What’s the best air purifier for allergies to buy in the UK? In this article, I’ll break down the best air purifiers for allergies that work to keep allergies at bay, as well as looking at how an air purifier works, what they cost, how often filters should be changed and where you should position your air purifier for best results.
I’ll also look at running costs of air purifiers, as well as important features such as how quiet they run, and in what rooms they should be used.
This is an extensive article on air purifiers and air purification systems for use in your home. So below is a table of contents. Clicking on any of the elements in this table of contents will bring you directly to the place on the page that you are interested in. I am also an Amazon associate, and I earn a commission form qualifying purchases.
Table of Contents
Best Air Purifier For Allergies UK Top 3
Below is a quick table of the 3 best air purifiers for people with allergies that you can buy in the UK. I’ve put this here for reference pruposes only, I’ll go through the air purifiers one by one in the sections below. Each have their own merits, and for affordability, they are priced from lowest in number 1 position, to highest price in number 3 position.
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1st Place: SilentNight Air Purifier (Best Budget Air Purifier)
The best air purifier for allergies is the Silentnight Air Purifier. From a price point perspective, this offers excellent value for money from a trusted and respected brand such as Silentnight.
The Silentnight purifier features not 1, but 3 seperate filters, and Silentnight state that this air purifier will remove 99.3% of all airbourne contaminants.
Silentnight Air Purifier |
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- Affordable air purifier from a trusted brand |
Pros
- It’s cheap. Check the latest price here.
- It’s made by Silentnight – a trusted and reputable brand.
- 3 filters HEPA system (High Efficiency Particulate Air) which removes over 99% of airbourne contaminants, carbon filter and sponge filter. (the best air purifiers for allergies always offer multi layered filtration systems).
- Sleep mode for reduced noise (52dB)
- 1, 2, 4 and 8 hour timer modes.
- Negative ionizer which helps remove the smallest particles from the air.
- Best suited to smaller rooms, such as bedrooms.
- Can be stood on a table or bedside table.
- Energy efficiency: A (See sample cost breakdown further below).
Cons
- Suitable for small rooms max size 8 square meters (bedrooms, small living rooms).
- Filter needs replacing every 6 months.
- New filter sometimes suffers supply chain issues (check here for filter availability and prices from Amazon and B&Q).
- Not SMART enabled.
- Basic modes.
- You need to physically turn it on and remember to turn it on before going to bed.
Cost Analysis
This is a 22W rated air purifier. It’s energy efficiency rating is: A
The cost depends on your electric tariff.
Lets say you are on a £0.20p per kWh tariff, and you use it 8 hours a day: Daily: £0.03/ Monthly: £1.07/ Yearly cost: £12.85
2nd Place: LEVOIT Smart Air Purifier (Best Smart Purifier)
If you’re looking to connect an air purifier to your home smart system, then this Levoit air purifier is one of the best air purifier for allergies and allergy sufferers money can buy.
It’s a fair bit more expensive than my first place choice, and the purchase of this will depend on your budget.
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- Smart enabled through Alexa, phone app etc |
But for the price, you are getting a fair upgrade on the budget offering in 1st place above.
For a start, you’re getting full smart capability – meaning you can connect it to your smart home ecosystem and use smart devices like Alexa to turn on or turn off your purifier.
There’s also a free app that you can download which gives you the ability to control and monitor your air levels.
As for the air purifier itself, this purifier does an excellent job at not only taking allergents from the air with its 3 layers of filtration, but it also monitors air quality and if auto mode is selected, it will kick in the purifier to clean the air.
This is an excellent choice for those that don’t have a tight budget and want smart functionality.
Pros
- SMART capable, links to ecosystems like Alexa, Google Assistant, and comes with a free app.
- It’s made by Levoit – a trusted and reputable brand.
- 3 filters HEPA system (High Efficiency Particulate Air) which removes over 99.7% of airbourne contaminants, carbon filter and sponge filter (the best air purifier for allergies always offer multi layered filtration systems).
