The problem of smoke in your home's air goes much further than just the bad smell. As the Environmental Protection Agency outlines, poor indoor air quality can lead to serious long-term health consequences from respiratory disease and heart disease to cancer. Among the leading causes of poor indoor air quality are Tobacco products, and if you live in an affected area, wildfires.
Air purifiers, while not able to solve the problem completely, can remove the particulate matter and pollutants that smoking or wildfires put into the air. By comparing the important features, you can purchase an air purifier specifically designed to be effective against smoke particles and odors, lessening the risk of negative long-term health consequences.
Which air purifiers are the most effective against smoke? We've compiled data from Energystar.gov and AHAM (an independent rating agency for air purifiers) with our own experience testing air purifiers to help you quickly decide which smoke-busting air purifier is right for your home and budget.
Table of Contents
- The Winners
- What Makes an Air Purifier Good at Handling Smoke?
- Details: The Best Air Purifier for Cigarette, Cigar & Weed Smoke
- Details: The Best Air Purifiers for Wildfire Smoke
- Details: The Best Affordable Air Purifiers for Smoke
- Details: The Best Portable Air Purifiers for Smoke
- Details: The Best Large Room Air Purifiers for Smoke
- Verdict: Which is For You?
The Winners
The Best Air Purifier For Cigarettes, Weed, Cigars: Levoit Core 200s Air Purifier
For an air purifier that you can put anywhere, that can purify a single room of smoke and smells in a short time, with luxury features like voice control and that doesn't cost much? The Levoit Core 200s is almost impossible to beat.
The Best Air Purifier For Wildfire Smoke: Levoit LV-134 Air Purifier
For an air purifier with a smoke Clean Air Delivery Rate of over 300 and a coverage area of 491sq ft, the prices don't get any lower than the Levoit LV-134, especially not for a model that's independently certified.
The Best Low Cost Air Purifier for Smoke: Levoit Personal HEPA Air Purifier
For a HEPA filter, from a recognized brand, with multiple layers of activated carbon mesh to adsorb odors, we agree with the glowing reviews of the Levoit Personal HEPA Air Purifier.
The Best Large Room Air Purifier for Smoke: Cleanforce Mega1000 Air Purifier
If you want maximum purification of smoke (a smoke Clean Air Delivery Rate of over 400: The highest that independent rating agencies have issued) across a large area (or your whole home during fire season) the Cleanforce Mega1000 is the only available option at this low price point.
Want to take a deep dive on the details? See other air purifiers that performed well in each category? Learn what it really takes to beat smokey air at home? Continue with the table of contents below.
What Makes an Air Purifier Good at Handling Smoke?
To be effective against smoke, an air purifier needs two capabilities: The ability to remove smoke particles from the air quickly, and the ability to remove odors associated with those particles, before they land on surfaces, where they can stay for years.
A Quick Note on Carbon Filters and Odor
Fortunately, picking an air purifier to handle the odor part is easy. Almost every decent air purifier comes with some sort of carbon filter ("activated carbon") that - by a process called adsorption - traps gaseous pollutants and works to nullify odors.
But here's the catch with carbon filters: Size is everything. A carbon filter basically makes air pollutants become a part of themselves. That's the layman's explanation of "adsorption". You can't clean things off your carbon filter. The pollutants are fused to it. The carbon filter can only trap as much as its surface area allows.
If you're hitting your air purifier with heavy odors like smoke on a regular basis, and you have a small machine with a small carbon filter, pretty soon it'll stop catching odors, even if the smoke particles themselves are caught by the HEPA filter that might have a longer life.
Many small air purifiers come with a carbon filter, but for this reason, against smoke odor, they might be inefficient over the long term.
So that's a primer on odors. The smoke clearance part is more complicated.
Understanding Smoke CADR
CADR stands for Clean Air Delivery Rate. It's is a metric used to compare the effectiveness of air purifiers against different pollutants, usually dust, smoke, and pollen. Smoke CADR is the cubic feet per minute of air that has had all the smoke particles removed. If you have a bedroom that's 10ft by 12ft with an 8ft ceiling, you've got a 960 cubic foot room. An air purifier with a Smoke CADR of 100 would fill those 960 cubic feet with clean air in 9 minutes and 36 seconds.
