Are ionic air purifiers safe? Clear and Simple Answer
Tayyabah Zahoor
December 5, 2025
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You’ve finally purchased the best-suited air purifier for your room! But wondering how long your new device takes to clean your room? Well, you’re not the first to raise this question. Given the queries from thousands of buyers, we have shortlisted the list of the most important factors that affect purification time to help you better balance your healthy life!
Room size affects the amount of air that needs to be purified. Smaller rooms require smaller air purifiers, while larger rooms need air purifiers with higher capacities.
The type of pollutant in your air significantly affects the air purification. So, if your room air contains VOCs, chemical gases, or odors, it’ll take longer to clean. If the air has particles like dust or pollen, it would be purified quickly.
ACH shows how many times the air purifier can clean a room in an hour. A good ACH depends on your room size, but normally, 4-5 ACH is considered good for most homes.
Choosing the right place for your air purifier is really important, as it can improve its performance by 30% to 50%. Some of the best spots to put your purifier are: in the middle of the room, near windows, and near pollution sources.
Ventilation means letting the fresh air in from outside and the stale air out. To do this, we can open windows and doors or use fans. Ventilation helps the air purifiers and makes the process faster.
CADR is a measure that tells how much air an air purifier can clean in a specific amount of time. It’s measured in CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute). Generally, a good CADR score should be at least two-thirds of your room size; if it’s lower than it’s considered a weak score.
Here is an estimated amount of time for different room sizes and ACH rates:
| Room Size | ACH Rate | Estimated Time for Significant Purification |
|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | 5 | 30-60 minutes |
| 200 sq ft | 5 | 30-60 minutes |
| 300 sq ft | 5 | 45-90 minutes |
| 400 sq ft | 5 | 60-120 minutes |
| 500 sq ft | 5 | 60-120 minutes |
Polluted outdoor air is just like a disaster for air purifiers. It overwhelms purifiers with more polluted particles and gases. The purifiers have to work harder and use their filters faster, which worsens the air purifier’s performance. In this situation, air purifiers take longer to clean the room. It’s best to close windows and doors, so the outdoor unhealthy air does not reach the safe air inside.
However, if the outdoor air is clean, the process is easy, and it takes less time for air purifiers to purify.
Sometimes, there are sources in our home that produce pollutants. Some of the sources are cooking, which releases gases and tiny particles, pets that give off their hair again and again, and new furniture that releases chemical gases.
At this point, the air purifier’s job changes from making the air 100 percent clean to keeping it safe and comfortable to breathe.
Filter maintenance is important to make an air purifier work effectively. To do this, you should replace activated carbon filters every 3 to 6 months. HEPA filters should be replaced every 12 to 18 months. Pre-filters should be cleaned every month.
How to find if your filters need replacement? Strange noises, poor airflow, and lingering smells are some of the signs. Many advanced air purifiers also come with a filter change alert, which shows when to change your filter.
There are other methods that you can use to make your air purifier more effective.
You can use unscented products instead of scented ones that release harmful chemicals. Houseplants can also help slightly by adding oxygen to the air.
Controlling humidity is the most important of these methods. Humidifiers prevent lung irritations and keep us healthy. Dehumidifiers reduce dust, pollen, and bacteria in the air. The ideal humidity for the best air quality is 30-50%.
So, air purifiers usually start showing a difference in 30 minutes to 60 minutes. It takes them several hours to clean a room completely, depending on some factors like room size, how polluted our air is, the placement of your air purifier, and ACH. To make your air purifier more effective and work faster, you should perform its maintenance and change its filter regularly.
Now that you know, you may enjoy the fresh and healthy air of your room!
You should run an air purifier 24/7 in the bedroom for the best results.
If your air purifier is effective, you should be able to notice a clear difference in air quality, a reduction of odors, and less dust in your air. If you don’t, it’s not effective.
Yes, it’s okay to sleep with an air purifier on all night. In fact, it’s even recommended for a good night’s sleep.
It’s best to close the windows while using the air purifier, so pollutants and other outdoor particles don’t enter, and your purifier stays effective.
Ruqayyah Zahoor is a highly experienced writer with deep expertise in self-help, health, and indoor air quality. She has a strong interest in reviewing top-performing air purification devices and creates reliable, easy-to-understand guides that help readers improve the air quality in their homes and workplaces. Her writing blends research-backed insights with practical advice, making complex topics simple, clear, and actionable.