The Main Differences Between Air Purifiers vs Dehumidifiers

Air quality is important to your health that is why we have air purifiers and dehumidifiers. These appliances help your household and office space air to be its best. When you breathe top quality air, your lungs stay in great shape and your body gets healthier.

But there is a difference between the two appliances. To find out what those differences are, just keep reading our article. It is filled with the information you need to know.

air purifier

Air Purifier vs Dehumidifier

The main difference between the air purifier and the dehumidifier is that the latter of the two works to lower the humidity levels in your home. While it does have filters that help remove airborne particles, its main task is attacking the high humidity levels.

On the other hand, the air purifier does not address your moisture levels that much. Its main task is to purify your home’s air of impurities like pollen, smoke, pet dander, dust mites and mold. The air purifier may come with a better filtering system (HEPA filter and activated carbon filter) than the dehumidifier. Thus, the air purifier's main task is to produce clean air for you and your family.

Air Purifier vs Humidifier vs Dehumidifier

There are some similarities between all three devices. First, they are all user-friendly. Their controls are not hard to figure out or use and they are usually conveniently located for easy access.

Plus, they all come in a variety of shapes and sizes. This allows you a little freedom to choose the design that fits with best with the rooms in your home. Also, a similarity that may not be welcomed in your home is that they all produce about the same amount of noise levels.

In the low-end side of things, you will find that the cost of the 3 machines are relatively the same, It is when you go up in class that you will see that the air purifier is a little more expensive.

The reason for that is that the purifier has more features and a better filtering system, than the humidifier and the dehumidifier. While the humidifier needs to be used in drier climates, it, as well as the air purifier and dehumidifier, help you and your family with your respiratory issues.

Both dehumidifier and air purifier help remove a lot of the same airborne particles and keep your house healthy. While the best humidifiers help moisturize the air inside your home.

Dehumidifier vs Air Purifier for Mold

If a decision had to be made about which device is better to handle your mold problem, it would land on the side of the air purifier. The HEPA air purifier has a better filtering system, it includes a HEPA filter that makes sure almost 100% of all mold airborne particles are removed from the air in your home’s rooms.

If there is one drawback to the air purifier is that it cannot produce oxygen. When you use it you need to make sure you have the proper ventilation in the room to keep the air inside fresh and breathable.

Also, for both the dehumidifier and the air purifier, you need to make sure you clean their filters regularly. While mold is taken out of the air and caught in the filters, it is still not dead.

dehumidifier and air purifier which is best for mold

Mold can reproduce more spores while trapped in an air filter, especially when the humidity levels start to rise in the room. Those mold spores may be small enough to escape the filtering system and make their way back into your room.

What this means is that you need to make sure the filters on the air purifier and the dehumidifier are kept clean as often as possible.

Dehumidifier vs Air Purifier for Allergies & Asthma

Again the edge must be given to the air purifier in this contest. That is because the dehumidifier’s filtering system is just not as good as the air purifier’s. It is the same here as it is with the mold issue.

The HEPA filter in the air purifier removes about 99.8% of all airborne contaminants including those particles that trigger allergies and asthma. Also, the dehumidifier’s main task is to reduce the high humidity levels in your home or independent rooms.

dehumidifier air purifier for allergies and asthma

It is a task only the dehumidifier can do and it does it well. That focus explains why the dehumidifier’s system, including filters, is not as good as the air purifier’s. Both the air purifier and the dehumidifier can be used during the winter.

The reason for that versatility is that unhealthy airborne particles get trapped in your home because your doors and windows are closed more often than any other time of the year.

A Final Comparison

While the air purifier wins the mold, asthma and allergy battles, where it loses out to the dehumidifier is in removing destructive moisture in the air. The dehumidifier protects your wood furniture, floors, walls and other areas that get too moist.

The air purifier just cannot compete on this level with the dehumidifier. So while you do get some mold, asthma, allergy and other dangerous airborne particle protection from using a dehumidifier, you also get moisture protection.

That is the only edge the dehumidifier has over the air purifier. Excess moisture does more than damage wood, etc. It allows for mold and mildew to grow in places you may not even see.

The dehumidifier gets to those hidden areas and makes sure the mold and mildew germs do not get a foothold in your home.

Some Final Words

Both devices, the air purifier and the dehumidifier work well to protect you, your family and your home. Which one you use depends a lot on your geographical area. If you live in a dry region of the country, then you would need an air purifier and not a dehumidifier.

In a moist region of the country, a dehumidifier for basement or any moist areas in your home may be your first choice but you can use both devices if you want to. Let the air purify tackle the air issues and the dehumidifier to provide that moisture protection you need all the time.

The differences are not that great and both devices are good to use in your home

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My name is Justin Williams. I am the founder and blogger at TheDehumidifierExperts.com (read more about us). I was an allergy sufferer and that is also the reason why I began my trek to finding the best dehumidifier for my own personal health issues. All of the dehumidifier top picks on the site were put through their paces by Lance Perez - our dehumidifier researcher. He put each one through a series of tests to see how well they performed. Then, our editorial team compiled the insights into articles and published them.

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