Most companies say that to maintain a room with clean air you want at least 4 changes of air per hour. In this scenario above, the air would be cleared of smoke 6.25 times in an hour, meaning that a smoke CADR of 100 is plenty to clear smoke from your 10ft by 12ft room.
Bored yet? I hope not 🙂
Here's the bottom line: To get the most effective smoke clearance from an air purifier, you want the machine with the highest smoke CADR relative to your room size, and your budget.
There are only three final caveats I need to mention before we dive into this list:
Smoke CADR per Watt
As well as the clearance of smoke, it's worth paying attention to an air purifier's smoke clearance per watt. This is the smoke CADR when the power usage is factored in. Some air purifiers have a high smoke CADR but they are electrically inefficient, costing much more than their counterparts for the same delivery of clean air.
Many manufacturers submit their air purifiers for independent review and the EPA keeps a database of those machines' vital statistics. Here you can check the Smoke CADR and Smoke CADR per watt for many popular machines. This is part of how we've created the list below, by digging through this database and comparing these numbers so you don't have to.
Unfortunately, however, the smoke CADR per watt number isn't available for a lot of machines.
Noises & Lights
The effectiveness of an air purifier depends on your ability to have it running for long periods of time. If a machine's sounds bother you, or the display lights keep you awake at night, you're not going to run it long enough for it to do its job.
Below we've highlighted machines that have features to prevent these issues. Some have dimmer switches on their lighting panels. Some have top-mounted lights rather than side-mounted (so they're not shining right "at" you if you're sitting or sleeping near them). All of them have low noise ratings relative to their CADR numbers.
The Air Purifier Has to be Used Properly
Air purifiers are great for getting smoke out of the air. They're terrible at grabbing smoke particles off your furniture, clothes, and pets. To make your air purifier effective against smoke, you must be willing to, where possible:
- Turn the air purifier on before the source of smoke arrives: You want clean air from the purifier pumping before you light a cigarette or get that oiled wok to it's highest heat. This also means having the air in the room clean of other pollutants (by the air purifier) before the new source of smoke is introduced.
- Maintain your filters well: You probably know you're going to need to replace the HEPA filter in your air purifier every so often (most manufacturers recommend every 6-12 months) but to be vigilant in the fight against smoke, you need to be replacing the carbon filter too. Once an activated carbon surface has trapped its maximum amount of pollutant, it can't trap any more and it will cease to do anything for the prevention of smoke odors. Many manufacturers have a filter replacement product that gives you a new HEPA filter and a new carbon filter combined but not all of them do. This is a factor worth considering before your purchase (but that again, we've factored into our calculations below).
You've now got in hand the most important factors to consider when deciding on the right air purifier. It's time to take a look at our list.
Below we've compiled recommendations for the highest value, highest rated air purifiers for smoke in each of these categories.
Use the jump links below, or scroll down to find the option best suited to your situation.
Details: The Best Air Purifier for Cigarette, Cigar & Weed Smoke
A great air purifier for cigarette, cigar, or weed smoke is one that's small, ideally portable (you might not smoke in the same room every time), and quiet. Unless you do a lot of walking around the house smoking, you don't need a machine that can purify your whole domicile here.
You also want a machine you can safely sit up on a bench or coffee table, as close as possible to your face without being annoying, so that it can grab smoke quickly directly from the source. You still want a high smoke CADR, energy efficiency, and a decent-sized carbon filter, but you don't need to spend a fortune on these models. Here's a table that compares our best picks for smokers, followed by a detailed explanation.
 Levoit Core 200S Air Purifier $79.97 |  Blueair 411 Air Purifier $119.99 |  Honeywell HPA100 Air Purifier $159.00 |
|
| Smoke CADR | 98 | 105 | 100 |
| Smoke CADR/watt | 2.6 | 10.6 | 2.8 |
| Coverage | 152sq ft | 163sq ft | 155sq ft |
| Annual Energy Use (kwH/year) | 222 | 59 | 208 |
| Noise (quietest) | 24-48db | 17-46db | 23-68db |
| Voice Control | Y | N | N |
| Filter | H13 True HEPA | H13 True HEPA | H13 True HEPA |
| Fan Speeds | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Programmable | Y | N | N |
| Height | 12.6in | 16.7in | 13.54inin |
| Timer | 2,4,8 hour | N | 2,4,8 hours |
| Replacement Filter |  $25.99 (1 Filter) |  $23.99 (1 Filter) |  $32.98 (8 Carbon Filter + 2 HEPA Filters) |
| Warranty | 2 year | 2 year | 5 year |
| Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon |
#1 Best For Smokers: Levoit Core 200s Air Purifier
For an air purifier that you can put anywhere, that can purify a single room of smoke and smells in a short time, and that doesn't cost much? The Levoit Core 200s is almost impossible to beat.
