Having clean air at home all the time is so important and one great way in doing so is using air purifiers. Nonetheless, you must know how you can use your air purifier to the best of its ability.
This is to make sure that you and your housemates get as much clean air as possible at home. Further, a part of achieving all of this is understanding when & how long you can use one.
This leads us to the main question of this article, can air purifiers run 24/7? In general, air purifiers are intended to operate for 24 hours every day – just like a fridge does. Nevertheless, there are exceptions. There are some air purifiers like ozone generators that may only be used when there are no people around.
On the other hand, devices like some car and desk air purifiers are designed for use only when there are people around.
Provided the way an air purifier works, it just makes sense that you can leave it on every day, the whole day.
Mainly, since the air at home is changing constantly as you move around, your device necessarily needs to be on 24 hours to deal with all the different pollutants, which get inside your house and get mixed in your indoor air all throughout the day.
Moreover, each time you turn it off, it doesn’t take too long before the quality of air will drop to the same level, like it was before it’s cleaned.
This just means that your air purifier needs to start from the beginning to clean your air.
Further, contingent on the size of the room and the type of device, it might take anywhere from 3 minutes – 3 hours for your device to clean the air in your home completely once again.
If you ask me, can air purifiers run 24/7, I would say yes. I would choose to keep my air purifier on the whole day to make sure that the air in my room is clean all the time.
What Type of Air Purifier Will Run for 24 Hours?
The best type of air purifier for 24-hour use is the one that doesn’t produce any by-products and needs the easiest and slightest maintenance. HEPA air purifiers and Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) air purifiers are the ones that can run 24 hours.
Actually, HEPA air purifiers work by way of sucking air via a filter that traps contaminant particles in the air, which are as minute as 0.1 micros. The pollutants that HEPA filter purifiers may trap include all sorts of pet dander, pollen, and dust. Great HEPA filters may also have activated carbon filters with them that enable them to rid of any odors through the absorption of odor-causing gases and air particles.
Nevertheless, if you have issues with airborne bacteria, volatile organic compounds, viruses, and mold, then HEPA devices wouldn’t really help you, regardless of how you run them.
This is now where the PCO air purifiers enter. They work by utilizing wide spectrum UV light, which is focused on thin titanium oxide films that act as a catalyst.
PCO purifiers are designed for 24-hour use and have the capacity to clean air so well in huge spaces. Dissimilar to that of the HEPA purifiers, PCO does not just trap contaminants, they also destroy and burn them –this includes odor-causing particles.
Regardless of what machine you get, you should ensure that it has an automated functionality. This will not just save you time, but also costs!
Air Purifiers That Aren’t Good For 24-Hour Use
You already know by now which air purifiers are the best for 24-hour use. Having said that, I believe it is also important that you know which purifier you need to avoid.
Bear this in mind – do not ever think of buying ozone generators and ionic air purifiers if you are looking for devices that you may use for 24 hours.
The issue with these two devices is that they actually produce ozone as the by-product of their process of purification.
When it is inhaled long enough, the ozone may irritate your lungs, cause headaches, shortness of breath, as well as all kinds of breathing problems, specifically if you have any preexisting respiratory conditions like bronchitis or asthma.
That is how dangerous it is to run ozone generators or ionic purifiers all day at home.
Moreover, aside from creating ozone, most ionic purifiers also produce thin dust film on the surfaces all over the house.
This will give you additional cleaning effort and the thin sheet of dust might contain contaminants, which might be reintroduced into the air you breathe if you don’t clean it up properly.
Surely, you don’t want this sort of device to operate in your house for 24 hours.
On the other hand, ozone generators, provided you don’t run them all day, actually serve a vital role in cleaning the air.
The ozone that they produce is quite dangerous, yet it is only because of their strong cleaning and antibacterial properties.
Remember, stay away from ozone-based and ionic ones if you want to have an appliance that you may run all day long.
How Much Does It Cost To Run An Air Purifier All Day?
Both the HEPA and PCO purifiers come with different running costs, but the major costs you need to consider are the parts replacement costs and the energy costs.
From an energy consumption point-of-view, most of these two kinds have rates between 60 watts & 300 watts. Hence, they consume lesser energy than a television, fridge, or laptop might consume when left on the whole day.
PCO ones are energy-efficient as they consume only a little electricity. You can compute your energy costs by following this formula: Watts * US$/KwH *Hours of Operation. Or you can use this calculator.
The watts are on the device box, the KwH is how much you get charger every kilowatt-hour of electricity where you live, and the hours of operation, you can just put 24 hours and multiply it by 365 for the whole day of a year.
On the other hand, for the spare parts, the filters of HEPA purifiers may cost over $200 from as cheap as $20, varying on your air purifier. For the PCO purifier, you need to replace its reaction chambers and it’ll be around $150. The replacement parts costs will depend on how often you need to replace any parts of your device.
Putting these two costs together, for a clad device, it mustn’t cost you more than $100 every device.
When it comes to electricity consumption and if you happen to replace parts per year, you might be able to operate your device at below $250 every year, including the electricity costs.
These are basically the main cost dynamics of running your air purifier all day and all year.
It Is Ok to Leave an Air Purifier On All Night While Asleep?
As you have read above, there are some dangers of using ionic air purifiers and ozone generators. Likewise, PCO and HEPA purifiers have dangers too.
Just like any other electronic device, it may also fail. In fact, there are some instances that they blow up due to excessive usage.
The best thing that you can do to avoid any danger is to follow the instructions in the device’s manual thoroughly.
If you are going to leave your air purifier all day or while you sleep, you shouldn’t put it next to wet parts of the home. This is important in avoiding short-circuit. You may also need to keep it out of the way of your children or pets.
In this regard, leaving your PCO or HEPA all day long is safe, just like leaving your television, air-condition, fridge, and microwave on.
What’s more, if you’re using either PCO or HEPA purifier in your bedroom, rest assured that it’ll not be bad for the health.
It is never dangerous to leave your air purifier on all day long or while you are sleeping.
Final Say
If you really want clean air at home, looking for an effective air purifier that is specially designed to run all day long is very important. Having essential knowledge about how you should choose for your needs is necessary, as well.
The guidelines above may help you a lot in choosing the purifier that you can run at home for 24 hours the whole week.
Also, it should ensure that you and your loved ones are protected against any airborne pollutants like pet dander, dust, and pollen. After all, prevention is better than cure.
