Why Is My Air Purifier Making A Lot of Noise?

Why Is My Air Purifier Making A Lot of Noise

Most air purifiers today aren’t designed to be 100% quiet.

And if you look at the components of air purifiers, you’ll quickly see why that is.

Most air purifiers feature a fan or a blade, which drives air through the filtration system.

That way, the air in your room gets purified.

For the fan or blade to drive air through the filters, it needs to spin, which produces noise.

And the higher the setting of your air purifier, the faster the fan or blade will spin and the more noise it will make.

While that is common sense, there are times when your air purifier might be making more noise than usual.

If that’s the case with you, in this article, I’ll go over the few reasons your air purifier might be making more noise than normal.

I’ll also detail whether air purifiers are supposed to be loud and what you can do to reduce the noise your unit produces.

Why Is My Air Purifier Producing So Much Noise?

There are several reasons why your air purifier can be loud. And below, I’ll go over some of the most common causes.

You Bought a Loud Model

Did you check your air purifier’s decibel rating before buying it?

I certainly didn’t and had to deal with quite a loud unit for a few years until it was due for a replacement.

While most air purifiers on the market are relatively quiet, some are not.

And having a loud air purifier isn’t ideal if you’re someone like me who can easily get distracted during the day or have trouble falling asleep at night.

Check your unit’s user manual; it should indicate the dBA rating of your air purifier.

If it’s over 60, you’ve just got yourself a loud air purifier without realizing it.

The Fan Speed is High

If you’ve set your air purifier on the highest setting possible, that will cause the fan to spin as fast as possible.

The fastest setting is designed to purify as much air as possible in the shortest amount of time.

If that’s the case, it’s normal for the unit to be much louder than normal.

And since most air purifiers come with several settings, you can simply set your unit to a lower one to reduce its noise.

If you keep your air purifier on 24/7, you can set it to the lowest mode and keep it as quiet as possible.

That way, you’ll get purified air throughout the day and won’t be affected by the fan’s noise.

Damaged, Clogged, or Misplaced Filter

If your filter is damaged, misplaced, or clogged up, there’s a chance that your air purifier can be louder than usual because of that.

So, if you haven’t done any maintenance recently and used your air purifier a lot, you need to take it apart and see what’s wrong.

Even the highest quality filtration system can sustain damage, get misplaced, or get clogged up over time, especially when no regular maintenance is conducted.

How Do I Make My Air Purifier Quieter?

If your air purifier is loud and bothering you, there are many steps you can take to make it quieter.

If I were in your situation, I would:

  • Clean the air purifier as per the suggestions in the user manual
  • Replace the filters if they’re due for replacement
  • Place the air purifier further away from you
  • Put your air purifier on night mode or on the lowest setting

If none of the suggestions above makes your air purifier as quiet as you’d like it to be, chances are that you have a unit that is loud by design.

I would shop around for a quieter air purifier in such a case.

I recommend you check out our guide to air purifier noise levels.

It will help you determine your unit’s decibel rating and what dBA rating air purifier you should look for instead.

Are Air Purifiers Supposed to Be Loud?

Generally speaking, most air purifiers in fine working condition shouldn’t be loud to the point where it’s blatantly obvious.

With that being said, some air purifiers are loud by design.

If that’s the case with your unit, there’s not much you can do but have it on the lowest setting and place it as far away from you as possible.

If you think your unit is getting louder without changing the settings, that can raise some concerns.

If you suspect anything is wrong with the unit, take it apart using the user manual and check for yourself.

If you are not comfortable doing that, take it to a specialist.

And in case your unit is still under guarantee or has insurance, then simply bring it back to the store you bought it from and tell the staff about the noise.

Conclusion

Having a loud air purifier is less than ideal.

An air purifier can be loud for several reasons, including a damaged fan, a clogged filtration system, or you might just have a louder unit.

The air purifier noise reduction steps I shared above should help with the noise.

However, if your unit is loud by design, there’s very little you can do to minimize the noise it produces.

Unfortunately, you’ll have to shop around for an air purifier with a lower dBA rating if that’s the case.