Does An Air Purifier Remove Smells?

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Updated January 11, 2023

If you are thinking about purchasing a top-rated air purifier, you may be wondering one thing. Does an air purifier remove smells? Read on to find out.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Air purifiers can be a great tool when it comes to reducing or eliminating foul smells from the home.
  • Make sure to choose an air purifier that has been built to deal with odors. Choose one with a HEPA filter, carbon filter, or odor diffuser.
  • You can also run this purifier continuously as needed, though try to run it at a low setting.

What Causes Foul Odors?

It can be helpful to understand what causes foul odors before you can realize if an air purifier can help. Smells are actually caused by minuscule physical compounds. For instance, the smell of a banana is caused by opening that banana and allowing a compound called geranyl acetate to be released into the air.

An air purifier won’t reduce the smells in the air without appropriate filtration. A good device can remove airborne particles, organic compounds, pollutants, pet odors, and many unpleasant odors. 

Do Air Purifiers Help to Remove Smells?

Absolutely, though results will vary depending on the severity of the odor and the type of air purifier you have. As previously stated, foul odors are caused by small physical particles being released into the air. Air purifiers will draw in these odor-causing particles, trap them, or eliminate them at the point of contact. They can also help reduce certain allergens, especially during allergy season. You’ll find you’ll have lesser asthma attacks.  

How to Reduce Foul Odors in the Home

Here are some tips to help reduce and eliminate nasty smells from your home or office.

Insider Tip

We recommend that if you run your purifier 24 hours a day and seven days a week, you do so at its lowest setting.

Choose the Right Air Purifier

It is important that you choose an air purifier, like the Filtrete Fap02 air purifier that has been purpose-built to reduce and eliminate foul odors. A genuine HEPA filter can help trap these odorous particles, as aroma particles are typically the correct size to be captured and trapped by the air filter. Carbon filters can also be a great choice. You should also consider an air purifier that has been equipped with an odor diffuser of some kind, as these diffusers will release pleasing aromas to combat foul smells in the home. Common diffuser types include lavender and other calming smells.

Having this not only eliminates bad smells and bad odors, but also keeps spaces fresh. Moreover, having a powerful air purifier combined with a diffuser will vastly improve indoor air quality.

Your air purifier can also work with your central air conditioning for maximum efficiency.

Keep That Air Purifier Going

Now that you have chosen an air purifier that has been designed to reduce or eliminate foul odors, don’t be afraid to use it. It is generally considered to be an acceptable practice to leave an air purifier running continuously. We recommend that if you run your purifier 24 hours a day and seven days a week, you do so at its lowest setting. Running it continuously on its highest setting can tax the purifier’s internal components.

Plus, if you’re running a HEPA air purifier at the highest setting all the time, you may notice an unpleasant smell from the device eventually. This means a pre – filter or other filter needs to be cleaned or replaced before using it again. 

Prevention

Some nasty smells are caused by mold, mildew, and fungus. An air purifier will help with these smells, but it can be more efficient in eliminating the root cause of the problem. Try to find the source of the odor and do something about it, preventing further outbreaks in the process.

F.A.Q.

What are the different types of odor-reducing Activated Carbon filters?

When it comes to activated carbon air filters, you are likely to encounter three main types. There are granular activated carbon filters, powdered activated carbon filters, and woven activated carbon filters, otherwise known as HEGA filters.


Can an air purifier remove odors without a carbon filter?

Sure, though some kind of filter will be necessary. Activated carbon filters are considered a highly effective choice for eliminating smells, but HEPA and electrostatic filters are not far behind.


Do air purifiers help with cigarette smoke?

Air purifiers can certainly help with cigarette smoke, as it is heavy enough to easily be pulled into the filter.



STAT: In a study of over 1,000 American adults, 34.7% reported health problems when exposed to fragranced products in the workplace. (source)

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