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    Best Air Purifiers for Wildfire Smoke

    These models can help clear harmful particulates. Plus, other steps you can take to improve indoor air quality.

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    A fire truck driving towards the Smokehouse Creek fire at the Texas panhandle region in Texas, United States on February 29, 2024.
    Swelling wildfire smoke has caused zero visibility in the Texas panhandle region creating health hazards and dangerous road conditions.
    Photo: Greenville Firefighter Association/Getty Images

    The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) has reported that through March 1, 2024, more than 4,500 wildfires throughout the U.S. have burned 148,173 acres this year. The damage is more than double that in a similar period in 2023.

    While the USDA reports that wildfires are most prevalent in the western part of the U.S., millions of Americans in the South have been facing hazardous air-quality conditions in recent weeks. Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Montana, and Missouri have all reported notable fires. But the Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas Panhandle is quickly raising concern. According to the NIFC, 1,075,000 acres have been affected due to high wind conditions, which have transported burning pieces of firebrand and ignited fires beyond the main fire’s area.

    In this article Arrow link

    Smoke from a wildfire can cause your eyes to burn and your nose to run. (See our tips to protect yourself from smoke, below.) And the microscopic particles in smoke can get deep into your lungs and cause bronchitis, asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, and other problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency.

    These fine particles have even been linked to premature deaths among people with heart and lung disease. And children who breathe in wildfire smoke can experience chest pain and tightness, wheezing, coughing, dizziness, and trouble breathing.

    More on Air Quality

    If you live in an area experiencing a wildfire, general guidance suggests avoiding outdoor activity and keeping windows in your home closed. But research from the University of California, Berkeley, has found that some of the most dangerous particulate matter produced by wildfire smoke can penetrate closed doors and windows, leading to unhealthy indoor air quality. That’s why it’s important to keep your indoor air as free of smoke particles as possible, and some devices can assist with that.

    Can a DIY Air Purifier Help With Wildfire Smoke?

    We tested this popular social media hack in the lab. Find out what to know before trying it at home.

    Do Air Purifiers Help for Smoke?

    Our tests of air purifiers with HEPA filters show that they can help get rid of these harmful particulates. The aforementioned study suggests that they can even cut the level of these irritants by half. But not all air purifiers do a good job of removing smoke particulates. (You can see proof of that in our air purifier ratings.) The most effective ones against smoke have a HEPA filter and a large fan that helps to force air through a fine mesh to trap particles.

    The best air purifiers fitted with HEPA filters can reduce particle concentrations by as much as 85 percent, according to the EPA. If you want to get rid of the smell of smoke in addition to particles, you’ll want an air purifier that also has a large carbon filter to absorb odors.

    HEPA air purifiers can range from $50 to more than $1,000. Our experts advise against buying one that’s marketed for rooms smaller than 150 square feet. Those models tend to perform poorly in our tests, plus you’ll always get better results with a unit that’s rated well for a larger space than you intend to use it in. Purifiers for rooms larger than 350 square feet are much better at removing smoke. Most of CR’s recommended air purifiers fall into that category.

    “If you look at any of the top-rated air purifiers tested in our labs, they’re physically big because of the big HEPA filter inside of them,” says John Galeotafiore, associate director of product testing at Consumer Reports. “That’s the one thing they all have in common.”

    Best Air Purifiers for Wildfire Smoke

    These six air purifiers (listed in alphabetical order) top our ratings and pass our tests for particle reduction with flying colors at both high and low fan speeds.

    How Consumer Reports Tests Air Purifiers

    To evaluate how well these machines trap small particulates from smoke, we inject cigarette smoke particles into a sealed room and use a particle counter to measure the number and size of particles, as small as 0.1 micron, in the room as an air purifier works. Because air purifiers typically have a number of speed settings, we test for smoke removal at the highest speed and a lower speed. (Some models that perform well at high speeds don’t do as well at low speeds.)

    We also measure noise levels at every speed a machine has because you’ll need to run it 24 hours a day for it to be effective. And we calculate annual operating costs, which include filter replacements and energy use.

    More Tips to Protect Yourself From Smoke

    Smoke can travel hundreds of miles from the source, so even if you live far away from a fire and are in no immediate danger, you could still have harmful smoke coming into your home. Using an air purifier helps, but there’s more you can do to keep your dwelling as smoke-free as possible.

    • Close all your windows and doors and seal any air leaks (including the mail slot, if you have one) with weather stripping, if available. Even masking tape is better than nothing.
    • If it’s too hot to go without using a window air conditioner, close the outdoor air damper if you can, and tightly seal any gaps between the unit and the window.
    • If you need to leave your house, wear goggles and a face mask approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that’s designed to block particles from entering your mouth and nose. If you don’t have an air purifier and the smoke is very bad, consider wearing this protective gear indoors as well, whenever you can. While surgical masks provide protection from exposure to COVID-19, they will not protect you from smoke inhalation.
    • Try to spend the bulk of your time in a room with the fewest windows and no fireplace or ventilation ducts that connect to the outside. If you have a fireplace, shut the chimney flue.
    • If you have an air purifier, use it in this room and keep it running 24/7.
    • Change the air-purifier filter as soon as the indicator light comes on or according to the time frame specified in the manual. If you can’t change it right away, continue to use the air purifier until you can make the switch. A dirty filter is still better than not using the air purifier at all.
    • If you have central heating, ventilating, and air conditioning, you can install a high-efficiency filter (MERV 13 or higher) in the system. Run the system’s fan as often as possible to get the most out of the filter. If your system has a fresh air option, turn it off or close the intake.
    • Shut doors to the laundry room and bathrooms because those rooms often have ventilation ducts that lead to the outside.
    • Vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters can help remove and trap smoke particles that have settled on carpet and furniture. But don’t use a vacuum that doesn’t have a HEPA filter; it’ll just kick up more particles into the air. For the same reason, clean hard surfaces with a damp cloth or mop.
    @consumerreports Hazardous air-quality conditions due to wildfire smoke are impacting areas across the U.S. Our tests show that these air purifier models can help clear harmful particulates. Learn more through the link in our bio. #airquality #airqualityrightnow #wildfiresmoke #wildfires ♬ original sound - Consumer Reports

    Headshot of CRO Home Editor Tanya Christian

    Tanya A. Christian

    Tanya Christian joined Consumer Reports as a multimedia content creator in 2021, bringing with her more than a decade of experience in the home and lifestyle space. As a content manager for small kitchen appliances, home remodeling products, and the sleep category, she’s happy to provide readers with recommendations on great design, helpful cooking tools, and smart ways to achieve better sleep. Follow her on Twitter @tanyaachristian.