Dyson Air Purifiers

Model Comparison Tables

Dyson air purifiers that also work as fans...

Dyson air purifiers that also work as heaters and fans...

Dyson air purifiers that also work as humidifiers and fans...

*Pricing on 4/25/23.

Note that all Dyson air purifiers share approximately the same design. Thus, our guide below applies to all models (we'll note exceptions when they apply).

Advantages of Dyson Air Purifiers

1. Their unpurified airflow

a. a high volume of unpurified airflow

Dyson air purifiers feature “air multiplier technology” which is the same technology used in their fans.

This "technology" involves forcing air through a small opening or slot around the hoop that's perched on top of the air purifier.

There's still an impeller (fan) pulling air in and through the base of the unit, past all of its filters, just like every other air purifier. But once the air goes past the impeller, it goes through a small opening around the hoop above the unit.

Pushing even a low volume of air through this small opening creates an area of low pressure, which pulls a much larger volume of air from behind the hoop, through the hoop. This essentially multiplies the volume of air the air purifier projects throughout the room.

Note that the majority of the air a Dyson air purifier projects is unpurified air (air that it pulls from behind the hoop and through it). Only a small fraction of the projected air is clean processed air (air that it pulls through its filters and through the small opening around the hoop).

b. directional airflow over a large area

Dysons also uniquely offer directional airflow. Air is exhausted out of Dysons in a forward direction while air is exhausted out of most other air purifiers on the market in an upward direction. With a Dyson you can rotate the air purifier to project air in a particular direction. You can't do that with most other air purifiers on the market.

Dysons also project air over a large surface area - air is projected through the whole hoop. Air exhausts out of most other air purifiers through a much smaller outlet.

c. oscillation

All Dyson air purifiers can be set to automatically oscillate back and forth on the x-axis. That is to say, they can be set to oscillate left to right.

Most other air purifiers on the market do not offer this functionality as they are primarily air purifiers (not multipurpose appliances that can double as fans like Dysons) and air direction (in this case constantly changing direction) has little to no impact on air purification.

d. tilt

Dyson air purifiers can physically be pushed to tilt up or down. Again, this is a unique feature of Dyson air purifiers. Most other air purifiers on the market don't offer this functionality.

2. Dysons can be used as multipurpose appliances

a. operating these units on their standard air cleaning modes provides a cooling effect giving these units the ability to double as fans.

Note that Dyson air purifiers that "cool" are not air conditioners. The cooling effect is solely provided by the airflow out of the unit (working like a fan).

b. " Hot + Cool" units can also heat the air they process

Most other air purifiers on the market do not offer this functionality. They only clean the air. They cannot cool or heat it.

c. "Humidify" units can also humidify the air they process

Again, most other air purifiers on the market do not offer this functionality.

3. Dysons can filter formaldehyde

Dyson air purifiers with "Formaldehyde" in their model name (e.g. the "Purifier Cool Formaldehyde") come equipped with catalytic filters. These filters target and destroy formaldehyde. They are also permanent filters that don't need to be replaced at cost.

Most other air purifiers on the market only come equipped with carbon filters. Carbon filters most unwanted gases - most harmful VOCs and odors - very well. But it has trouble filtering certain lower molecular weight chemicals like formaldehyde.

"Formaldehyde" Dyson air purifiers uniquely provide filtration for this particular chemical with their catalytic filters.

If you have an issue with formaldyde we recommend removing the source of the formaldehyde and/or ventilating - i.e. opening windows to bring in fresh air and ventilate out unclean air - instead of trying to fix the issue with an air purifier. However, if you want to or absolutely need to remove formaldehyde using an air purifier, "Formaldehyde" Dyson air purifiers can handle this task for you.

4. Dysons are smart

Most Dyson units provide

• App support – this allows you to monitor and control the unit with an app on your phone
• Voice control as well

There are several other air purifiers on the market that also offer this functionality. However, it is especially well implemented in Dyson units. It’s clear from Dyson’s marketing that it’s a priority for them to synonymize their brand with the idea that their appliances are made with an emphasis on cutting edge technology. Thus, smart functionality is a priority for them. And it shows when you use their app to control their appliances. The user interface is well laid out, everything works, and it works really well.

5. Dysons provide easy control and fine tuning

a. easy control

- They provide full app control via wifi (discussed above).

- And all of them come with a remote control (with lots of buttons).

Most other air purifiers on the market either do not have a remote control or if they do, have a very limited remote control – with only a few buttons. You can control absolutely everything there is to control – fan speed, auto modes, etc. - with the remote control included with a Dyson air purifier. The remote control for these units also snaps to top of unit (magnetically) for easy storage.

b. fine tuning

- All Dysons have 10 fan speeds.

Most other air purifiers feature 3 or 4 fan speeds at most. We certainly appreciate the extra control this provides; however, the truth is that in practice, you’re likely to use only 2 or 3 fan speeds at most – one for when you want the unit to operate as quietly as possible (a low fan speed) and one for when you want the unit to clean the air as quickly as possible (the highest fan speed).

- Most Dysons feature an auto mode and/or a night mode.

