Air purifiers in Singapore It’s back.Yup, that overcast you see out your window isn’t rain clouds – it’s haze.Breathing in smog can be harmful; long-term side effects can include respiratory problems like chronic asthma.If you’re outside, masking up with N95 masks will help to block out the damaging PM2.5 particles.
Staying indoors is ideal, but that doesn’t mean you’re free from haze completely.The solution – air purifiers that don’t just get rid of odours, but clear up dander, pollen, and other invisible particles so you’re breathing in breezy, fresh, sterile air.Here are the best air purifiers you can find in Singapore.
Most of the purifiers below come with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, which is reputed to trap airborne viruses .
What should I look out for before buying an air purifier? Factor Reason Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) ACH determines how often an air purifier cleans the air in a room within an hour – higher the number means higher frequency.Go for a higher number for bigger rooms.Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) CADR shows volume of air in cubic feet per minute that is cleaned of particles of a certain size.
A higher CADR number means more efficiency.Go for a number that’s about ⅔ the size of your room.E.g.A 120sqft room should use an air purifier with CADR of 80.
Filters HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) : Preferred filter as it catches 99.95% of dust, pollen, viral, and bacterial particles as small as 0.3 micrometres in size.Activated carbon or charcoal: Catches odours and volatile organic compounds to reduce potentially toxic vapours and smells.UV: Eliminates viruses and bacteria with use of a UV-C light.Portability Mini air purifiers are preferred if you have small rooms and want to purify air one room at a time.
Do I need to close the windows and doors when using an air purifier? Yes, you should close your windows and doors when you’re operating your air purifier.When your windows and doors are open, they let in a draft of unfiltered air far more than the air purifier can deal with.
1.AirFree P Series Air purifier that uses heat to destroy airborne viruses
The AirFree P150 comes in black and serves rooms up to 60m² in size, while the other models in the P series come in white and serve rooms from 16-32m².
Image credit: FJ Benjamin
Most air purifiers sieve out air particles with a filter, but the AirFree P series is an air steriliser which doesn’t.Made all the way in Portugal, these tiny home appliances are built with the patented Thermodynamic TSS™ Technology that destroys airborne viruses and microorganisms at a heat level of 200°C, thus ensuring 99.99% efficiency in “cleaning” the air of icky particles.
Rest assured that the air is cooled before being released, so you don’t have to worry about it heating up your room.
Image credit: FJ Benjamin
This filterless air steriliser is great for those who want something maintenance-free, as you won’t have to worry about keeping track of your filter lifespan.
Additionally, the AirFree consumes very little energy – about 50W per hour – so you can safely let it chug away throughout the night without fear of it overheating or wreaking havoc on your electricity bill.
In addition, the AirFree P works in complete silence, perfect for white-noise haters at bedtime.To set the right ambience for sleep, you can even dim the lights to your desired brightness with a simple touch.
If you’re looking for an air purifier for your little kiddo’s room, you can also consider the AirFree Babyair model, which comes with a stars and moon light projection in three colours – blue, green and red.
Price: $109 (U.P.$249)
Get the AirFree P Model Air Steriliser .
2.IKEA UPPÅTVIND Air Purifier Small & portable air purifier to save space
Image credit: IKEA
Another addition to IKEA’s ever-expanding catalogue of home essentials is the UPPÅTVIND Air Purifier .
In true Scandinavian fashion, the purifier comes in a minimalistic design that’ll blend in with your other furniture.
It also only weighs around 2kg, which means it isn’t too cumbersome to move from room to room.Plus, you can lay it on its side or on its back, depending on the layout of your room.
Don’t let its affordable price tag fool you; the UPPÅTVIND Air Purifier doesn’t scrimp and comes installed with a replaceable particle filter which rids your home of approximately 99.5% of small airborne particles.
Price: $49.90
Get the UPPÅTVIND Air Purifier .
3.TruSens Air Purifier Wide air circulation range with UVC-light When you invest money in an air purifier, you don’t always want to stick close to it just to get a breath of fresh air.
Instead of shooting air straight out as normal purifiers do, which might leave stagnant spots in your room with little air circulation, the TruSens Air Purifier takes it up a notch.It splits the air into 2 streams with PureDirect dual airflow technology.This ensures that clean air is not just a luxury enjoyed by those in the direct trajectory of the vertical airflow.
Image credit: TruSens
For those keen on knowing the exact pollutants in the air around you, you’re in luck, too.The purifier comes with a separate sensor that captures all that data, even if you place the latter all the way across the room.
Image credit: TruSens
The sensor will get to work measuring pollutants like ultrafine particles, smoke, paint fumes and even bacteria and viruses – a boon in today’s climate.Then, it’ll transmit the results right back to the purifier so that you can monitor air quality through a colour-coded display, or have settings adjusted automatically.
The Odour & VOC filter.
Image credit: TruSens
All purifiers come with a standard HEPA filter, which includes 360-degree filters that take in pollutants from all directions, plus self-sterilisation with UV light.You can also, however, customise your purifier to your needs with its array of high-performance speciality filters.
The Allergy & Flu filter ensures even airborne viruses like H1N1 can’t escape the clutches of the purifier.
Alternatively, the Odour & VOC filter would be perfect if you can’t stand greasy cooking odours.Pet owners who love their fur-baby to bits but are not fans of the fur they shed can also consider the Pet filter to rid your home of unwanted smells or allergens.