This is the highest smoke CADR air purifier (EnergyStar rated) that you can get for this price. It's compact, quiet, and efficient, purifying the air in a room up to 163sqft multiple times per hour.
But on top of the cost, there are a host of reasons to make this your choice for a relaxing smoke.
Reason #1: It's Voice-Activated
It's the only model with this high a smoke CADR score that you can activate with your Alexa. A remote control is nice, but voice control is the best.
Reason #2: It's Programmable
It comes with a smartphone app that lets you set fan speeds and timings on a schedule. This is not a 2,4,8 hour timer button, but the ability to program ahead of time any filtration schedule you like for any day of the week. Know you always cook at 6 pm? Program it to always be on high at that time. Know you always light a cigarette after lunch? Make sure the air purifier is on in advance of that every time.
This is a feature not seen even in much more expensive air purifiers, so it's remarkable that you can get it for this price.
Reason #3: It's Small
The smallest option of the 3, it's so compact there's really nowhere you can't put it. Whether it's for a smoking room, a kitchen bench, or a small coffee table, the Levoit Core 200s will never be obtrusive. Oh, and it's small enough that it's portable. Carry it from room to room, or even with you when you travel, suitcase space pending.
For the all-around best value small air purifier for a smoker, don't hesitate to pick the high-tech Levoit Core 200s.
#2 For Smokers: Blueair 411 Air Purifier (Lowest Running Costs)
If you're willing to nudge the budget ever so slightly you can vastly expand the performance and efficiency of your air purifier by getting a Blueair 411.
While mostly it compares to the Levoit Core 200 (similar coverage and smoke CADR) it stands out in a couple of important ways:
Reason #1: The Running Costs
In the table above, take a look at the smoke clearance per watt. The Blueair 411 is nearly 5 times more energy-efficient than the Levoit Core 200s! If hypothetically, the Levoit Core 200s were going to cost you $100 a year in electricity, the Blueair 411 would cost you closer to $20. If you plan on using this air purifier for years into the future, the savings will add up.
Reason #2: It's the Quietest
Cigarette, cigar, or weed, you're lighting up to try and relax. This is the quietest model with this feature set, going as low as 17db. More importantly, it's quiet on the high speeds too, only hitting 46db at its max. You'll always use the high speeds, especially if you're smoking with someone else and there are two smoke sources in a small room. For the lowest possible sound, the Blueair 411 is your choice.
Reason #3: Larger Carbon Filter (Better Odor Adsorption)
Being a taller machine at 16 inches rather than 12, the Blueair's carbon filter has more surface area, making it better able to trap the particles that create odors. This will mean you can go longer without needing to replace filters.
You might think that the extra size would make the Blueair bulkier and harder to carry around, but that's not the case. The Blueair 411 is lighter than the Levoit Core 200s, weighing in at only 3.35lbs compared to the Levoit's 6.6lb.
#3 For Smokers: Honeywell HPA100 Air Purifier (Best Warranty + Cheapest Replacement Filters)
The Honeywell HPA100 is a classic model that's been doing its job well for years. While it might not be as fancy as some of its newer counterparts, it more than stacks up on the most important features a smoker should want.
Again, smoke CADR and coverage are similar here. Each of these 3 options is a great choice for someone looking to reliably clear smoke from a small room. Why would anyone get the Honeywell HPA300 then?
Reason #1: Cheap Replacement Filters
Unlike other brands, Honeywell replacement filters come in packs of 3 or 4, often for the price of a single replacement filter from another company. Not only are the replacement filters cheaper per unit than others, but they also give you the option to replace the carbon filter alone if you want (rather than needing to replace both the carbon and HEPA filters when either one of them is worn out). This is particularly important for smokers who will put the highest strain on their carbon filters.
Reason #2: 5 Year Warranty
More so than any other brand at this price point, Honeywell stands behind their product with a 5-year guarantee. It means you will have this air purifier for that long, not just that you might, so long as nothing goes wrong.
