IQAir - Atem X

Iqair has been great

I have the Atem X. 1-8 speeds. 1-2 are silent, 3 is quiet, 4 barely noticeable, 5-6 a moderate fan noise, 7-8 a strong whooshing sound, but nothing a pair of ANC headphones or earplugs doesn't quiet. I usually have it between 2 and 4 and it does a great job.

Have two different iQair purifiers (on different floors of our house). Have lasted forever and do a phenomenal job. Highly recommend. https://www.iqair.com/

Most air purifiers produce more of a rushing air sound, which is different to a large fan. And many can be quite loud on their top settings—examples are IQAir, most Medify Air models, and Winix. You could [build your own Corsi-Rosenthal box](https://engineering.ucdavis.edu/news/science-action-how-build-corsi-rosenthal-box), which is powered by a box fan. See also the related subreddit: r/crboxes If you want to listen for yourself, you can go through HouseFresh's YouTube playlist of air purifier sound tests. A few models may not be available in the USA or have been discontinued. Link: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOuKERCL33BQ1VAbZmUMzY6sY8MYsfO1r](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOuKERCL33BQ1VAbZmUMzY6sY8MYsfO1r)

Are you looking to move one purifier between your bedroom and living room? I would *not* recommend Airpura or AllerAir unless you have a serious gas/vapor/odor/VOCs issue that can't be mitigated with source control or ventilation. In that case, you'd choose one of their heavyweight carbon purifiers. Airpura and AllerAir do make more particulates-focused units, but they don't list particulate Clean Air Delivery Rates (CADRs). They're also known for be very loud. Both are Canadian companies that manufacture largely in Canada and some components in the USA. Levoit is lower quality than IQAir and Coway. The [IQAir Atem X](https://www.iqair.com/us/products/air-purifiers/atem-x) you linked in a comment is high quality and has CADRs in the 400s CFM, but it's very expensive per CADR. As for "True" HEPA, I would say that listing the standard and filtration efficiency at Most Penetrating Particle Size (MPPS) gives you the best idea of performance. There are several HEPA standards. But I don't think there's a significant difference between brands on this front; they will still clean your air. The [Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty](https://cowaymega.com/products/mighty-ap-1512hh) you linked is commonly recommended. It's a good price point and attainable for many. But the Mighty has a few drawbacks like being less energy efficient, somewhat loud, and occasionally people have reported balance issues (e.g., purifier "walking" across a floor). The [Coway Airmega 400](https://cowaymega.com/products/airmega-400) was probably recommended in part because it's "oversized" for your bedroom. Oversizing allows you to run the unit on a quieter setting while hopefully maintaining CADRs. ➡️ If you're expecting one purifier to clean both the living room and bedroom areas, I would also recommend the Coway Airmega 400. The highly upgraded pick would be the [Coway Airmega ProX](https://cowaymega.com/products/airmega-prox). Top Smoke CADR is 568 CFM. It has wheels so you can move it around easily and it shows PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 concentrations. Obviously the ProX is fairly big. Keep in mind that CADRs apply to the highest airflow speed/setting *only*. Lower settings have lower CADRs, which reduces cleaning effectiveness. Right now there aren't any fantastic sales directly from Coway. But you can use the discount codes **COWAYMEGA10** or **FORYOU10** for 10% off most items.

IQair.com. …our mold test numbers have gone way down since getting it. The air SMELLS different.

As others have said: IQAir… we have three of these (3500 sq ft house).. we set the timer to crank up the speed overnight, run on low during the day. Main thing is that these go WAY beyond basic HEPA, and our allergies noticed the difference immediately. We spent a lot of money on various HEPA filters with mixed results until we found these. They are medical grade filters. Austin Air offers a unit with 30 pounds of charcoal, so that’s an option too, if you are concerned about VOCs. But it seems like the small particulates in wildfire smoke is the bad stuff. Good luck and stay safe!

Yes to IQAir - didn’t really help allergies or sleeping until I went past HEPA. These are the best.

+1 $70 duct taped cr box outperformed $1000 iqair. https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/diy-air-purifier-effectiveness/

IQair is the best. Blueair are made in China and mostly emphasize on looks

I can clearly tell when my IQAIRs are running, I sleep so much better. You might already have good air quality Fixing your furnace filter and central filtration will make a bigger difference than buying an air purifier

I keep my IQAir on medium 24/7 and kick it up to the highest setting after housework or during weather advisories (smoke, wind, high particulate, etc). When I lived in the house I was exposed to toxic mold—after I found out about it, of course—I had several (different brand) purifiers on the highest setting 24/7, and though they looked like hell after switching out the filters about once a month, did an extremely good job with professional AQI tests in the interim before the landlord let me out of the lease.

No idea about Merv 16 since I just buy what they have so I don’t have to think about anything, lol, but I use and travel with their car filter—bringing it into hotel rooms and letting it filter in different areas before going inside. Not sure how well it filters all the air in the room, but it’s a relatively small space, so I’m willing to take the chance since otherwise there would be no filtration. I am thinking about buying one of their large round models for the same reason since it would be easier to store at the side of the car instead of a bulky IQAir and would know the filtration would be on point. We actually have two IQAirs: one upstairs and one downstairs. The lower level is far larger than the second level, but they both seem to do a good job, especially on the highest setting (it does an incredible job filtering after-dinner “food smells” from the kitchen, too!).

I run 3 filters, Austin and IQAIR, in each of 2 spaces - one 300 square feet the other 600 square feet. If the air is poor outside my Purple Air sensors will still show green. However there are so many chemicals in wildfire smoke, particularly if structures have burned, that they don't get everything. I am sensitive to terpenes and right now they don't help with the Camphor tree flowers. So they can greatly improve air quality but don't expect all VOCs to be removed from the air.