- Sleep mode for reduced noise (22dB).
- Auto modes and auto sensors.
- Real time air monitoring.
- Real time filter monitoring – the app will prompt you to change filters.
- Create schedules for operation times and control the purifier remotely.
- Can be stood on a table or bedside cabinet.
- Energy efficiency: A (See sample cost breakdown further below).
Cons
- Is a little on the expensive side for those on a tight budget.
- Filter needs replacing every 6-8 months.
- New filter is expensive (Check here on Amazon for price and availability).
Cost Analysis
This is a 15W rated air purifier. It’s energy efficiency rating is: A
The cost depends on your electric tariff.
Lets say you are on a £0.20p per kWh tariff, and you use it 8 hours a day: Daily: £0.02/ Monthly: £0.73/ Yearly cost: £8.76
3rd Place: Breville 360° Autosense Air Purifier (Best for Large Rooms)
In 3rd place, is the Breville 360° Autosense Air Purifier. This is the most expensive air purifier in the list, but it perhaps the best despite lacking the smart features of my 2nd placed purifier, and despite it not being as affordable as the purifier in 1st place.
This air purifier is also a lot bigger than the other 2 in the list, and needs to stand in a space on the floor, rather than on a bedside table or on top of a cabinet. Despite this, it’s still lightweight to move around, although doesn’t seem to come with any usable handles.
Like the others, it has a 3 stage filter system, to trap all types of contaminants, and changes the air 5 times per hour based on a room with a square footage of 28 square metres.
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- Ideal for bigger rooms |
It also uses ionizing air to bind smaller particles together, to more easily and efficiently capture even the smallest particles, down to 0.3 microns.
if you have a larger room, or you want an air purifier for large living rooms or dining rooms, then this sort of air purifier is perfect because it will improve the air quality of a room up to the size of 28 square metres, and not only that, it will change out the air in that room completely – up to 5 times an hour.
Pros
- 360 air intake, and 5 times an hour it will give produce a fresh environment.
- It’s made by Breville – a trusted and reputable brand.
- 3 filters HEPA system (High Efficiency Particulate Air) which removes over 99.7% of airbourne contaminants, carbon filter and sponge filter. (the best air purifier for allergies always offer multi layered filtration systems).
- Sleep mode for reduced noise (35dB).
- Auto modes and auto sensors.
- Real time air monitoring.
- Ionizer binds smaller particles together for easy capture.
- 12 month expiry for filters (Supplied with 2x filters)
- Energy efficiency: A (See sample cost breakdown further below).
Cons
- Freestanding, needs to stand on the floor which could be an issue for smaller rooms.
- Expensive – the most expensive air purifier on this list.
Cost Analysis
This is a 42W rated air purifier. It’s energy efficiency rating is: B
The cost depends on your electric tariff.
Lets say you are on a £0.20p per kWh tariff, and you use it 8 hours a day: Daily: £0.07/ Monthly: £2.04/ Yearly cost: £24.54
Comparison Table
Below is a comparison table between the 3 air purifiers listed above, to enable you to quickly compare each air purifier against each other, with parameters being noise, watts, filter change and smart enabled.
All 3 can be considered the best air purifier for allergies, but other features should also come into play in your purchasing decison – for example, how much they cost to run.
Product | Noise | Watts | Filter | Smart |
Silentnight | 52dB | 22W | 6 months | No |
Levoit | 22dB | 15W | 8 months | Yes |
Breville | 35dB | 45W | 12 months | No |
Do I Need An Air Purifier?
For years and years, I used to wake up with a stuffy nose, along with itchy and watery eyes. It was especially noticeable in summer months where I would leave my bedroom window open to combat the increased summer night temperatures. This was a double edged sword, because although I wanted the fresh air, the fresh air was also bringing in pollen at the height of season where pollen count was at its highest.
My initial thought on air purifiers was: marketing gimmick.
