• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About This Site
  • About Me
  • E-Booklets
  • Resources
  • Consulting
  • Site Navigation

My Chemical-Free House

A Guide to Creating a Healthy Home

  • Healthy Building
    • Insulation
    • Windows & Window Treatments
    • Glues & Caulks
    • Grout & Mortar
    • Drywall
      • Drywall Mud & Wall Texture
    • Showers
    • Doors
    • Pressed Wood Products
    • Sheathing & Subfloor
    • Pipes
    • Alternative Building Systems
    • Non-Toxic Prefabs
    • Building for the Chemically Sensitive
    • How to Test Materials
  • Healthy Interiors
    • Flooring
      • Gym Flooring
      • Flooring Underlayment
    • Kitchen Cabinets
    • Countertops
    • Mattresses
    • Sofas
    • Leather Furniture
    • Desks and Chairs
    • Sealers
      • Paint
      • Mineral Paints
      • Linseed & Tung Oil
      • Natural Wood Pigments
      • Natural Plaster
      • Natural Countertop Sealers
      • Concrete Sealers
      • Wood Finishes
    • Bathroom
      • Bathroom Vanities
    • Rugs
    • Wallpaper
    • Kitchen Appliances
    • Heaters
    • Reduce Flame Retardants
    • Reduce New Home Offgassing
    • Reduce Fragrance & Smoke
    • Air Purifiers for VOCs
    • Cleaning Products & Air Fresheners
    • Personal Care Products
    • Green Certifications
    • Gift Guide
  • Exteriors & Gardens
    • Decking Materials
    • Deck Stains
    • Deck Cleaners
    • Exterior Paints
    • Sealant for Concrete Birdbaths
  • Tiny Homes & Trailers
    • List: Simple Homes & Shelters
    • List: Trailers & RVs
    • List: Emergency Housing
    • Cargo Van Conversion
    • All Metal Tiny Home
    • Simple Insulated Shelter
    • All Aluminum Travel Trailer
    • Cargo Trailer Conversion
    • Teardrop Trailer
    • Tiny House Systems
    • Flooring for Vans, Trailers
    • Composting Toilets
    • How to Get Rid of That New Car Smell (Step by Step)
    • Building for Chemically Sensitivity
  • Mold Prevention
    • A Detailed Mold Preventative Build
    • How “High Performance” can Help Prevent Mold
    • The Causes of Mold in Tiny Houses
    • Mold Testing Overview
    • Ozone to Kill Mold
    • Air Purifiers for Mold
  • Extreme Sensitivities
    • Healing MCS – Interview with Solona
    • How I Recovered from Chemical Sensitivities
    • Emergency Housing for Chemical and Mold Sensitivity

How to Size an Air Purifier for Your Home: Calculate the Size of an Air Filter Needed

August 24, 2019 by Corinne 5 Comments

If you are wondering what size or how “strong” or how “big” of an air purifier you need, these two calculators will help.

To properly size an air purifier or filter for your home or room, the main value you are looking for on an air purifier’s specs is how much air it moves. This will be provided by the company as the CFM (Cubic ft/Minute) value. Think of this as the fan size.

I have two posts on air purifiers – one on PCO types and one on HEPA/Carbon to help you compare models once you have sized them with these charts.

close up of a white air purifier system cleaning pollution in living room

The First Calculator: Calculate What Size Air Purifier you Need 

In the first calculator, you will find out what CFM value you need for your room size.

You need to add your desired or ideal Air Exchange Per Hour (ACH). This is how many times you want the unit to overturn (and filter) the air in the room per hour.

This calculator will tell you what (minimum) CFM value you are looking for and then below is a list of air filters that meet that requirement.

This post contains affiliate links. Upon purchase, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Air Purifier to Choose based on Result of Required CFM from the Calculator

(Note if the required CFM is over 400 you will need more than one unit, I recommend calculating each room at a time, not the whole house).

PCO Models Best for Mold Reduction:

Airocide CFM 14
Molekule CFM 80
GermGuardian AC4825 CFM 125
Vornado PCO375 CFM 145
Vornado PC0575 CFM 184

Here is the Post with Detailed Comparison of These Models

High Carbon (and other Sorbent Material) Best for High Offgassing: 

Amaircare 3000 225 CFM
Austin Air Healthmate Plus CFM 250
EnviroKlenz CFM 250
IQ Air Multigas CFM 300
E.L. Foust 400 Series CFM 380
AllerAir AirMedic Pro 5 Ultra CFM 400
Airpura C600-DLX 440 CFM

Here is the Post with Detailed Comparison of these Models

The Second Calculator: Calculate How Much Air is it Cleaning

Below, the second calculator can tell you how many air exchanges per hour you are getting from an air purifier you already have, or one you are looking to buy, based on the size of your room.

Most experts recommend a minimum of 4 ACH. ASHRAE (The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) recommends a minimum of 4 ACH for patient rooms in hospitals, 5 for intensive care units and 25 for operating rooms.

These two calculators helped you find out your ACH to CFM calculation and your CFM to ACH calculation.


Corinne Segura is a Building Biologist with 8 years of experience helping others create healthy homes.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Did you find this post helpful? If so you can buy me a coffee to support the research behind this blog. Thank you!

Filed Under: Healthy Interiors, Mold-Free Interiors Tagged With: healthy interiors

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karina says

    January 15, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    These are very helpful! Thank you! My living, dining room, and kitchen are open to each other, some what. The wall between them doesn’t connect to the ceiling. Would I consider them one big room? We also have a wood stove in our house for our main source of heat. Should I be estimating more cleaning power for that?
    Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  2. Elizabeth says

    October 24, 2021 at 4:48 pm

    Clicking on the calculators brings me to site for creating calculators–unless (which is possible!), I’m doing something wrong. Thanks

    Reply
    • Corinne says

      October 28, 2021 at 3:21 pm

      It only allows a certain amount of views per month and then it maxes out!

      Reply
  3. Elinor Nosker says

    September 22, 2020 at 8:37 am

    So Corinne, did you find any certain foods or supplements that were helpful to your recovery? We need to network ideas such as those. I happen to have one MTHFR genetic marker that makes my detoxification system not adequate. Poor nutrition in earlier years also caused health problems. Thank you for providing the helpful air filter information. Online searches just don’t create a 100% effective source of needed information.

    Reply
    • Corinne says

      September 23, 2020 at 1:40 am

      I also had a period of poor nutrition. This is about the supplements and other interventions that brought down my MCS from extreme to mild https://www.mychemicalfreehouse.net/2019/12/how-to-bring-down-mold-and-chemical-sensitivities.html

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Stay up to date with the Latest!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

ABOUT ME

Hi, I’m Corinne Segura, I hold a certificate in Building Biology, and a certificate in Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, among other credentials below. I have 8 years of experience helping people create healthy homes.

More about my educational credentials

Footer

Sitemap

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, Disclosure

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Resources

Business inquiries

Copyright © 2023 · Corinne Segura | My Chemical-Free House Consulting