Room area (purification)
A very conditional parameter that slightly characterizes the purpose by the size of the room. And depending on the height of the ceilings, layout, structure of the building and equipment, the actual values may differ significantly. Nevertheless, this item represents the maximum recommended area of the room in which the device is able to effectively clean the air. The parameter is indicated taking into account the standard ceiling height of 2.5-3 m. If the ceilings are higher than generally accepted values, the volume of space increases — it can be recalculated using special formulas. If the unit is used in rooms larger than the specifications of the model, the air cleaning quality may be poor, and maintenance and filter replacement may need to be done too often.
If the device is supposed to be moved from one room to another, when choosing, you should focus on the room with the largest area. In any case, it is recommended to take equipment with a reserve for the serviced area, but a small one – otherwise the device will cost more and may turn out to be more bulky.
Air flow
Maximum performance provided by the humidifier — that is, the maximum amount of air that it can pass through itself in an hour. This parameter is most relevant for models with a purifier function (see “Type”). However, it can also be specified for humidifiers.
The flow rate is selected by manufacturers, taking into account the area and, accordingly, the volume of the room for which the device is designed. For efficient operation, the device must be able to pass the entire volume of processed air through itself at least once per hour (or better, two or three times). At the same time, for models with the same area of the room, different air flow indicators can be declared - accordingly, the processing speed and efficiency will differ.
We also note that the recommended area of the room can be estimated by air flow if the latter is not stated in the specs. For example, if the device provides 200 m³/h, this means that the volume of the room can be no more than 200 m³, which, with a standard ceiling height of 2.5 m, gives an area of 200/2.5=80 m². And ideally, the area should be even 2-3 times smaller — that is, it should be about 25-40 m².
Power consumption
It is the maximum power consumed by the device during operation. The lower it is the more economical the device. However, it is worth noting that in humidifiers, energy consumption is directly related to the principle of operation (see "Humidiation"): with similar characteristics, steam models are high consumption, where energy is spent on heating water, and the most economical are water models. Nevertheless, the energy consumption of modern humidifiers is generally low — even for steam humidifiers it rarely exceeds 600 W, and ultrasonic devices with similar power are already heavy industrial equipment. Purifiers also do not differ in consumption: a power of more than 100 W is rare among such devices.
