Does it matter where an air purifier (fan with filters really) goes in your home?
I imagine it does for big homes, multi-floor homes and I know a given air purifier can only do so much. One purifier can’t clean the air of a skyscraper.
Fortunately (for me) my case is much easier. I live in a condo and it is only about 1000 sq. ft. in size (give or take but close enough).
My question is, does it matter if I stick it in this corner or that corner or does it need to be centrally located with no walls near it? I am not looking for the most efficient spot. I just want to know it can, eventually, clean the air in my place.
Ours only pull air from the front, through the filters and discharge straight up. They’re both right up against the wall, and my girlfriend’s allergy symptoms have gone way down since we started using them. We keep one in the living room and one in the bedroom and only run them when she’s in the room.
If you’re wondering about optimal placement within a room, then no, it shouldn’t matter, provided that the purifier is appropriately sized for the room it’s in. It’s got its own internal fan to create circulation, however gentle that may be. With time, diffusion, and gentle forced convection, the air quality within the room should be fairly uniform.
This assumes no central HVAC system moving air throughout the entire dwelling. If that’s happening, then the air purifier is basically trying to clean the entire dwelling. Which can happen, but it’ll take a lot longer, and may be compromised by infiltration of outdoor air (any given home is leakier than most homeowners think).
If you’re really curious as to how your air purifier is doing, consider purchasing a particulate matter (PM) air quality monitor, such as Foobot or PurpleAir. They’re not cheap, but if you really want to know what your home air quality is like in real time, they’re kinda handy. You’ll be surprised how much PM gets put into the air from things like cooking or vacuuming the carpet.
Near the main air return grille for the furnace would be the best place. That ensures the most air is going past it. An air purifier can’t remove dust that doesn’t get to it in the first place, so use other sources of air flow to increase its catchment area. Beyond that, in the largest most central/open room is best. Technically the middle of the room away from walls would probably be ideal, but being near the return grille and/or roughly centrally located among the various rooms will get you most of the way there.