Reason #3: Aesthetics
Sure it's down to personal preference, but if you want an air purifier that looks a little more classic... like it might actually have come from an episode of Mad Men (rather than an episode of the Kardashians), the Honeywell HPA100 is your pick.
On The Downside, Be Aware: The Honeywell HPA100 is the noisiest model of the 3, at its highest setting. If you plan on heavy use and you're sensitive to sound, you'd be better served with one of the other 2.
Details: The Best Air Purifiers for Wildfire Smoke
When buying an air purifier for wildfire smoke, you're not just thinking about purifying the air in a single room. On those hot, hazy, scary days, your house is surrounded by smoke. Every door and window is a possible entry point, and you need an air purifier capable of cleaning the space inside your 4 walls as quickly as possible.
It's for that reason that this section contains larger, more powerful air purifiers, capable of clearing, at minimum, multiple rooms of your house at the same time. Because during fire seasons you'll be running these machines a lot, we've also selected the options with the best energy efficiency for their price. We'll start with a little comparison table here, and I'll explain the rankings below.
 Honeywell HPA300 Air Purifier $200.58 |  Levoit LV-134 Air Purifier $299.99 |  Blueair 211+ Air Purifier $299.99 |
|
| Smoke CADR | 300 | 317 | 350 |
| Smoke CADR/watt | 3.3 | 6.4 | 6 |
| Coverage | 465sq ft | 491sq ft | 543sq ft |
| Annual Energy Use (kwH/year) | 531 | 290 | 341 |
| Noise (quietest) | 31db | 25db | 32db |
| Cord Length | 54" | 72" | 74" |
| Filter | H13 True HEPA | H13 True HEPA | H13 True HEPA |
| Fan Speeds | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Auto Mode | N | Y | N |
| Height | 22.25in | 30.9n | 20.4in |
| Timer | 2,4,8 hour | 1-12 hours | N |
| Replacement Filter |  $93.99 (4 Pre-Filters + 3 HEPA Filters) |  $69.99 (1 Filter) |  $36.99 (1 Filter) |
| Warranty | 5 year | 2 year | 2 year |
| Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon |
#1 Best For Wildfire Smoke: Levoit LV-134 Air Purifier
As far as the ability to clear wildfire smoke, the 3 air purifiers in our table are relatively equal. Each gives you a smoke CADR of over 300. They are the most affordable, reputable air purifiers with a smoke CADR number that high.
But the Levoit LV-134 stands out in a few key ways:
Reason #1: The Lowest Running Costs
As you can see by the Smoke CADR/watt numbers, the Levoit LV-134 uses almost half as much electricity to clear the same amount of smoke. This means the longer you have it, the cheaper it becomes, as the savings from other air purifiers mount up each year.
Reason #2: Premium Features
The Levoit LV-134 is the quietest of the 3 machines at the lowest speed. It's the only machine with an auto mode that changes fan/filtering speed as your air quality changes (so you don't have to keep popping back over to the machine and adjusting it). It's also the only machine with a timer you can set for any number of hours from 1 to 12. Most air purifiers, even much more expensive ones only have options to set the timer for 2, 4, or 8 hours. This helps even further with energy efficiency, but also with managing noise levels when you're at home.
Reason #3: Top Mounted Lights (that you can turn off)
This will seem like a small thing, but take it from an air purifier snob, top-mounted lights are better than side-mounted lights. At night, an air purifier with a light on the side ends up in your eye line. If you're reading in bed, or you toss and turn in your sleep, you'll see the actual light, not just a glow of the light. Again, a small thing, but it does make a difference.
More than this, however, the Levoit LV-134 is the only model with a light you can turn off. That means this machine can stay in your bedroom overnight without any effect on your sleep at all. That alone is worth the increase in price in our view.
#2 for Wildfire Smoke: Honeywell HPA300 Air Purifier (Best Value)
The Honeywell HPA300 is the absolute cheapest you can buy an air purifier with a smoke CADR of over 300. This of course is not to say that this machine is "cheap". Not at all.
Honeywell has been around forever and the HPA300 is one of their signature models. The Smoke CADR and the coverage are very similar to the Levoit LV-134. And while the Smoke CADR/watt is lower, there are other reasons why you'd choose this machine, even on top of the upfront cost saving.
Reason #1 Cheap Filter Replacements
As you can see in our comparison table, filters for the Honeywell HPA300 cost significantly less than the competing models. Given that filters are replaced every 6-12 months, this can be a saving of as much as $100 a year.
