All About Air Purifiers for Bedrooms

The more time we spend indoors, the more we’re likely to start thinking about indoor air quality. That’s especially true when the Air Quality Index (AQI) indicates poor air quality outside. Fortunately, there are a number of solutions for improving indoor air quality, both for the whole home and for targeted areas. That includes having an air purifier for bedroom areas as part of a complete strategy that includes proper ventilation and reducing sources of airborne pollutants.

Circling back to the subject of air purifiers for bedrooms, there are definitely benefits for targeting a specific room. It’s also important to note that there are a number of portable room air purifiers on the market, including the Carrier Smart Air Purifier. Choosing a model for your needs, understanding proper placement within the room, operating the unit according to the manufacturer's instructions and keeping it cleaned and maintained all enter into the equation. When you decide on a model and follow through with proper placement, operation, and maintenance you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the comfort of your surroundings.

Benefits of Air Purifiers in Bedrooms

The benefits of air purifiers in bedrooms are similar to the benefits of better air quality throughout the home. It’s just a more targeted experience when you can filter airborne pollutants from the air in a room where you spend a lot of time. Here are some examples of both:

Enhanced quality of sleep: It just makes sense. Any time you can help filter some allergens, pet dander, dust, and other pollutants that can cause stuffiness or other breathing difficulties, your quality of sleep should improve.¹
Helps create a cleaner atmosphere: Some of the basic benefits of an air purifier include reducing pollutants such as dust, pet dander and pollen. Importantly, high quality air purifiers can also help trap fine inhalable particles, generally 2.5 microns (PM₅), which are in the size range posing the greatest risk to health.²
Targeted air purification: Even if you have a whole-home air cleaner or purifier attached to your HVAC system, placing a portable air purifier in the bedroom can provide additional, more targeted reduction of airborne pollutants.
Helps filter airborne VOCs: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can off gas from cosmetics, air fresheners and common household building materials – carpet, vinyl flooring, upholstery, foam mattresses, etc. While some levels of VOCs may pose minimal concern, high levels of VOCs can cause headaches, dizziness, eye, nose and throat irritation, and worsening of asthma symptoms.³

person sleeping next to an air purifier for bedroom

Is It Good To Sleep With Air Purifier?

Consider that people spend around 1/3 of their time in their bedroom – a room where dust, pet dander, and pollen can be prevalent. These and other common indoor allergens can be reduced by removing the sources, increasing frequency of cleaning, and using high-quality filtering and air purifying products. The Carrier Air Purifier and Carrier Smart Room Air Purifier are two excellent options for folks interested in helping filter airborne pollutants from the bedroom while they sleep.

Where Should I Place My Air Purifier in My Bedroom?

While a portable room air purifier is easy to set up and use, placing it randomly in a room and plugging it in doesn’t guarantee the best results. We recommend following the manufacturer’s instructions for the best place to put your air purifier. Also, for best results, run the air purifier continuously – it will only purify the air if it is running! As far as where to place it, some basic guidelines for optimal performance and safety of the Carrier Air Purifier are outlined below.

Bedroom Air Purifier Placement: The Do’s and Don’ts

The Carrier Air Purifier features a powerful fan with 360-degree airflow to pull polluted air from multiple directions. For best performance, we recommend that you:

Place your air purifier on a flat surface at least 12 inches away from the wall
Make sure there is at least 12 inches of clearance from furniture or other objects, including HVAC vents
Place it close enough to an electrical outlet so you can plug it in without using an extension cord

Here are some placements to avoid:

Do not use an air purifier near flammable substances or if there is a gas leak
Do not use the product in places exposed to high humidity, oil, grease, or water
If you are also using a humidifier in your bedroom, avoid placing it close to the humidifier
Do not place the product in direct sunlight or near a heating vent
Do not place the air purifier in normal walking paths to minimize tripping hazards
Avoid installing the product within 3 feet of a TV or electronic appliances

where should i place my air purifier in my bedroom

How Long Should I Run an Air Purifier in My Bedroom?

Once you have settled on the proper location, it’s time to figure out how long to run air purifier in bedroom locations. For maximum benefit, run an air purifier continuously. If it’s not running, it’s not working to filter airborne pollutants from the air in your room and no longer provides that cleaner air benefit. Some models, like Carrier’s room air purifier and smart room air purifier can monitor indoor air quality and adjust the purifier’s fan speed to improve filtration as needed.

Of course, now that you know the answer to how long should you run your air purifier, it’s good to know when you should turn it on – especially if you do tend to turn off the purifier when you aren’t in the room. It might not be a bad idea to turn the air purifier on at least 30 minutes before you plan to go to bed. The Carrier Air Purifier is rated to change the air about five times per hour in a specified maximum square footage. Turning it on in advance of bedtime allows it to cycle the air in your room a few times before you go to sleep.⁴

Bedroom Air Purifier Maintenance

To ensure top performance and effective air purification, proper bedroom air purifier maintenance is the key. For the most part, that means keeping the filter cleaned, replaced, and maintained per the manufacturer’s recommendations. Here’s why:

Energy efficiency: Keeping the filter clean will allow air to flow more freely and with less resistance, putting less strain on the fan.
Air quality/comfort: A dirty, clogged filter will have difficulty drawing air into the unit for filtration
Reliability/lifespan: A dirty, clogged filter will also cause undue strain on the fan motor, which can affect the purifier’s reliability and potentially reduce its lifespan.

While replacing filters in a timely manner is important, you can also clean the filter between replacements (for example with a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter or soft brush) as directed in the manufacturer instructions. Some models will let you know when it’s time to clean or replace the filter. In addition, be sure the air purifier isn’t obstructed by piles of laundry or other bedroom debris.

Explore Carrier’s Line of Air Purifiers

Available for standard sized rooms or larger ones, the Carrier Smart Room Air Purifier can provide cost-effective HEPA filtration with 18 fan speed settings, air quality monitoring and quiet operation that makes it a perfect choice for a bedroom. Here are some of the many features and benefits of these products:

HEPA filtration: HEPA filters capture 99.97% of airborne particulate 0.3 microns in size.
360° airflow: Carrier air purifiers pull particle-filled air into the unit from multiple directions for filtration.
Automatic or manual fan speed selection: Manually select the speed you prefer – higher speeds for more filtration, lower speeds for quiet operation. Or, let Smart Auto Mode adjust the speed automatically based on current air quality.
Wi-Fi^®capable: Our Smart Room Air Purifier allows you to enjoy the convenience of remote operation from your smart device using the Carrier Home app.⁵
Smart home integration: For voice-activated control, our Smart Room Air Purifier is compatible with Alexa^® and Google Assistant^®.⁶
Certified high clean air delivery rate (CADR): Carrier room air purifiers are independently certified to provide high CADR ratings for pollen, dust and tobacco smoke.
~5 air changes per hour: Our standard air purifiers are rated to change the air about five times per hour in rooms up to 430 square feet, and our XL models are rated for five air changes per hour in rooms up to 560 square feet.⁴
3-step filtration: Carrier smart room air purifiers are engineered with three levels of filtration – a pre filter for larger particles such as dust, a HEPA filter for smaller particles sized 0.3 microns, and an activated charcoal filter targeting odors.