How to improve indoor air quality in apartments and small spaces
If you live in an apartment, dorm room or other small space, experts recommend investing in devices like fans or air purifiers.
“If you can purchase an air purifying machine with some form of air quality indicator, that’s always best,” since you get the benefit of both products in one, Ronaghi said.
The Instant Air Purifier is specially designed for rooms up to 126 square feet. It removes allergens and smoke from the air through a three-stage filtration system and has a sensor that monitors air quality and adjusts the fan speed accordingly in auto mode. Instant said the device also works to remove airborne bacteria, mold and viruses — including Covid — and its light sensor turns off displays and lowers the noise in night mode.
Carbon dioxide monitors are “like the canary in the coal mine” when it comes to monitoring indoor air quality, McKeon said. They measure levels of the gas to give a sense of how much fresh air is circulating.
“A carbon dioxide monitor is a very good proxy for air exchange and ventilation,” McKeon said. “If you build up carbon dioxide indoors, it will tell you that ventilation and air quality is not as good as it could be in your space.”
The Wave Plus air quality monitor from Airthings specifically monitors carbon dioxide levels indoors, as well as dangerous substances like the radioactive gas radon. The device pairs with your phone or tablet via Bluetooth, and its app and online dashboard keep you updated on air quality. The monitor can be mounted on the wall or ceiling, and its color-coded rings change based on what it’s measuring.
When people want to improve the air quality in their home, many immediately think about using an air purifier. But an air purifier may not be the solution you need. If your air is too dry or humid, for example, an air purifier won’t help change that. An air quality monitor can help narrow down what products will actually be beneficial.
Based on our experts’ guidance and our previous recommendations, we rounded up top-rated purifiers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers and fans that could help people improve the air in their small apartments or offices.
While you ideally want to purchase an air purifier with a built-in air quality monitor, buying one with a high efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filter is also important.
“Even if the device may not be able to give you a number for your air quality inside the room, you will be filtering out all the pollutants and all the bad stuff in that room,” Ronaghi said.
Cuisinart’s smaller air purifier is designed to sit on countertops, coffee tables or desks. It can clean the air in a room of up to 500 square feet and features a HEPA filter, active carbon filters and washable, reusable metal filters. It has a timer and an automatic shutoff, and you can choose from four fan speeds.
One of the ways the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests improving ventilation indoors is to open the windows. However, the windows in some apartment buildings and dorms don’t open, or, if they do, they open just a crack. In those cases, Ronaghi said, “a simple fan is going to at least be able to increase air circulation.”
This desktop fan is portable, so you can move it around your small space without worrying about it getting in the way. It offers low and high speeds and is battery operated.
“A combination of an air purifier and a fan will help increase air circulation in small spaces and remove some of those pollutants and particles,” Ronaghi said.
It will also save you space in an apartment or dorm room, so you don’t have to find room for two separate devices.
The Blueair Pure Fan Auto acts as three devices in one: an air purifier, fan and air quality monitor. It’s built with the brand’s HEPASilent filtration technology to capture particles and also features a prefilter. It provides a gentle cooling stream of air and has an air quality indicator built in, which displays one of three colors to communicate its reading. In auto mode, the Pure Fan Auto increases its fan speed if it detects air pollution rising and slows down once it senses that the air is clean.
If the air is too dry, it can irritate your eyes and exacerbate allergies, McKeon said. Thus, you need to add moisture into the air, which is what a humidifier does.
As recommended in our guide to humidifiers, Pure Enrichment’s MistAire model comes with a 1.5-liter water tank, offering up to 25 hours of continuous operation and 250 square feet of coverage. You can select between high and low speeds, and the device features an optional night light as well as an automatic shutoff. The device utilizes ultrasonic technology, too, which runs quietly so you can use it while you’re sleeping.
If there’s condensation on your windows, there’s too much moisture in the air inside. This can lead to mold buildup, which, especially in a small enclosed space, can trigger allergies and asthma, McKeon said. Dehumidifiers remove some of that moisture from the air.
The Pro Breeze Electric Mini Dehumidifier, featured in our guide to dehumidifiers, covers up to 215 square feet. It has a 16-ounce water tank and automatically shuts off when it’s full. The device is lightweight, too, allowing you to easily move it. The brand said this dehumidifier is marketed as “whisper quiet,” so it won’t disturb you while you’re sleeping.
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