Reason #2: It's Smaller
If you're not wanting your air purifier to take up much space in your home or apartment, the HPA300 is more than 8 inches shorter than the Levoit LV-134. A smaller footprint means more places you can put it comfortably and less hassle carrying it around from room to room.
Reason #3: Longest Warranty
On the strength of Honeywell's brand reputation, they're able to offer a 5-year warranty. That's more than double as long as other models on this list. Yes, you hope that you don't need the warranty. But accidents happen, and all electronics can break, and a warranty that length gives the piece of mind that even in the worst-case scenario, you won't be out of pocket.
#3 for Wildfire Smoke: Blueair 211+ Air Purifier (Best Coverage)
The Blueair 211+ air purifier has the highest coverage, and the highest smoke CADR of any air purifier we reviewed at this price point. If you're concerned about the previous 2 models covering your house or apartment but you don't want to jump up to the next price bracket for an air purifier, the Blueair 211+ is the choice for you.
Just to make this clear:
Reason #1: Highest CADR & Coverage
Picking this option gives you an additional 52sq ft of coverage. Compared to the Levoit and HPA300 this means you'll get slightly more rounds of clean air per hour. If you live in an area that's heavily affected by wildfire smoke, that may be a feature worth paying for.
Reason #2: Largest Carbon Filter
Because of the boxy design, this air purifier can put the most surface area on its carbon filter out of the 3 models above. This means, all else being equal, it can trap more odor-causing particles in a single filter change than the other models. It might be assumed that this makes replacement filters on the Blueair 211+ more expensive, but that's not the case.
Reason #3: High Energy Efficiency
Another great thing about the Blueair 211+ is that, despite getting extra coverage and CADR, you don't pay more for electricity. The annual energy usage on the Blueair 211+ is only slightly higher than the Levoit LV-134 and significantly higher than the Honeywell HPA300.
Details: The Best Affordable Air Purifiers for Smoke
The challenge with cheaper air purifiers is that most of the companies who make them don't invest in having them independently rated by the EPA or AHAM. This can make it hard to verify their performance and trust in their capability over the long term.
That said, we've compiled what we think are your 3 safest bets below, for a bargain-basement air purifier that will still clear smoke from your rooms if properly used and maintained.
 Levoit Personal Air Purifier $59.99 |  Partu HEPA Air Purifier $75.22 |  Himox Compact Air Purifier $69.99 |
|
| CADR | 50 | 104 | 100 |
| Coverage | 161sq ft | 160sq ft | 155sq ft |
| Noise | 32-52db | 25-48db | 20-68db |
| Filter | HEPA | HEPA | Medical Grade HEPA |
| Fan Speeds | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Height | 7.9in | 17in | 13.54in |
| Timer | N | N | 2,4,8 hours |
| Replacement Filter |  $23.99 (1 Filter) |  $16.99 (1 Filter) |  (8 Carbon Filter + 2 HEPA Filters) |
| Warranty | 2 year | 2 year | 5 year |
| Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon |
#1 Low Cost: Levoit Personal HEPA Air Purifier
Levoit is the only brand that usually submits its machines to EPA and AHAM rating agencies, that offers an air purifier at this low price point. While this model hasn't been independently verified, having the brand itself be verified is the next best thing.
And their personal HEPA air purifier is really a pretty good deal for what you get.
You get coverage of 160sq ft, which is solid for this price. The CADR is lower than you might expect (on all of these models) mainly because at their size they can't have fans powerful enough to pump out high volumes of clean air. But it's also the size that can be an advantage. This thing is only 7.9 inches tall, meaning you can put it absolutely anywhere, in any room, even in a musty or moldy cupboard if need be.
But for smokers, the main advantage is something else
Reason #1: Multi-layered Mesh Carbon Filter (Better Odor Adsorption)
We've talked a lot in this article about the importance of the surface area of your carbon filters. A small machine can't have a large surface area. But someone at Levoit had the idea that the surface area of carbon filtration could be increased if it were layered. So that's what they did. For you, it means you won't get much better odor adsorption at this price.
Reason #2: 2-Year Warranty
Cheap air purifiers don't have long warranties. You can make your own guess as to why. The Levoit Personal HEPA air purifier is the exception, having a 2-year warranty. If you want to save money not just on the initial purchase but over the long term, this is your safest bet.
