last question, probably the most important, is your budget range. You should carefully consider not only the price you are able to pay for the device itself, but also ongoing costs: maintenance, replacement details, filters, UV lamps, electricity costs etc.