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Working from home in the past year has completely subverted our way of life, and our sleep may be affected. A September 2020 survey by Baylor University found that 25% of Americans reported worsening sleep quality due to Covid-19-related stress. This question even has a name: "corona". According to the Sleep Foundation, noise has a huge impact on sleep, as do factors such as air quality. Breathing fresh air in the bedroom can reduce asthma symptoms, eliminate harmful chemicals in the air and eliminate unpleasant odors, all of which can affect sleep. A recent small study even found that exposure to air pollutants can seriously disrupt children's sleep. Readers’ favorite household products such as air purifiers, which are becoming more and more popular during the pandemic, help reduce air pollution and keep your home clean.

Skip the quietest air purifier

Just because the appliance is quiet does not mean it is not disturbing.

Poppy Szkiler, CEO and Founder of Quiet Mark

But air purifiers can also generate a lot of noise, noted John McKeon, a former emergency room doctor and CEO and founder of Allergy Standards, an international standards and certification agency. The sound from the air purifier comes from two key areas: the motor and the fan. Poppy Szkiler, CEO and founder of Quiet Mark, an independent certification company in the United Kingdom, explained that high-quality air purifiers should "melt" the sounds of fans and motors, eliminating noise in the air or accompanying annoying tones and other noise and noise reduction The associations work together to accomplish the mission of making the world (or at least your home) quieter. They aim to help consumers around the world find the quietest consumer technology products. And they don’t just test the loudness of the product—they consider everything from the quality of the sound it makes to the apparent vibration level. If you are looking for a new air purifier or want to upgrade to a quieter model, please start here to buy a very quiet air purifier.

Quiet Mark tests all elements of product sound, including sound absorption, quality and volume. They recognize all types of household products, from electric toothbrushes to alarm clocks. Szkiler tells us that although air purifiers may not be the loudest device, their internal fans make quite a bit of noise. All air purifiers use a fan to force air through the filter, and then the filter removes pollutants from the air. McKeon says that running the purifier at a higher speed usually produces more noise. The location of the purifier is also important-any sound it emits may be reflected and echoed by other surfaces, thereby generating more noise. For this reason, Quiet Mark has a replicated "kitchen" with tiles on the walls and floors, which can accurately test the noise in the home environment.

Quiet Mark measures all products by the same standard, but specifically tests air purifiers by listening to all available modes, including the "sleep" function that most models are equipped with. The most common sound indicator is decibels-although Quiet Mark considers the decibel level when reviewing the product, they believe this is just one aspect of the product’s “sound”. They also test sound quality, including pitch and frequency, and use jury tests to get direct consumer feedback.

Think of a mosquito. Their sound is not loud, but when there is a mosquito in the room, you will quickly notice that their sound is very obvious.

A spokesperson pointed out that in general, the decibel range of a purifier certified by Quiet Mark is lower, but the organization does not list decibels in its recommendations because the decibel range of the product may vary depending on the environment in which the purifier is located. And change.

Although no air purifier is completely silent, our goal is to help shoppers find a model that produces a pleasant or non-intrusive sound that can easily blend into the background without causing distraction. For example, although two purifiers may have the same decibel level, one may emit a more stimulating sound-this will not pass certification.

"Nothing is more annoying than constant disturbing noises when you are trying to relax and enjoy a good night’s sleep. Just because the appliance is quiet doesn’t mean it won’t be disturbing. Think of a mosquito, their The sound is not loud, but when you have a mosquito in the room, you will quickly notice that the sound they make is very obvious," Szkiler said. "The noise of the air purifier should easily fade into the background sound without being noticed."

Szkiler suggests that shoppers do not need to bother to upgrade the air purifier, just place it in a room with carpets and other furniture, rather than a room with high ceilings and wooden floors, to easily improve the sound quality of the air purifier. In addition to this method, here are some of the quietest air purifiers, all of which have been certified by Quiet Mark. We verified decibel levels with various manufacturers to maintain relative comparisons between models.

