Air purifier on wooden floor

There are a lot of questions that you ask yourself before you decide whether an air purifier is something that you want to invest in. One of the most common ones is “how much electricity does an air purifier use?”. After all, you probably want to know if having an air purification system will cost you an arm and a leg. 

The short answer is no, it won’t. Below, you will find more detailed information about how much electricity a regular air purifier actually uses so that you can make a fully conscious decision. 

How Long Should an Air Purifier Be Run? 

Ideally, air purifiers should be run 24/7, as that’s when they are the most effective at keeping the air clean and getting rid of all the allergens that might have contaminated your indoor air. 

In most cases, it would take anywhere between half an hour to two hours to clean the air from allergens – however, you have to keep in mind that when you switch the air purifier off, the allergens will most likely enter your home again and you will have to use the air purifier again. That’s why you should keep it on at all times – so that your indoor air is always clean. 

You might be thinking – Is it safe to always have it on? Wouldn’t it get damaged? No, it won’t – most air purifiers are manufactured with the idea that they will be operating 24/7, so they are built in a way that prevents damage or failure caused by long running times from happening. 

How Much Electricity Does an Air Purifier Use?

Air purifier cleaning air

Contrary to what you might think, considering how long they should be run for, air purifiers are actually very energy efficient. In fact, you most likely have appliances in your house that use a lot more energy than an air purifier does despite being run for less time. 

So, how much energy does an air purifier use? It depends on which one you buy. However, most devices available on the market don’t use more than 100 W on the maximum setting, with an average of 50 W. 

Example 1 

To better understand how much electricity an air purifier uses, let us give you an example. Let’s assume that you bought an air purifier with an 80 W engine that you will be using on the maximum setting. You need to multiply that by the number of hours in the day, assuming you will be using it as recommended, so 24/7: 

80 W x 24 hours = 1920 W 

This means that every day your air purifier will be using 1920 W of energy. Now, we need to convert that into kilowatts. To do that, you need to divide the Watts by 1000. So: 

1920 W / 1000 = 1.92 kWh

This means that every day your air purifier uses 1.92 kWh to operate. Now, let’s calculate how much that would be monthly and annually, assuming that you will use the air purifier every day: 

1.92 kWh x 30 = 57.6 kWh

57.6 kWh x 12 = 691.2 kWh

So, your 80 W air purifier will be using, on average, 57.6 kWh monthly and 691.2 kWh annually. 

Example 2 

Now, let’s assume that the air purifier you purchased has a 40 W engine and three different speed settings. However, you won’t be using it on the maximum setting, but on the second setting, which requires 20 W. Here is how much energy it will consume daily, monthly and annually, again assuming that it will be run 24/7: 

20 W x 24 = 480 W

480 W / 1000 = 0.48 kWh 

0.48 kWh x 30 = 14.4 kWh 

14.4 kWh x 12 = 172.8 kWh 

How Much You Will Pay for Running an Air Purifier 

Now that you know how much electricity an air purifier uses, we can focus on how much it will cost you monthly and annually. 

Of course, the precise amount will depend on the rate your electricity provider charges for one kilowatt. The average global rate is 0.146 US dollars per one kWh, which is what we will be using for our calculations. 

Example 1

We will be using the numbers from example 1 in the previous section to calculate the cost of an air purifier. So, here is how much it would cost you to run it, daily, monthly and annually: 

1.92 kWh x 0.146 US dollars = 0.28 US dollars

57.6 kWh x 0.146 US dollars = 8.41 US dollars

691.2 kWh x 0.146 US dollars = 100.92 US dollars

There you have it – an 80 W air purifier would cost you $0.28 daily, $8.41 monthly and $100.92 annually. 

Example 2 

Now let’s calculate the cost for the air purifier from example 2 from the previous section: 

0.48 kWh x 0.146 US dollars = 0.07 US dollars

14.4 kWh x 0.146 US dollars = 2.10 US dollars 

172.8 kWh x 0.146 US dollars = 25.11 US dollars 

This air purifier will cost you $0.07 daily, $2.10 monthly and $25.11 annually.

The Bottom Line

Woman sitting next to an air purifier

With that being said, we have reached the end of our guide on how much electricity an air purifier uses, and how much one will cost you in terms of your electricity bill. As you can see, air purifiers don’t use a lot of energy – in fact, they are very energy efficient and won’t make that much of a difference to how much you pay for electricity. 

Of course, the exact number depends on factors such as the rate of your energy provider, as well as the air purifier you purchase, which setting you use it on and how much it will be on. However, by now you should have a basic understanding of how to calculate it. 

If you’re interested in improving your indoor air quality, don’t hesitate to take a look at other articles we have on our site. Whether you’re in need of a new air purifier or air conditioner, we have something for you to check out.