Air purifiers are said to make life easier for allergy sufferers. How well they implement this in reality has now been put to the test by Stiftung Warentest.
- Air purifiers are becoming increasingly popular.
- They filter the air from pollutants and pollen .
- Stiftung Warentest has checked whether the devices keep their promises.
The number of allergy sufferers is increasing steadily: Pollen, fine dust or other pollutants that are found in the outside and inside air are mostly to blame. For example, because of furniture and floor coverings, there is often formaldehyde in the room air and also evaporating solvents from adhesives pollute the air we breathe. Air filters promise a remedy here - so the theory. Stiftung Warentest has now tested how the devices work in practice.
This is how air cleaners performed at Stiftung Warentest
Stiftung Warentest put seven air purifiers through their paces. It was tested how well the devices remove pollen, cigarette smoke * and formaldehyde from the air. As can be seen, the results, which are broken down in the current issue of the magazine "test" (03/2020), are very different.
So not a single air purifier achieves the grade "very good". Two achieve the grade "good", three are "satisfactory" and two in the overall grade "sufficient". After all, six out of seven devices prove that they can control pollen in the room: they remove at least 90 percent of it from a 16 square meter room within ten minutes.
It becomes a little more difficult with cigarette smoke, especially in the long run. After 100 cigarettes, aged filters absorbed only a quarter or a fifth of the smoke in some devices. Only the Philips AC2889 / 10 held up to some extent . With a grade of 2.4, it occupies the top spot .
In order to filter formaldehyde from the air *, air cleaners require an activated carbon filter , which all seven devices also had to show. However, two of them - the Beurer LR 500 and the De Longhi AC230 - filtered almost nothing. Even the best in the test had barely absorbed any of the gas after 20 minutes. The manufacturers still have some catching up to do here.
Also interesting : Stiftung Warentest checks ovens: A "black sheep" is there.
Air purifier: What consumers should pay attention to when buying
The manufacturers of the tested devices charge between 39 and 140 euros for replacement filters. These can then last between six months and three years - in the long run this can be expensive fun. In addition, consumers should not rely on manufacturers' square meters. According to the Stiftung Warentest, information on the volume of the room is a better guideline.
Read also : Only two keep their promise: According to Stiftung Warentest, these mattresses are the best for every body shape.
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* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
