December 22, 2020 8 min read

The need to prioritize breathing clean air can be tricky especially if you live in bustling cities or commercial areas with a lot of smoke. Learning the reasons to buy an air purifier can help maintain your health.

It’s high time to reevaluate our lifestyle choices and consider taking small steps in making sure you are breathing clean and good quality air. Consider these seven reasons to buy the best smoke eater and air purifier for your apartment or your family’s home.

1. You like to smoke cigarettes or cigars

If you’re a person who lives in an apartment or a smaller home but enjoys the occasional cigar, then part of the reasons to buy an air purifier for your home is to give yourself a literal breathing room.

Even though air purifiers won’t be able to completely get rid of the tobacco smoke, it’s advisable to get a portable smoke eater if you’re living in a smaller space and frequently smoke. 

There are air purifiers that provide you with a Clean Air Delivery Rate CADR). This will help determine the volume of air that will pass through the unit, and for tobacco smokers, a minimum of 200 cubic feet of pure air per minute should be cleaned to rid you of dangerous smoke in your apartment.

A man smoking who would need an apartment air purifier

2. Allergies and Asthma are common or present among the people in your household

Families living in large households may want to consider buying a residential smoke eater. This would do wonders for those with allergies in the house, or even one or two household members who have asthma.

Healthwise, smoke eaters would help manage symptoms of asthma and allergies by removing dust, pet dander, smoke, mold, and even pollen from outside. 

Air purifiers will also sanitize your air which is ideal for those with toddlers often caught sneezing. It’s important to find the right smoke eater for your home since research has shown that certain air purifiers are also quite effective for managing asthma symptoms. 

Ensuring your air purifier bodes well for your little ones’ asthma could require you to look into airflow rate, filter design, the size of the allergen particles, and even the location of the air purifier in your home.

3. You worry about your pets’ health

If you’re a smoker and like to light a few cigs here and there, the lingering smoke can affect your pet’s very health, apart from yours. Allergens and other bacteria still seep through the air and still relay second-hand smoke to the animals in the house.

There are certain breeds of animals who can also suffer from asthma and make it harder to breathe around cigar smoke. A study from Colorado State University stated that smoke inhalation in dogs can cause more eye infections, allergies, and respiratory diseases that can lead to nasal cancer in the long run.

As for cats, since they have short noses, inhaling smoke will make them prone to developing lung cancer and even more at risk of lymphoma.

Birds are most especially sensitive to airborne pollutants that can lead to the development of lung cancer and respiratory illnesses like pneumonia. Those who live with feathery pets but like to smoke will risk their birds developing skin, eye, heart, and fertility problems.

An air purifier or even a portable smoke eater for those living in apartments is a must and could do wonders in alleviating second-hand smoke in your pets.

4. You want an odorless and bacteria-free home

Keeping a clean home, especially a spotless and odor-free kitchen is enough of a valid reason to get an air purifier. Bacteria easily grow on various surfaces and even in the environment, we create for ourselves in our homes.

Mold spores, pollens, and other dust mites will only build up and breed more biological impurities without an air purifier.

Many air purifiers have carbon and ultraviolet filters that will help destroy such impurities. Make sure to find the models that are more thorough since some may require higher wattage. Other models need greater exposure to be fully effective because some bacteria are UV-resistant. 

Woman with laptop and air purifier in her apartment

5. You use the fireplace a lot

For those living in colder areas and find themselves cozying up by the fireplace a lot, an air purifier is a great way to eliminate the after-smoke. A chimney may be a way out, but lingering smoke is still inevitable.

With multiple filters being developed, finding the right air purifiers that will push back clean air into your living room or bedroom is one solution. 

Consider HEPA filter-equipped air purifiers that have a multi-layered netting made from very refined fiberglass threads with different sized gaps.

Since it filters out a huge chunk of the large particles from aggressive pollutants like smoke, removing at least 80% of the smoky smell in your beddings is possible for a comfy sleep at night.

6. You live in an area affected by heavy air pollution

Studies have shown that poor outdoor and indoor air quality can be a direct cause of depression. In widely populated and heavily polluted countries like China, citizens have been outraged by the collateral damage the economic boom has brought to their country, jeopardizing their physical health in the process.

With sales in air purifiers increasing in China, along with a sales projection of becoming a $4.3 billion industry by 2023, the need to prioritize air quality should be met now.