Those with bigger rooms (BTO 4-rooms and larger) can opt for the Z-3000 models, which cover up to 70 square metres, while those on a budget can consider the Z-2000 and Z-1000 ranges.
Price: From $149.90 (U.P.$171.90)
Find out more about the TruSens Air Purifier .
Get it from TruSens Air Purifier .
4.
Fellowes Aeramax Pro AM 2 Adjusts to room occupancy & air quality The Fellowes Aeramax Pro AM 2 is a sleek air purifier that doesn’t take up too much space .
Image credit: Fellowes
A compact air purifier like the Aeramax Pro AM 2 from Fellowes is more than enough for our rooms and home offices, as it’s most effective in filtering spaces up to 25sqm – that’s slightly bigger than the size of an average HDB room.
It can also detect how many people are in the room and adjust its efficiency.If you’re taking your lunch break, the Aeramax Pro AM 2 will know you’ve left the room and go on standby mode to conserve energy.Similarly, if you’re entertaining a group of friends, it will increase the airflow rate to purify the air quicker.
You can even wall-mount the Aeramax Pro AM 2
Image credit: Fellowes
The True HEPA filters will also get rid of up to 99.9% of the airborne contaminants like virus particles, while the antimicrobial treatment ensures that bacteria can’t grow on the filters.You can also get an activated carbon filter if you need to filter out odours and volatile organic compounds that come from paints, cleaning materials like bleach, and cigarette smoke from your neighbours.
P.S.Each purchase of the Fellowes Aeramax Pro AM 2 comes with an additional hybrid filter that is half activated carbon, half HEPA filter, worth $80.
Price: $972, $1030 with stand
Get the Fellowes Aeramax Pro AM 2
5.
Levoit Core Mini Air Purifier Also works as an aromatherapy diffuser Image credit: Levoit
For those who prefer to avoid chunky items in their homes, the Levoit Core Mini Air Purifier is a mini-air purifier that fits on the bedside table.If you spend plenty of time in dreamland, this one makes little to no noise on its low fan speed setting.
Despite its small size, this packs a punch.Not only is it equipped with a HEPA filter to trap airborne particles, it also comes with an aroma pad to double up as an aromatherapy diffuser.Just drizzle a couple of drops of essential oils and your room will be smelling great in no time.
Price: $69 (U.P.
$89)
Get the Levoit Core Mini Air Purifier .
6.EuropAce Melody Smart Dehumidifier Air purifier & dehumidifier in a retro speaker design
Image credit: EuropAce
Air purifiers and dehumidifiers often stand out and clash with your interior design.That’s not a problem with the EuropAce Melody Smart Dehumidifier .The appliance looks like a retro amplifier and comes in brown or cream, allowing it to blend in with many homes without looking like another bulky black bin.
Inside the aesthetic exterior is a dehumidifier that will help dry your hanging laundry faster, an ioniser that makes airborne particles like dust and allergens clump together, and a washable mesh air inlet filter that captures said dust particles and stops them from reentering your home’s air.
Price: $449
Get the EuropAce Melody Smart Dehumidifier .
7.Xiaomi Mijia Smart Air Purifier 6 Can purify the air in your home in 3.5 mins
Image credit: Xiaomi
If you’ve outgrown the compact Xiaomi Air Purifier 4, the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Air Purifier 6 is the beefier upgrade.
It has a particle clean air delivery rate (CADR) of 443m³/h and can cover rooms of up to 50m², so it can handle a whole living room.Xiaomi claims it can clear the air in a 10m² room in just 3.5 minutes, which is probably faster than it takes you to find the remote.
Instead of 1 lonely sensor, this one packs in 5: PM1, PM2.5, dust, temperature and humidity.The PM1 sensor picks up ultra-fine particles that are small enough to slip deep into your lungs, while the dust sensor flags bigger nasties like pollen.
Everything shows up on the LCD colour display, so you can watch the numbers drop in real time.
Behind the display is a 5-layer filtration system: a primary filter for pet fur and large particles, a high-efficiency filter that traps 99.98% of 0.3μm particles, activated carbon for odours, a UV light array and a negative ion generator.According to Xiaomi’s lab tests, it removes 99.99% of H1N1 viruses and about 98% of formaldehyde in an hour.That last one is handy if you’ve just collected your keys and are doing renovations, since new furniture and fresh paint tend to leave that “new home” smell.
Price: $236.72
Get the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Air Purifier 6 .
8.
Air Supply Personal Ionic Air Purifier Portable with 50h battery life
Image credit: Leader Radio Technologies
The uber-compact Air Supply’s Personal Ionic Air Purifier is a lightweight, portable nifty gadget that churns out clean air wherever you are.
It comes with an attached neck strap so it’s easy to bring out when you run errands – its battery is touted to last up to 50 hours so there’s no need to worry about it running flat mid-journey either.
Price: $59 (U.P.$129)
Get the Air Supply Personal Ionic Air Purifier .
Maintenance tips for air purifiers Maintaining your air purifier is pretty simple.Just ensure that you don’t place it too close to the wall so that you don’t obstruct the air circulation and cause blockage.Ideally, it shouldn’t be nearer than 2 feet to the wall.
And, of course, make sure to clean and replace your air purifier’s filters regularly – check your manual’s instructions on how to do this.
Where to buy air purifiers in Singapore.