#2 Low Cost: Partu HEPA Air Purifier
The Partu HEPA air purifier has a CADR rating of 104, making it almost double the air cleaning power of the Levoit. This is where we remind you that, unless independently verified, CADR is a self-reported metric. With cheap air purifiers that aren't rated, you make your own decision whether to trust the manufacturer's report.
But with this Partu air purifier, there are at least good reasons to believe that the reported CADR number is accurate.
First, the machine stands at almost double the height of the Levoit Personal model. It stands to reason that a bigger casing should house a bigger fan capable of producing more air.
Second, the air purifier has received high ratings from other shoppers, and a low proportion of complaints. On top of this, there are more reasons to take a chance on the Partu:
Reason #1: It's Quieter
At a noise range of 24db-48db, it's the quietest of this affordable set, and many reviewers specifically noted the low noise level.
Reason #2: Light Colors Can Be Changed (or Turned Off)
It might seem like a trivial thing, but for a bit of fun, the Partu's lights can be switched to different colors, or turned off completely overnight. If nothing else the kids will enjoy this.
#3 Low Cost: Himox Compact Air Purifier
I'll state the worst part of this air purifier first: The manufacturer does not state a CADR rating for this machine. If you're willing to overlook that - and you have rooms too big for the first two affordable options on this list - I'll tell you why we think it's worth trying the Himox Compact Air Purifier.
First and foremost, it's got a coverage area of 215sq ft. That's the highest we could find for an air purifier at this price.
It's got medical-grade, true H13 HEPA filters: Another feature you can't find on an air purifier at this price. It's also got stellar reviews from a high number of customers.
Unlike either of the other affordable options, it's got a timer function, allowing you to set it running for only the time you need it. As we've seen, this is important for long-term cost savings.
It's also the quietest of the 3 affordable air purifiers for smoke, running at just 20db at its lowest speed.
If you ask us, for this price you're better off upgrading to the Levoit Core 200S (or even the Levoit Core 300) that we've discussed above, but if you think the Himox is worth giving a try at that low price, we won't argue with you.
Details: The Best Portable Air Purifiers for Smoke
When traveling with appliances like air purifiers, sometimes you have to compromise on a couple of features in order to get that all-important compact size and versatility. That’s true for the second contender on the list, but I think you’ll be impressed all the same.
Holmes Small Room 3-Speed Air Purifier
The air purifier comes with a HEPA-type filter that only catches particles as small as 2 microns (smoke particles are smaller than 1 micron). But it's easy enough to purchase the replacement filter from the Holmes website.
Top features
- Can be used with a true-HEPA replacement filter for smoke
- Compact, small, and easy to pack away
- Has a 3-year warranty
- Can be set up either horizontally or vertically (great for little motel rooms or caravans where fire or cigarette smoke is present)
Click here to see the Holmes Small Room 3-Speed Air Purifier on Amazon
Wynd Plus - Smart Portable Air Purifier
Top features
- Tiny size and very light
- Medical grade filter for trapping smoke particles
- Has an air-quality tracker so you know how polluted the air is at any time
- Can be controlled via Wynd app
Click here to see the Wynd Plus on Amazon
Details: The Best Large Room Air Purifiers for Smoke
The only reason you could have not found what you wanted so far in this article is that, even at a smoke CADR of 300+, there's not enough coverage for you. We get that. Especially if you have a house in a fire-prone area, and you want to buy a single machine to protect the entire place as well as your family, it's not crazy that you need something bigger. Heck, CADR ratings go all the way past 500!
For the sake of your decision-making, here's the good news: There are only 2 currently available, independently tested and verified air purifiers with smoke CADR ratings above 400. In the section below we've compiled put them side by side for a thorough review. Start with a glance at this comparison table, then keep reading for the full breakdown of each model.
 Cleanforce Mega1000 Air Purifier $598.00 |  Blueair 605 Air Purifier $699.98 |
|
| Smoke CADR | 450 | 450 |
| Smoke CADR/watt | 4.4 | 5.2 |
| Coverage | 698sq ft | 698sq ft |
| Noise | 35-N/A db | 32-62db |
| Filter | HEPA | HEPA |
| Fan Speeds | 4 | 3 |
| Height | 31.5in | 26in |
| Control by Smartphone App | N | Y |
| Child Lock | Y | N |
| Replacement Filter | $119 from the Cleanforce store |  $79.99 (1 Filter) |
| Warranty | 2 year | 2 year |
| Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon |
Now let's take a look at each in more detail
#1 For Smoke in Large Rooms: Cleanforce Mega1000 Air Purifier
The standout feature between these two air purifiers is their price. We're putting it first because - a couple of conveniences aside - this is the highest value air purifier at this smoke CADR that you will find anywhere.
