Popular Science best air purifiers for smoke
Popular Science named the Mod air purifier the best filter change system in its 2024 smoke air purifier roundup.
The Best Air Purifier For Wildfire Smoke
For wildfire smoke, choose an air purifier whose smoke CADR is at least two-thirds of your room's floor area in square feet, then run it continuously while outdoor air quality is poor. Wildfire smoke is mostly PM2.5, which pleated HEPA media captures. Every purifier on this page carries an AHAM-certified smoke CADR.
AirMend™ 150HB
$179.84
Free Shipping: US lower 48
Quiet, High-Powered Air Filtration: removes airborne particles such as pet dander, pollen, dust, mold spores, smoke particles, and other allergens. Best air purifier to clean small to medium spaces like a bedroom, quietly. Turn your AirMend into a wall mounted air purifier with the wall mount accessory. Perfect for home, travel, hotels, etc. Designed, engineered and assembled in USA.
AirMend™ 200HB
$219.84
Free Shipping: US lower 48
Quiet, High-Powered Air Filtration: removes airborne particles such as pet dander, pollen, dust, mold spores, smoke particles, and other allergens. Cleans medium sized spaces quietly. Turn your AirMend into a wall mounted air purifier with the wall mount accessory. Uses the proprietary Oransi energy efficient motor. Designed, engineered and assembled in USA.
AirMend™ 270HB
$249.84
Free Shipping: US lower 48
Quiet, High-Performance Air Filtration for Large Rooms: The AirMend is a tabletop sized air purifier with full room coverage for a large room. Cleans larger spaces quietly of airborne particles such as pollen, dust, pet dander, mold spores, smoke, etc. Turn your AirMend into a wall mounted air purifier with the wall mount accessory. Uses the proprietary Oransi energy efficient motor and assembled in USA.
Mod Jr.
$599.84
Free Shipping: US lower 48
Cleans air large spaces quietly. Has high efficiency filter and activated carbon blend to remove particles such as dust, pollen, pet dander, odors and VOCs. Energy efficient motor and intuitive swipe-touch glass control system. Easily turns any large sized room into a clean one.
Mod+
Free Shipping: US lower 48
Our most powerful air purifier. Has high efficiency filter and activated carbon blend to remove particles such as dust, pollen, pet dander and other fine particles as well as odors and VOCs. Cleans larger spaces quietly. Uses an energy efficient motor and intuitive swipe-touch control system. Easily turns any office, conference room, bedroom, living room, or common area into a clean one.
What kind of air purifier removes wildfire smoke?
Our AirMend HEPA air purifiers provide PM2.5 filtration. This is what you need to breathe easier in wildfire smoke. The HEPA filter captures the smallest smoke particles to keep your air clean.
It's important to choose an air purifier that has enough air flow for your room size. We supply CADR ratings for every HEPA air cleaner. Verified performance by AHAM.
Do you need carbon as well as HEPA for wildfire smoke?
If your main concern is wildfire smoke smell, then it's best to have both HEPA and carbon in your home. This filtration will attack fine particles, VOCs, and odors. It will create a clean, healthy indoor environment. It will have the best air cleaning for those concerns.
Our TrueCarbon air purifiers contain packed activated carbon filters. See lab tests below to see performance in removing odors and VOCs. For cigarette, cigar and cooking smoke rather than wildfire smoke, see our air purifiers for smoke.
See every independent review of an Oransi air purifier, including the criticisms.
What size air purifier do I need for wildfire smoke?
Size by smoke CADR. AHAM's guidance is a smoke CADR at least two-thirds of the room's floor area in square feet, so a 300 square foot room needs a smoke CADR of 200 or higher. In heavy smoke, size up. A higher CADR clears the room faster, which matters when the air outside stays bad for days.
Wildfire Smoke CADR Calculator
Enter your room size to calculate the required Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) for wildfire smoke and get a model recommendation.
Watch – how to choose an air purifier for wildfire smoke
Formaldehyde
Common sources: smoke, building materials, furniture, wood floors, household products, fuel-burning appliances (gas stoves, kerosene space heaters).
Limonene, Toluene, Heptane
Common sources: smoke, paint, paint thinners, adhesives, synthetic fragrances and nail polish.
How do you keep wildfire smoke out of the house?
Stop the smoke getting in before you try to clean it up. Close windows and doors, set your HVAC system to recirculate so it stops pulling outdoor air through the fresh-air intake, and put the highest-rated filter your system accepts in the furnace. Weatherstrip the doors that leak.
Then pick one room to keep clean, usually a bedroom and run an air purifier in it continuously. A smaller sealed room reaches clean air faster than the whole house, and it gives you somewhere to sleep while the smoke lasts.
While the air is bad, avoid adding to it indoors. Burning candles, frying, and vacuuming without a sealed HEPA vacuum all push more fine particles into the air you are trying to clean.
How long should you run an air purifier during wildfire smoke?
Run it continuously, not in bursts. Wildfire smoke keeps entering the house
through gaps while outdoor levels stay high, so a purifier that is switched off loses the ground it gained within an hour or two. Leave it on the highest speed you can tolerate while you are awake, and a lower speed overnight.
Keep running it for a day or two after the outdoor air clears. Fine particles that settled on surfaces get stirred back into the air as the house returns to normal use.
Air Purifier for Wildfire Smoke FAQs
How do you clean wildfire smoke from indoor air?
Run an air purifier sized to the room and keep it running. Wildfire smoke is mostly PM2.5. These are particles small enough to reach deep into the lungs, plus gases and odor compounds. Pleated HEPA media captures the particles; activated carbon handles the gases and the smell. Match the smoke CADR to at least two-thirds of the room's square footage.
What is the best filter for forest fire smoke?
A pleated HEPA filter, because the particle fraction is what carries the health risk. Add activated carbon for the gases and the smoke smell that HEPA media passes through. Every purifier on this page carries an AHAM-certified smoke CADR, which is the figure to compare across brands.
How do I choose the right air purifier for wildfire smoke?
Compare four figures: the AHAM-certified smoke CADR against your room's square footage, the noise level in decibels at the speed you will actually run, ENERGY STAR certification for running cost, and the price and life of the replacement filters. Pre-filters and activated carbon stages add odor and gas removal beyond what HEPA media does.