These are not features unique to Dyson air purifiers but they are nice to have nonetheless.

We generally do not recommend running any air purifier on auto mode. The air quality sensor installed on most air purifiers (including Dysons) does not offer the necessary accuracy or precision to properly control the cleaning level (i.e. fan speed) for regular everyday use. We therefore recommend that you run the unit on a consistent manual fan speed if you can. For more information on this topic see here.

The night mode on Dyson units works relatively well – it essentially shuts off the LED display. However, it is itself an automatic mode. And again, we do not recommend running these units on any auto mode, but rather that you set fan speed manually.

6. Dysons look great

There’s no denying that Dyson air purifiers have a very clean modern aesthetic. They really are great looking appliances. The same cannot be said for many other air purifiers on the market.

Disadvantages of Dyson air purifiers

1. Their low purified airflow

Earlier we talked about the different facets of a Dyson air purifier's unpurified airflow – that it's a high volume, directional over a large area, and that the air purifier can be set to oscillate and/or tilt. However, unpurified airflow - and everything that goes with it - has little to no impact on the actual air purification process.

Ultimately, you’re buying an air purifier to lower the particle concentration in a particular room as quickly as possible.

The rate at which the overall particle concentration in a room is lowered is directly proportional to the rate at which an air purifier can take unclean air, process it through its filters, and output clean air.

The rate at which an air purifier can do this is determined by

• the quality of the filters and the
• volume of air processed through the filters per unit time (CFM)

When it comes to filters, Dyson units do just fine. They’re equipped with a combination HEPA/carbon filter. HEPA is the industry standard for particle filtration and carbon is the standard for gas filtration.

Here’s the problem: in terms of volume of processed air per minute (CFM), Dyson units do quite poorly.

Dysons do project a high volume of air, but the majority of the air they project is unpurified air. Only a small fraction of the projected air is clean processed air.

All Dyson units currently on the market have an effective purified airflow right around or below 100 CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute).

100 CFM is a very low purified airflow. For comparison, a relatively small standard air purifier like the GermGuardian AC4825 has a purified airflow of around 130 CFM.

What does all of this mean in practice? What this means is that Dyson air purifiers cannot be used in rooms much larger than 100 to 150 sq. ft. Anything larger than that and a Dyson air purifier will not be able to effectively lower particle concentration in the room.

And keep in mind that in such a room – a small room under 150 sq. ft. - they need to be run on maximum fan speed to be effective. For the Dyson Hot+Cool Formaldehyde, for example, that’s fan speed 10 with a noise output of approx. 59 dB and a power draw of approx. 23 watts. For comparison, the top rated Winix 5500-2 outputs at slightly more than 100 CFM on a medium setting (it outputs at 250 CFM on its highest fan speed) where it makes less than 50 dB of noise and draws less than 10 watts of power.

If you were to run a Dyson air purifier on a lower setting than max – let’s say, fan speed 7 or 5 – it would not be able to lower particle concentration effectively in even a small 100 sq. ft. room. What do we mean by “effectively”? It would not be able to lower particle concentration in the room fast enough to maintain a particle concentration less than what you could accomplish with an HVAC system equipped with a good filter. And if you’re going through all the trouble of buying an air purifier to begin with, you certainly want your air purifier to perform better than your HVAC system in cleaning the air in your home.

2. Dysons are a poor value

The least expensive Dyson air purifiers retail in the $300 to $400 range. The most expensive models are upwards of $900 or more.

What does all of that buy you? The effective air purification (purified airflow) of a standard air purifier in the $80 to $100 range. Recall the GermGuardian AC4825 we referenced earlier. The AC4825 also has a HEPA and carbon filter and it offers even more purified airflow than any Dyson. The best part? It retails for about $80 – a fraction of the price of even the cheapest Dyson air purifier.

Replacement filters for standard air purifiers in this price range are also cheaper. They usually cost well under $50. Dyson air purifier replacement filters usually cost at least $70 .

The bottom line: if you’re strictly looking for an air purifier (and not an appliance that also cools, heats, or humidifies) – Dyson air purifiers are a really poor value.

Recommendation

So what is our general recommendation when it comes to Dyson air purifiers? It’s this:

Look into purchasing a Dyson air purifier if you value

• Its ability to be used as a multipurpose appliance – i.e. you also want to use it as a fan, heater, or humidifier
• Its ability to filter formaldehyde (only applies to certain models)
• Its smart features – Dyson app and voice control
• Its aesthetics

If you don’t care for these things, we recommend you buy a standard run-of-the-mill air purifier instead.

Specifically, we recommend a top rated 250 CFM unit like the Coway Mighty or Winix 5500-2.

Top rated 250 CFM units have more than double the purified airflow of Dyson units. This means that they can be used in rooms twice as large – up to 300 sq. ft. on high fan speed – but also can be used in smaller rooms at lower fan speeds – where they’re much quieter than Dyson units that have to run on a maximum fan speed to be effective in a smaller room.

Top rated 250 CFM units are also more energy efficient and of course a much better value – they retail for around $150 to $200 with 250 CFM of output, still with a HEPA filter, and with a carbon filter just like most Dysons currently on the market.