What are the pros and cons of using multiple air purifiers?
Investing in your home’s air quality is a big step, and you want to ensure that the system you’re setting up will be right for you and your family.
One of the biggest decisions customers have to make when purchasing their first air purifiers is if they want one or multiple.
There are pros and cons to using multiple and single air purifiers.
What you pick will depend on several factors, including the size and layout of your home, your budget, and how much time you want to put into managing your system.
Pros and Cons of Using Multiple Air Purifiers
To give you a quick comparison of the pros and cons of using multiple air purifiers, refer to the table below:
| PROS | CONS |
| Better airflow around the house | High upfront cost |
| Quieter than a single large air purifier | Difficult to keep track of when to replace the filter |
| Customizable | Filter lifespan and the cost of replacing them |
| Back up purifiers |
Pros of Using Multiple Air Purifiers
Better Airflow
One of the main advantages of using multiple air purifiers is that they work better in homes with more complicated layouts.
If you only have one air purifier, it can be difficult for the air current from that air purifier to reach every part of your home.
This won’t be an issue if you live in one big studio. However, most people live in homes with multiple rooms and hallways often closed off from each other.
When the rooms are closed off, it can be impossible for the air purifier to purify all the air in your home. That is where multiple air purifiers come in.
Using multiple air purifiers will ensure that the airflow is reaching every corner of your house and there are no stagnant areas where toxins can build up.
Quieter
Another pro and con of using multiple air purifiers that you’ll want to consider is the noise level.
When you use one large air purifier, you will notice that they tend to be very loud.
If you want one that is quiet, you will likely have to purchase a high-end model that is significantly over budget.
In contrast, small air purifiers are quieter because they have smaller engines and pump less air every minute.
Even if you have multiple, they will be quieter than one giant air purifier.
Important Tip: Quiet Mode is the Key!
Whether you purchase one air purifier or one hundred, it is best practice to buy one with a quiet or sleep mode.
This mode will lower the motor’s power as low as possible while maintaining good air quality when engaged.
This makes it significantly quieter and is a must if you have babies that are sensitive to sound or frequently work from home and need minimal background noise.
Customization
When you are purchasing an air purifier, you will notice that it comes with customization options.
The most common customization options you can add to your air purifier are an odor filter or toxin filtration.
Depending on where you use your air filter, you may have different needs.
If you use your air filter in the kitchen, it may be most important to have a deodorizing filter. In contrast, a filter in the rest of your home may need a pet dander filter.
If you only use one air filter for your home, then you will have to use the same filters for every room.
This means you will not be able to target specific issues as effectively as you would if you had a different air purifier in every space.
Backup Air Purifiers
Another one of the pros of having multiple air purifiers instead of one is that in the case of an emergency, the other air purifier can take over.
If you only have one air purifier in the home, getting a replacement could take several weeks.
At that time, the pollution in your home could build up, your air quality could worsen, and any negative symptoms you had before installing an air purifier could return.
By always keeping at least two air purifiers running at all times, you should never be in a situation where your house is completely without air purification.
You can order replacement parts or a new air purifier and wait patiently, knowing that your air quality is still monitored and maintained.
Cons of Using Multiple Air Purifiers
High Upfront Cost
When looking at the pros and cons of using multiple air filters, one of the biggest cons is the high upfront cost.
Of course, the cost will never be low if you’re purchasing high-quality air purifiers with HEPA filters.
However, it will go even higher for every additional machine you buy.
Although you will still spend several hundred dollars if you purchase one high-quality machine, buying multiple air purifiers, even with a smaller capacity, will still be more expensive than buying a single device.
Replacing Filters
If you only have one air purifier, you’ll only need to keep track of and maintain the filters in one device.
This is especially easy if you purchase an air purifier with filter monitoring technology.
Once you have multiple air purifiers, your entire system will become more complicated to maintain.
You’ll have to keep track of multiple machines and make sure that you’re changing out the filter cartridges as soon as they become saturated.
Replacing the filters in multiple air purifiers can also become expensive very quickly.
You will have to constantly purchase new filters, maybe even different sizes and types, when you typically only have to buy 1-3 filters every several months.
Filter Lifespan
One of the most expensive pieces of maintenance that you will have to do on your air purifier is the replacement of HEPA filters.
Considering the price of filters, this is one of the more important pros and cons of using multiple air purifiers to consider.
High-quality HEPA filters can run you anywhere from $20 to $100, so most people would like to avoid replacing them more frequently than necessary.
Smaller HEPA filters typically have a much shorter lifespan than larger filters and do not cost significantly less.
While a large HEPA filter may have a lifespan of two years, a smaller filter may only have two years.
Replacing the smaller filter twice as often will eventually add up and neutralize any money-saving effect that picking a smaller filter might have had.
FAQs on Pros and Cons of Using Multiple Air Purifiers
What is the best place for an air purifier?
One of the most common questions new air purifier owners have is where to place their air purifiers.
The answer to this question is simple. If you have only one air purifier in your home, you should place the air purifier in high traffic area.
Placing your air purifier in a high-traffic area will ensure that you are keeping toxins from building up in the areas where you are spending most of your time.
Another good place to put air purifiers is in the bedroom. This can help to reduce nighttime allergy symptoms and improve the overall quality of sleep.
Is it possible to use an air purifier too much?
No, it is not possible to use an air purifier too much. This is because an air purifier is not pulling anything out of the air that should be there.
The filters in an air purifier are designed to catch small particles floating in the air that can cause lung irritation and poor air quality. Some things the air filter may pull out include pet hair, dust, and pollen.
Air purifiers will not pull moisture or oxygen out of the air. This means you can use your air purifier 24/7 without worrying about it negatively impacting your air quality.
Will air purifiers increase your electric bill?
Air purifiers can increase your electric bill, especially if you run them 24/7.
However, the amount that they increase will depend on how much power your individual air purifier needs to run.
Suppose you’d like to minimize the impact on your energy bill. In that case, your best bet is to purchase an air purifier that has an energy-saving mode.
You can program this mode to run while you’re not at home and it will decrease the amount of electricity used during that time.
That way, the air purifier isn’t running at full force when you’re not home.
Alternatively, you can program your air purifier to turn off at work to save energy.
Can air purifiers make a room smell better?
An air purifier can help your room smell better if equipped with the appropriate filters.
Air purifiers usually come with at least two filters, a pre-filter to catch larger debris like pet hair and a HEPA filter to remove dust, pollen, and mold.
These filters work perfectly to remove debris from the air; however, they are not the best at removing odors.
To remove odors, it is recommended that you fit your air purifier with a deodorizing filter in addition to the pre-filter and HEPA filter.
A deodorizing filter will usually contain activated charcoal. The activated charcoal will absorb tiny odor-causing particles that even the HEPA filter can’t pull out of the air.
Conclusion: The Biggest Pros and Cons of Using Multiple Air Purifiers
Before you begin purchasing your home air purification system, it’s crucial to consider the pros and cons of using multiple air purifiers vs. a single air purifier.
Using multiple air purifiers will allow you to better purify all the air in your home, reduce the noise level, and have customized filters for every room.
It also means you will have a backup air purifier if something goes wrong with one of the others.
However, there are also some cons to using multiple air purifiers. You will have a higher upfront purchase cost and will also spend more money on replacement filters over the lifespan of your air purifier.