Air purifiers do not cool down the room. They do not contain cooling elements or cooling mechanisms. In fact, the temperature of the room will increase slightly because of heat loss from the device. However, air purifiers circulate the air with their fan. At high fan seed, this can feel cold on your skin when you are close to the purifier.
Air purifiers are designed to remove harmful particles and gasses from the air. To do this, they suck in air with a fan, blow it through one or more filters, and release clean air on the other side. This does not affect the temperature of the air.
An air purifier only affects particles and gasses that can be absorbed by the specific filter that is being used.
Why an air purifier can make the air feel cooler
However, air purifiers do create air movement in the room. Moving air feels cooler since air movement along your skin makes it easier for your body to cool down. Compared to normal static indoor air, relatively fast-moving air caused by a fan or an air purifier cools down your skin. Your skin cools down because airflow results in easier evaporation of sweat. It works similarly to blowing on hot food to cool it down. Waiting for static air to cool you or your food down takes longer than moving air.
Does an air purifier work as a fan?
An air purifier does have a fan. However, this fan attracts air into the device and does not blow out air as much. The incoming air slows down when going through the dense filters. Especially when you have relatively old, clogged filters. Because of this, the provided airflow is rather low, and you should not be relying on a purifier as a fan.
To create optimal airflow and the best functionality for your air purifier, make sure to clean the filters often and replace them regularly.
Airflow can lead to more warmth
Normally, the air in the room is quite stale. Therefore, air heated by your central heating system starts to rise to the ceiling. Here, it is mostly useless. An air purifier creates a bit of airflow that can help bring down this warm air.
Because the fan of an air purifier sucks in air and blows it out the other side, the air in the room starts to circulate more. Therefore, instead of stale warm air rising to the ceiling, an air purifier can help get this warm air back for us to enjoy. Because of this, the room can feel warmer when using an air purifier.
Heat loss warms the room
Air purifiers do not use a lot of electricity (somewhere between 10 and 100 watts). However, any device that uses energy will have some heat loss. Therefore, running an air purifier will add some warmth to the air, heating the room.
How to reduce airflow to avoid cooling your skin
If you want to reduce any airflow toward you to avoid its cooling effect, consider purchasing a purifier that takes air in from all sides and emits it at the top. In this way, there will be no airflow in any specific direction and the outblown air is directed upwards.
A great example of an air purifier that works this way is the Levoit core 300. Check it out on amazon.com.
Air purifier and cooling fan in one device
Some air purifiers do have the additional feature of a fan. In this way, you can have a fan running without the negative side effects of air circulation.
Normally, circulating the air around the room is a bad idea for indoor air quality. Air circulation leads to the recirculation of dust and other particles that have settled on the floor and furniture. In this way, they become airborne and can be inhaled again. This can lead to respiratory problems and many other harmful effects related to poor air quality.
If you want to use a fan while still enjoying clean healthy air, an air purifier that also includes a fan is an excellent option.
One of the best products in this category is the Dyson Pure Cool, which combines a sleek design with a wonderful fan and excellent air purifying qualities. Its fan stands out because there are no moving parts and makes the device look very fancy. Check out the Dyson Pure Cool on amazon.com.
How to cool down a room while running an air purifier
Since an air purifier works best when there is not much ventilation, running an air purifier while trying to cool the air by opening a window is not ideal. However, if you have no other choice, it is still a possibility. Your air purifier just has to keep up with the constantly incoming outdoor air and the loss of freshly cleaned air. If you have an air purifier that is capable of cleaning much larger rooms than the room you are using it in, you should be fine.
However, there are some other options to cool down the air or prevent it from heating up:
- use thick, dark curtains and have them block incoming sunlight
- insulate your room or house. You can find more articles on insulation here
- place cool water or ice in front of a fan. In this way, the air will be cooled and distributed around the room
- use heat-exchanging ventilation systems. You can check my in-depth article on heat recovery ventilation for more information
- maintain comfortable humidity. High humidity worsens both the feeling of heat and cold (does humidity affect room temperature?)
- run an air conditioner
