If you are wondering what size or how “strong” 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.
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.
Did you find this post helpful? If so you can buy me a coffee to support the research behind this blog. Thank you!
Karina says
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!
Elizabeth says
Clicking on the calculators brings me to site for creating calculators–unless (which is possible!), I’m doing something wrong. Thanks
Corinne says
It only allows a certain amount of views per month and then it maxes out!
Elinor Nosker says
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.
Corinne says
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