Those living in heavily polluted cities like Beijing or California where wildfires are becoming common might be one of the main reasons to buy a smoke eater. Getting clean air from the outdoors may be a struggle but going home to a house with clean and purified air is still possible if you invest in the right kind. 

Consider smoke eaters with Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems since it can handle aggressive and multiple rounds of sanitation. Since they have advanced Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) to show how efficient the unit can clean your smoky air. 

7. Air purifiers can help boost your happiness levels

Another study in Germany found that residents who lived downwind of a large power plant that emitted more polluted air were far less happy in contrast to residents who lived farther from the plant.

In essence, improving your air quality even just at home can help boost your mood and happiness levels, another one of the valid reasons to buy an air purifier. Investing in a high-quality residential smoke eater is a recommended way to invest in your well being and to preserve a sound mental space.

Family with air purifier in their apartment

What to Look for in a Good Air Purifier for Smoke

Air purifiers are a good investment that will not only improve your health and air quality but also pave a way for better living standards. But, many folks still don’t deem this as significant when building a home or when moving into a new place.

This could be because they do not know what to look for in a good smoke eater. Here are a few factors to consider:

  • Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR)

This is a rating that several models of air purifiers and smoke eaters carry. It tells you the volume of air that can pass through the unit. This rating will help you gauge how efficient the model is.

The best smoke eater recommends a CADR of at least 200 or more for tobacco smoke. 

This means that the unit can deliver the equivalent of 200 cubic feet of pure air per minute to a room full of smoke. Some models also reflect the ratings for dust and pollen which is good if you live in a residential neighborhood or the suburbs. 

  • Activated Charcoal Filter 

Air purifiers do more than just clean air and improve the air you breathe into a room. Many models boast extra features that may seem impressive but only a few seem to come through with actual results.

One factor to look into is the mass of the activated charcoal filter, this feature will dictate the level of impact on removing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). 

An effective charcoal filter is said to have a minimum of five pounds to make a statistical impact on air quality, however, they’re not a common feature used in home air purifiers and may have a short life span.

  • High-Efficiency Particulate Arrestance (HEPA)

Finding HEPA certification on your air purifier is a plus and to be honest, as well as a must. Air purifiers with the HEPA stamp boast air filters that can eliminate 99.97% of pollution particles by capturing them in the air. This is usually unseen by the naked eye and can be done by trapping them in a dense mat of fine fibers.

HEPA filters are 0.3 microns in diameter and can take out wildfire smoke particles. This is another apt thing to think about before buying a cigarette smoke eater for those living in an area near forest fires or heavy smokers.

  • UV Light

Another factor to look into when finding an effective air purifier is UV Light. It’s supposed to break down biological impurities in the air and rid you of the cigar smoke or cigarette smoke you’ve been inhaling.

Some of these impurities include mold and bacteria which help create a germ-free home. However, a tip about UV Light is that it won’t directly remove dust and dander alone, which means you would need a separate filtering device.

How Many Air Purifiers Do You Need for Your Apartment?

The number of air purifiers you need for your apartment depends on two factors: how big the area of your home is and what the capacity of the air purifier you’re considering is. Naturally, the larger the house, the higher will be the amount of air that needs to be cleaned. And the capacity, airflow, or CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) number of the air purifier determines the amount of air it can move and clean. 

Therefore, both, the square footage of the apartment and capacity of the purifier need to be considered before determining the number of required air purifiers for the apartment. In addition consider the type of matter or particulates the purifier can clean: smoke, mold, and others.

However, for a small sized apartment up to 500 sq. ft., a single air purifier may suffice. However for larger homes, multiple devices would be more appropriate. Consider having at least 3 purifiers - one for each room: bedroom, living room, and kitchen.

Having a separate air purifier for each room has another advantage. It would help you choose the most fitting equipment for each room, depending on its size and function. For instance, in the bedroom, it would be ideal to fit an air purifier with low noise and the ability to turn off the light display. On the other hand, for the nursery, choose one that can filter out even the fine particles and can be fitted high - out of reach.

Generally speaking, for optimum air quality, a HEPA air purifier for your apartment is recommended. It can purify the air in a highly effective manner, even removing mold spores from the air, besides other harmful contaminants.

Getting better air quality may not be 100% attainable with the heightened effects of climate change. However, making it a priority to do more for our lungs' health is optimal, so invest in a good quality smoke eater.

Hopefully, we gave you enough reasons to buy an air purifier to help attain better air quality for you and your loved ones at home. Did you find this article helpful? Share it or let us know in the comment section below.

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