Should I Use an Air Purifier in Summer and Winter?

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Can you use an air purifier in the summer?

First, let me tell you that an air purifier is worth it. It purifies the air in your house, by sucking it in, passing it through a three-stage filtration system to remove impurities, and then releasing it back into the room.

Back to the question of when you can use it …

One thing I have found out is that most air pollutants, except seasonal ones such as pollen, mold, and so on, don’t care about the time of the year.

The most common air pollutants in the USA include carbon dioxide, Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Lead, and particulate matter. If you live in a neighborhood that has any of these, you have to run an air purifier.

It does not matter what time of the year it is, just keep an eye on the air quality monitor. If it indicates pollution, run the air purifier.

Do air purifiers work in the summer?

Whether you are using a Levoit portable air purifier or a whole house one, it is going to work very well in summer, just as it works in the other seasons.

In fact, you should use your Honeywell air purifier with HEPA filter in summer more than in the other seasons. The reason for this is that there are more contaminants in your indoor air in summer, than in the other seasons.

Perhaps you are wondering whether the high humidity that is characteristic of many places in summer will affect how an air purifier works.

And yes, high humidity in the house causes mold, has health effects and it affects many appliances and devices.

But the good thing is that if the humidity level exceeds 50 percent, you can run it concurrently with a dehumidifier.

So you can use an air purifier and a dehumidifier at the same time because both do different things to improve the air quality in your home.

Why do you need an air purifier for summer?

There are many reasons for running the air purifier in summer. As we mentioned earlier, air contaminants don’t really care about the season. If you live in an area with industrial air pollution, well, factories still run in summer.

Here are a few reasons for using the air purifier in summer:

1. Can help prevent summer allergies

Contrary to what many people think, allergies are not only rampant in spring. They also come in their numbers in summer.

During summer, many plants flower and release their pollen in the air. The pollen will find its way into your house and if you do not do something about, it can cause serious health issues for your family.

To prevent the family from suffering from such pollutants, you need to run the air purifier. The HEPA filter is going to remove the pollen from the air.

If there is dust in the air, run the air purifier. It will remove it.

2. It can remove cigarette smoke

If you are a smoker, or someone else is, you know how long the smell of cigarette smoke hangs in the air. It can be irritating and dangerous for nonsmokers, since they will inhale it as secondary smoke.

To prevent this, just run the best air purifier for cigarette smoke. It is going to purify the air, and there will be no trace of smoke remaining after a few hours.

You can use such an air purifier in the office, in the car (if the unit is battery powered), or in the house.

3. Removes common air pollutants

Even without industrial pollution, ash, and dust from wildfires, and emissions from vehicles, there are still other air pollutants to worry about.

If you keep pets, they will cause a fur problem. They will also cause a pet dander issues, and running an air purifier is going to remove all of them.

Also, dust mites thrive in high humidity, and it usually rises above 50 percent in summer. Running a dehumidifier and an air purifier in summer can prevent the dust mites.

4. It removes VOCs

If you have moved to a new house, you need to run the air purifier to remove formaldehyde, and other volatile organic compounds that come from new building materials, chemicals and other things.

Also, it is good to run a dehumidifier in a new house in summer, to dry out the building materials and to prevent the growth of mold.

An air purifier will remove ozone, Formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, lead, and other VOCs. Just make sure you clean the filters appropriately to keep the unit working properly all the time.

Is an air purifier better for summer or winter?

An air purifier with a HEPA filter is something that you need for the entire year, if you have polluted air. Every season brings its own challenges regarding air quality, but summer has more than its fair share of troubles.

There are many benefits of using an air purifier in the cold season, as well as in the warm seasons. If a house has air pollutants, they will be there irrespective of the season, unless you remove them.

Helps with summer allergies and air pollutants

During the summer, your home is likely to experience high humidity, which could lead to the growth of mold. You know that exposure to this fungus leads to serious mold toxicity symptoms. Therefore, you need an air purifier to remove mold spores from the air.

Air purifiers will also help with summer allergies such as pollen, and indoor allergies like pet dander, fur, and dust mites will always be there. However, the fine particulate matter is more common in summer as liquid and solid pollutants mix and float in your indoor air. The air purifier will remove them.

Helps with winter allergies

People ask: should I use my air purifier in winter? I say, use it! In fact, you need it, so it is not as if you have an option.

Most of the time in winter, you are going to spend a lot of time indoors. This can make the air turn stale fast.

In winter, you are likely to run the humidifier because the heating lowers the humidity. So, you could still have the problem of mold spores, so you still need to remove them, and only an air purifier with HEPA filter can do that.

So, to answer the question, an air purifier is perfect for all seasons. It can help with winter allergies, such as dust mites, pet dander, fur, and smoke. Just because the flowers are in hibernation during the cold season, it does not mean that you are safe.

Should air purifiers run all the time?

In your house, you should run an air purifier whenever the air quality demands you do so. If you live in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, New York, and Fairbanks to name but a few, you need an air purifier.

But should you run it all the time? No, only when necessary. Do not run an air purifier with the windows open because the polluted air from outside will come in.

An air purifier works by exchanging the air, as you can see in our post on air changes per hour for air purifier.

But most importantly, invest in an air quality monitor such as the Airthings 2930 Wave Plus that you can buy on Amazon.com. It monitors radon, humidity, temperature, Carbon Dioxide, and VOC.

CLICK TO SEE PRICE ON AMAZON

It is going to alert you on your smartphone, after downloading the app, when the air quality goes down. That way, you can stay on top of the quality of your indoor air, instead of running your HEPA purifier by trial and error method.

You can run the air purifier a few hours a day, but make sure it is on the highest speed setting so that it changes the air over faster. Changing the air over means passing all the air in the room through the air purifier, until it is purified.

If you keep the unit on a low setting, run it for many hours. You can choose to run it for 12 hours or even longer.

Remember to clean the filters as recommended. If they are too dirty, the air purifier might stop working. Even if it works, the filters will not remove the impurities from the air.

Conclusion

You can use an air purifier in summer, winter, spring and any season. Every season comes with its fair share of pollutants, some from indoors and others from outdoors.

In this blog, I recommend buying all the important appliances, such as humidifier and dehumidifier, essential oil diffuser, and if you live in an area with air pollution, get an air purifier.

If you have been making too many trips to the hospital with the kids getting sick all the time, check the indoor air quality. It could be to blame.