Leaving your air purifier on at all times seems like the easiest and most logical thing to do. It’ll guarantee that your indoor air quality is top-notch at all times.
Yet, before you do just that, you must ask yourself, ‘’should I leave the air purifier on all day or not?’’ Have no worries, as we’ll discuss that in detail in a bit.
Short Answer
The answer to this question will end up being it depends! Nevertheless, if you want to know the answer to ‘’can you run an air purifier 24/7?’’, then the answer is yes. As a matter of fact, these devices are primarily designed to run all day long.
Why is that? You might ask. Simply because the moment you turn off your air purifier, the atmosphere around you will start collecting and accumulating pollen, allergens, VOCs, dust, and all sorts of foreign particles that take the quality of the atmosphere down quite a few notches.
But what’s the reason that outside air seeps into your home even when all inlets are closed? That’s due to the presence of countless places that you might not even think of that let air in. These places include the seams of your windows and door frames.
Additionally, if you have exhaust fans connected to the outside when they’re off, they’ll be letting the outside air in. So, if your goal is to keep the indoor air quality at a certain level at all times, then, by all means, you should leave your air purifier on 24/7.
Still, there are some aspects that you have to factor in so that you’re doing that wisely and without harming yourself, your device, or the environment.
Types of Air Purifiers
In general, there are two major types of air purifiers, and that depends on the mechanism through which they purify the air.
Let’s talk about the first type, and that is the more common one, which circulates the air so that it passes through a set of filters. These filters work on trapping all of the contaminants into their construction, allowing clean, fresh air out from the other side.
These devices can easily be left to work freely for the entire day. Why is that? Because they have no output other than fresh air, they don’t create any gases or chemicals, and they don’t release anything into the atmosphere.
Consequently, they’re safe. These air purifiers have a few subcategories that you can choose from. Nevertheless, the subcategories are divided according to the type of filter installed inside the device.
In a nutshell, we’ve got the HEPA filters which are great for bacteria and other types of allergens; hence they help significantly with health problems such as asthma and allergies. So, in this case, we would recommend letting them work continuously, especially through the night, so that people affected with such ailments can sleep more comfortably.
We also have activated carbon filters which are great with VOCs and other pollutants as they work on dust particles, mold spores, and all molecules that might create foul odors. These will be great for crowded places where there are kids, pets, and food being cooked. This way, they’ll work on all sources together and remove them.
The endpoint here is that one of them works better for nighttime, and the other works better for daytime. Having two different kinds of air purifiers isn’t economically friendly. Don’t worry, though, as manufacturers nowadays focus on producing units with a variety of filters within the same device.
Subsequently, they manage to cover all types of foreign particles simultaneously and without the need to purchase more than one device for the same job.
Now, let’s jump to the other general category of air purifiers: ozone air purifiers. These devices don’t work by circulating the air through them; rather, they neutralize the particles present in the air.
As a result, they become way too heavy to remain suspended in the air. The final result is that all of these molecules, particles, VOCs, dust, and bacteria fall together to the ground or the surface so that you don’t inhale them.
Nonetheless, there are some points that you need to keep in mind here. Most important of all is that you’ll need to be constantly cleaning your surfaces and vacuuming your floors so that you completely get rid of these particles because they’re not without function when they fall to the ground. They’re still present in your vicinity; hence, you need to remove them by yourself.
The other point, which is our major concern, is that these air purifiers produce ozone gas (O3) as their byproduct, which means that you can’t be present in the room as the device is working.
You have to let it work for around three hours, then air out the room entirely to get rid of the ozone gas, and then start using the space. Therefore, you can’t turn it on for 24 hours as that means that you will be outside of the room for 24 hours, which doesn’t work for many people.
Energy Consumption
When you turn on a device for 24 hours, one of the first concerns that you’ll be thinking about is your power bill, as it’s a high running cost here. Nevertheless, you don’t need to worry because air purifiers, although big-ticket appliances don’t consume that much energy per unit time.
Actually, research has shown that an air purifier would consume as much energy as a fan. Anyone who owns a fan runs it 24/7, so it won’t make much of a difference. Still, if you’re worried, there are some tips and tricks that we’re going to provide you with to ease your mind.
First of all, follow the electric rates. All electrical companies have periods where the cost of electricity is lower than the norm, and these are the periods when the usage of electricity is scarce.
So, you can turn on your air purifier at different times throughout the day and track your energy consumption. Hence, you’ll be able to decide on the best time to turn it on.
Also, if you’re purchasing an air purifier, try and go for one with more futuristic settings such as auto turn off/ auto-sleep mode. These two options track the performance of your device and place it in sleep mode automatically when the air quality hits the desired point or turn it off completely.
Another option is going for a smart air purifier. Anything smart can be connected to your phone and controlled through it. So, even if you’re outside of the house, you’ll get continuous notifications regarding the quality of the air back at home. Subsequently, through Wi-Fi, you can disconnect your air purifier and turn it on whenever you want to.
Maintenance
The last thing that we’re going to talk about is the importance of maintenance in order for your device to be able to run 24/7 in optimal circumstances. So, we’ve got a few main points that we’re going to discuss here.
First of all, is the overall cleanliness of your device. Don’t forget to continuously wipe your air purifier and remove all gunk. Make sure there’s nothing stuck to it and that you’re placing it in the proper position. That is away from any water exposure or heat exposure.
Next, we’ve got the filters and their care. It’s essential that you consistently clean out your filters properly as specified by the manufacturer. Otherwise, your purifier will be overworking itself for nothing as the main mechanism is nonfunctional.
Also, after a certain period, you’ll have to switch out the dirty filters completely and revamp your air purifier.
Additionally, you must always keep a diligent eye on all the wires and cords leading to and from the power of the air purifier, especially if you have kids or pets running around. You have to make sure that none of them is torn in any sites, as that could be a considerable fire hazard.
Final Thoughts
Alright, let’s wrap up this dilemma of whether you should leave the air purifier on all day or not. The key here is whether you need it to be on all day or not.
If the answer is yes, then try to go with the smart air purifiers so that you can control them, and by all means, do it. Lastly, don’t forget the main steps of regular maintenance, and you’ll be good to go.
