Top Considerations When Choosing The Location For Your Air Purifier

Table of Contents

When it comes to our health and wellbeing, we take into account almost everything; food, water, exercise, daily lifestyle, and UV exposure. But somehow, we forget the most crucial factor that we literally breathe in every second of everyday: air.

We shouldn’t take air for granted just because it’s invisible. In fact, due to urbanisation, over 90% people in the world are breathing in poor-quality air which can lead to a long list of chronic health conditions.  Air pollution is not only a concern in populated cities, but also in small towns and suburbs.

Employers have a right to look after their employees so let’s start with the air everyone breathes. Installing a good quality HEPA filter purifier in the work place is a very effective way to improve the air quality by filtering out particles like dust, pollen, mould, spores bacteria and even some small viruses like COVID-19.

However, whilst there is plenty of advice on why to purchase a HEPA-grade filter, there is limited advice on where exactly to place the unit.

Where should I place my air purifier? Westlab is here to help answer that question

How big is your office?

Keep in mind the area of your office and the size of the purifier you’ll need accordingly. For example, if your office is small, say 20-30 square metres but the purifier you’ve bought is for really large spaces, then it would be a waste of both energy and money. On the other hand, if your office is expansive but your purifier capacity is just too small, it wouldn’t be effective, it will put more stress on the purifier, reducing the filters life expectancy.

The Aeris Air purifier range has purifiers for both small/medium sized areas of 32m2-65m2 and larger areas of 70m2–140m2.

When it comes to air purifiers, the size of the space counts, and you have to check the Clean Air Delivery Rate or CADR to figure out which purifier would be the greatest fit for your office. In Cubic Feet Per Minute, CADR specifies the amount of air that is filtered in an hour for 3 tested pollutants; smoke, pollen, and dust. The greater the CADR score, the more quickly the purifier filters air.

Your air purifier’s CADR score should be at least two-thirds of the area of the room. There are online calculators to help you figure out how much CADR you’ll need for each area.

What is the airflow like?

Corners are the worst places for purifiers, whereas open areas are the best. The majority of air purifiers take in air through their vents at the front. The performance of your purifier will be substantially reduced if those vents are blocked.

It’s a good rule to provide the air purifier with at least a foot (20-30cm) of space on all sides, front, and back so it can clean the air of the whole room rather than just a tiny spot. In fact, the fewer blockers in the space, the more effectively the purifier can keep the air pure.

Placing air purifying units directly next to doors and open windows also reduces the efficiency of the purifiers as they will mostly be cleaning the incoming air surrounding the system instead of the stagnating air in the room. In other blogs we have discussed improving ventilation through the combined use of natural ventilation and through use of the air purifier units. For optimal results, allow natural ventilation on one side of the room and place the air purifier on the opposite side.

Placing your purifier at the source

Is it the pantry where the morning coffee’s smell still lingers and makes its presence known? Or is it the washroom for obvious reasons? Choose the most challenging area of your office and strategically place your purifier as near to it as possible. This is because the problem spot either has the poorest ventilation or the most reasons to be the dirtiest.

Alternatively, you can place your purifier where there is the most human traffic. Like  meeting areas or near everyone’s desks. If the purifier is within close proximity of where most people work, it can effectively catch aerosols and pathogens before they are transmitted to other people.

Safety first

The safety of people in the workplace is another thing to consider when purchasing air purifiers. If an air purifier is blocking the path or creating a trip hazard for people, then it is not in the right location. Also make sure the cables of the air purifier are not at risk of causing a trip hazard or can be compromised in their position. 

Should it be near open windows or doors?

While we do recommend putting air purifiers in open spaces, setting them up near windows or doors can overwork them instead of making them more efficient. With continuous inflow of air from outside, the purifier will have to keep working in filtering the constantly introduced unfiltered air, not necessarily keeping your space pollutant-free.

Or bulky items

As mentioned earlier about not putting their air purifier in corners, placing your air purifier next to bulky items like TVs, Printers, fridges, large desks, machinery can restrict airflow and reduce the efficiency of your air purifier. Ensure it is at least a foot away from any large items.

Lastly

There can be a lot to consider when finding the perfect position for your air purifier unit.

Just keep in mind that:

  • The air purifier is close to the source of pollutants (people or odours).
  • It is not recommended to install units near to open windows, doors, corners or bulky items.
  • Also, they should be set up in a spot that doesn’t restrict accessibility or compromise wiring and cables.

Regardless of the size of your workplace, we should all focus on quality air filtration in the best interest of everyone’s health.

Westlab are the exclusive distributor for Swiss-designed and engineered Aeris Aair Range,To purchase an Aeris Aair filter or a wide range of medical products, contact Westlab today

Search

Recent Posts

About Westlab

We believe that delays in supply of medical products can cost lives, that’s why we stock bulk volumes of certified PPE to ensure you have the stock to protect your front-line workers

Follow Us

Discover the Westlab Experience

Enter your details below to request information on our product range, availability and pricing.