Blueair Pure 411 is very suitable for smaller spaces, very suitable for your home office or bedroom. The purifier has a compact structure and is available in a variety of colors to match the decoration of your room. This model is equipped with the brand's own HEPASilent technology (different from the approved real HEPA filter) and CADR rating-the entire bottom of the model consists of a filter that captures as many particles as possible. In addition to being affordable, Pure 411 also has a low-cost replacement filter and is more energy efficient than other models.

Blue's larger air purifier is ideal for larger rooms or apartments, and can remove household chemicals, cleaners and odors from the air, as well as larger particles such as dust and mold. Like 411, it is also equipped with the brand's HEPASilent technology and CADR rating in its filter. This model can be connected to Wi-Fi and integrated with other air quality sensors in your home.

This purifier has a dual fan function that can rotate and circulate air throughout the room, covering an area of ​​400 square feet. This model is equipped with a HEPA filter that can remove particles as small as 0.3 microns. Other features include 10 airspeed settings and automatic night mode to save energy. It can be connected to the Dyson app that provides real-time air quality reports, and can be controlled remotely via a smartphone or Alexa.

This air purifier is more compact than the Cool Link Tower, you can easily sit on your desk and purify the air all day while you are working. Similar to the Cool Link Tower, the Cool Link purifier fan doubles as a fan, can swing throughout the day, and has an energy-saving automatic night mode-it also has a similar noise level. Users can connect their fans to the Dyson app, which provides regular air quality reports.

This smart purifier doubles as a humidifier and is very suitable for dry rooms or apartments. It is equipped with many functions, including sleep mode, three automatic modes (normal, allergen or sleep) and four preset humidity modes. Users can also choose to use the humidifier and purifier at the same time, or only use the purifier. 3000i can remove particles as small as 0.3 microns through a HEPA filter.

Bedrooms usually contain a lot of indoor air pollutants, including dust, bacteria and some viruses. Since we spend about a third of our time in bed, it is particularly important to keep the air in the room clean. Opening windows is one way to breathe fresh air, but cold temperatures (and extra noise if you live in an urban area) may prohibit this option.

Air purifiers are usually interchangeable with air filters and air purifiers, which can help eliminate indoor air pollution in a variety of ways. McKeon says that some models use fans to draw contaminants into the filter and collect dust and particles. Other models use ultraviolet sterilization or electrostatic filters to kill mold and bacteria. Importantly, there is currently no evidence that any air purifier can completely filter the coronavirus Covid-19 in the air.

Szkiler said that if you are looking for a less noisy air purifier, please pay attention to the Quiet Mark "Q" mark to confirm that it has been independently certified.

Most models will specify the number of square feet they cover and list their CADR, which stands for Clean Air Delivery Rate. CADR will show how much air the purifier will clean in one hour. Generally, the larger your air purifier, the higher the CADR, although your bedroom may not require a large model, McKeon says-size is important.

Szkiler said: "It is not good to have a model that is difficult to clean the air in the room. On the other hand, you don't need a model that is more suitable for a meeting room than a kitchen."

Quiet Mark stated that they tested purifiers designed for all types of rooms, from 15 square meters (about 161 square feet) to 110 square meters (about 1,184 square feet) in small spaces. They have not found a direct relationship between the size of the purifier and the noise level. The same is true for efficiency-the company focuses on testing noise output, so shoppers should pay attention to indicators such as CADR to determine efficiency. One type of efficiency designation is if the purifier has a HEPA filter, short for "High Efficiency Particulate Air", which has been approved by the non-profit Institute of Environmental Science and Technology. Quiet Mark only tests products with HEPA filters (or filters with similar efficiency levels), and the organization stated that these filters may not increase the noise of air purifiers. Some filters require regular cleaning and replacement, so take this into consideration when shopping.

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Hanna Horvath is a personal finance reporter based in New York. She currently writes for Policygenius, and her work has appeared in Business Insider, MSN, Inc magazines and other magazines. 

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