With the Cleanforce Mega1000 you're getting 698 sq ft of coverage. According to Cleanforce, this means you will clean a room of 1610sq ft every 15 minutes. Remember, this is as high as it gets for residential air purifiers (independently verified) at this price point.
The smoke CADR number is identical to the more expensive Blueair, and while it gives up a little in energy efficiency (see the difference in smoke CADR/watt) this is more than offset by the price being so much lower. It would take 10 years or more for the electricity savings of this Blueair model to match the difference in price as it currently stands.
And while it might not have smartphone app connectivity like the Blueair, it still has a remote control so you're not getting up and down to press buttons on it.
Otherwise, the Cleanforce has all the features you expect in a higher-end air purifier: An auto mode to adjust the fan settings as the air quality changes. A child lock to prevent your kids from changing the settings on it (which the Blueair actually doesn't have) and a timer that can be set at any number of hours up to 12 (rather than the standard 2,4,8 options).
For a large area affected by smoke regularly, you really can't go wrong with the Cleanforce Mega1000.
#2 For Smoke in Large Rooms: Blueair 605 Air Purifier
Blueair actually makes a few air purifiers with smoke CADR ratings over 400. It happens that their classic 605 model is the cheapest of the lot. But if you can get an air purifier with the same smoke CADR for that much less in the Cleanforce, why would you buy a Blueair 605?
Fortunately, there are some pretty compelling reasons. Your job is to decide on how meaningful these facts are to you.
Here goes:
Reason #1: Smartphone Connectivity
It's not just the novelty of turning it on and off with your smartphone that matters. It's that you can schedule and program your air purifier with your smartphone that you should care about. You can set fan speeds and timing schedules to operate automatically, depending on what you do in your house.
You can leave the air purifier off throughout the day and set it to turn on every day automatically when you get home. You could program it to always go on before you start cooking dinner. If air pollution in your neighborhood is worst at rush hour, you can set it to its highest speed during those times.
This is not like a timer function that you can set each day: It's a program that will run automatically, every day. Over the years you'll have it, this is a big time saving and a big cost saving.
Reason #2: It's More Energy Efficient
Not by a lot, but according to EnergyStar, it uses about 20% less electricity than the Cleanforce Mega1000. It's unlikely you'll notice this saving, but if nothing else, you can be sure you're minimizing your carbon footprint while keeping the air clean.
Reason #3: Voice Control with Alexa
Because the programmed settings are going to need adjusting sometimes, and because you want to avoid having to walk over to the machine where ever possible, the Blueair 605 is controllable by your voice, with Alexa.
"Hey Alexa, it's smokey as hell in here so turn the Blueair up to 1000!". You know you'll have fun with this.
Verdict: Which is For You?
So there we have it. Air purifiers for cigarette smoke, weed smoke, and wildfire smoke. If you take nothing else away from this article, remember that:
For beating smoke, your best bet is to get the highest smoke CADR air purifier inside of your budget, making a final check before you buy that there's no feature (be it sound, lights, controls, or filter replacements) that's going to prevent you using the thing to its full capacity.
Want a verdict that's broken down into simple bullet points, try this:
If the air purifier is for cigarette, cigar, or weed smoke in a small to medium room, get the Levoit Core 200s Air Purifier. If however, you smoke in multiple rooms, you want to go all out against smoke (and odor) and you can stretch the budget, get the Blueair 411 Air Purifier.
If the air purifier is for wildfire smoke, and you want the maximum value while covering your whole house, get the Levoit LV-134 Air Purifier. The features of our top 3 are so similar in this category that you can't go wrong with any choice, and that I can't say anything more in this paragraph.
If the air purifier is for a particularly large room, get the Cleanforce Mega1000 Air Purifier. It's the cheapest option with that large coverage, and that's independently verified.
If you want the cheapest possible air purifier for smoke, the Levoit Personal HEPA Air Purifier will do the trick.
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