I remember purchasing my first air purifier from Home Bargains, and although I did notice a difference, it wasn’t a noticeable difference to justify keeping it on all night.
I eventually bought a Silentnight air purifier (actually, the model before the model I’ve put in 1st place).
The difference is now day and night – I no longer wake up with runny noses, or itchy eyes, and on the nights I forget to switch it on, I wake up with itchy eyes and runny noses.
There’s nothing worse than starting your day with a blocked or stuffy nose, and itchy eyes that you then rub which in turns makes them all red and bloodshot – for you then to go into work and for people to ask what is up with your eyes.
If this is you, then I would absolutely recommend the purchase of an air purifier that enables you to have better control over your allergies.
You’ll also benefit from an air purifier if:
- You have pets in your home that cause sneezing fits, runny nose or itchy eyes.
- You suffer from seasonal allergies to things like pollen.
- You are susceptible to dust particles.
- You have health problems with your respiratory system (such as asthma, sinus problems)
- You want the peace of mind that an air pruifier can remove airbourne viruses such a sars-cov-19.
What Is An Air Purifier?
An air purifier is usually an electrical cyclinder or square shaped object that is placed in a room or area, designed to improve air quality.
It sucks in air and filters the air through special filters which remove contaminants and prevent them from re-entering the air.
How Does An Air Purifier Work?
Ideally, the best air purifier for allergies should come with a multi layered filter system. All of the products on this page use multi layered filter systems.
An air purifier uses filters to essentially, clean the air.
If you’ve ever seen rays of sunlight stream into your home, you’ll have probably noticed that there is thousands of tiny, minute little particles floating through the air – no matter how clean your home is.
These particles can be made up of dust, pollen, skin particles, hair molecules, and other contaminants such as mould, and they can trigger allergies in some people.
An air purifier will ingest this air and these particles, the filters will trap these particles inside the purifier, and the air that is then expelled will be a lot cleaner and fresher, sometimes as much as 99.7% cleaner, making the air you breath fresher and cleaner, and reducing the symptoms of specific allergies.
How Much Does An Air Purifier Cost To Run?
With the ever increasing cost of electricity, one question you might have is how much is it going to cost me to run an air purifier in my home?
The answer is: not a lot. Because thankfully, air purifiers only use a tiny fraction of energy compared to let’s say, a fridge or air conditioning unit.
You can see the cost breakdowns for each product above in the best air purifier for allergies categories above.
Links & Resources
External Sources:
NHS Advice On Allergies
What Does A Negative Ionizer Do?
Energy Cost Calculator
Other articles you may like from this site:
Best Smoke Detectors For Your Home
Best Heat Detectors For Your Home
Summary
Once again, here is the UK top 3 best air purifier for allergies table:
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So we’ve looked at the best purifier for allergies in detail in this article, but the decision is now yours based on how much it affects you and whether you need an air purifier for in your bedroom, or an air purifier in other rooms – or as some people choose, multiple air purifiers dotted around your home. It also comes down to, as does most things, your budget.
There’s a clear budget winner here, and it’s the one I use in my bedroom. It’s cheap, it’s cheerful, and it does the job.
For those who love their smart technology, and with a better feature set but for a bigger price, then the Levoit is an excellent choice.
And for those who need a bigger purifier for a bigger room, then the Breville air purifier does the job perfectly.
They can all be considered the best air purifier for allergies in their own right, but a lot comes down to your own personal budget, and in what room you want to use an air purifier.
Whatever air purifier you use, I hope this article ‘Best Air Purifier for allergies’ has helped you come to an informed purchasing decision, and hope that all of the purifiers here help alleviate allergies in your home.
Questions & Comments
As always, I welcome questions and comments on this article. Maybe you’ve found the best air purifier for allergies that isn’t listed in this top 3? Maybe you’ve got your own tips on how to live with allergies? Whatever your question or comment, be sure to use the box below to leave your comments and I’ll get right back to you.
Stay Safe. Stay Secure.
