Can an air purifier be too big for a room? If the capacity of the air purifier or the square footage rating is too much for your room, then it will pose a few problems.
The air purifier that you are considering may be too big for your room if its square footage rating exceeds the area of your room by a large number.
See Also: Best Large Room Air Purifier
Bigger or Smaller?
That being said, it is always better to select an air purifier that has a slightly larger square footage rating that your room area. That is, it is better to have an air purifier that is slightly bigger than one that is too small for your needs. If you try to cut costs by purchasing an air purifier that turns out to be too small for your room, then it will defeat the purpose of the device. The unit will not be able to purify the indoor air to a satisfactory degree. On the other hand, an air purifier unit that has a square footage rating slightly bigger than your room size will work perfectly since it has the necessary capacity.
The Right Size
To determine the right size for your room, you should look at the air changes per hour for the unit that you are considering. For this, you will need to calculate the volume of your room in cubic feet. This should be multiplied with air changes per hour. Acceptable air changes per hour range between 2 and 6. So if the room has a volume of 1000 cubic feet, then your unit should be capable of handling 6000 cubic feet of air per hour.
Large Air Purifiers
In case you are thinking about purchasing a big air purifier unit for the entire house, then you need to consider an important issue. A big air purifier can suffice for multiple rooms provided that they are fairly open to one another. This might present a few problems. For instance, if you close the door of the room where the air purifier is installed, then the other rooms will be cut off from the unit. In this scenario, you will basically end up with an air purifier that is far too large for your room.
To avoid such a problem, it is a better idea to have smaller units installed in each room according to their size. This way, the air purifiers will be able to enhance the air quality of all rooms even if they are closed. You will not have to worry about closing the door for any room.