Do Air Purifiers Work for Mold?

The short answer? Yes. Some air purifiers like the ones listed below are specifically designed to remove microscopic mold spores from your home’s air. Others, not so much. Plus, our top picks help with asthma, allergies, and bacteria too! Read on to find the best air purifiers and filters for mold as well as information about the types, dangers, and causes of mold—so you can live without sneezing, coughing, wheezing, or suffering from severe reactions to dangerous spores.


Page Contents

Top 5 Air Purifiers for Mold
Mold Effects on Your Health
How Dangerous Is Mold?
Steps You Can Take to Remediate, Prevent, and Treat Mold


Top 5 Air Purifiers that Remove Mold from Your Home’s Air

There are hundreds of air purifiers out there. Although, not all are designed specifically to remove mold spores from your home’s air. Here are the top five air purifiers that trap mold in filters to prevent spores from agitating your allergies and/or hurting your health.












 


Alen BreatheSmart Air Purifier for Asthma, Mold, and Allergies

Alen T500 Air Purifier for Asthma, Mold and Germs


Austin Air Allergy Machine


Alen BreatheSmart FLEX

Alen BreatheSmart Air Purifier for Asthma, Mold, and Allergies 

Alen BreatheSmart FIT50 Air Purifier for Asthma, Mold, and Germs

Alen T500 Air Purifier for Asthma, Mold and Germs

Austin Air Allergy Machine

Alen BreatheSmart FLEX

$594.00 $499.00 $199.00 $579.99 $399.00
Coverage Area
1100 sq. ft. 900 sq. ft. 500 sq. ft. 1500 sq. ft. 700 sq. ft.
Expert Review
The Alen BreatheSmart equipped with a Silver Filter provides high coverage area at low noise levels. The Silver Filter kills captured mold spores as well as addresses allergens and odors. Ultra quiet with high airflow, this more compact version of the BreatheSmart air purifier is an excellent solution for large bedrooms or medium sized rooms. The Alen T500 is compact and portable, equipped with a silver filter to kill captured mold spores. The Austin Air Allergy Machine has military carbon cloth to help remove musty smells that often accompany mold concerns. The Alen BreatheSmart FLEX provides similar performance to the BreatheSmart FIT50, but does not offer an automatic mode or particle sensor. This is a excellent mid-cost mold solution.
 
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1. Alen BreatheSmart

Best for: Asthma, Mold, and Allergies
Price: $594

The Alen BreatheSmart air purifier is the largest in the Alen suite. It can purify up to 1,100 sq. feet of open concept living space in less than two hours, and tackle a 900-square foot closed space with ease! That means your entire upstairs, basement, or main living space will be free of dangerous mold spores thanks to a machine the size of a mini fridge.

Main Benefits

  • Air Filter Made for Mold. The Alen BreatheSmart comes with a choice of four filters; one being the standard HEPA Silver filter that removes 99 percent of mold, germs, and asthma-inducing particles from your home’s air. It’s a workhorse that will keep your sneezing, wheezing, and mold symptoms from bothering you. Plus, it might even save you trips to the doctor.
  • Most Powerful. This is the most powerful air purifier from Alen—35 percent stronger than the FIT50. Take that, mold!
  • Smart Technology. Mold spores are invisible; they float into your nose and airways undetected until you start sneezing, feeling woozy, or experience worse symptoms. The Alen BreatheSmart air purifier senses mold spores in even the smallest quantities and turns on to remove them all on its own. That’ll save you from suffering needlessly.
  • Energy Star Approved. Enjoy cleaner air and energy efficiency; the BreatheSmart air purifier only draws 105 watts per hour on its highest speed.
  • Compatible with 4 Different Filters. If your mold problem goes away, you can choose another three filters to address allergies, germs, asthma, odor, and more in your home. That means this filter should last you a lifetime and handle most respiratory problems in your life.
  • Quiet While Running. The Whisper technology keeps this air filter quiet even when working at full tilt. You’ll hardly notice this air purifier working—but your home’s mold will!


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2. Alen BreatheSmart FIT50

Best for: Asthma, Mold, and Allergies
Price: $499

Have a small bedroom or area of your home that needs some help with mold remediation? The Alen BreatheSmart FIT50 is just the ticket. This compact air purifier removes allergens, asthma-inducing particles, and mold from your air so you don’t breathe in anything nasty. Not too shabby for a device that only weighs 16 pounds.

Main Benefits

  • Filters for Mold and More. Much like the larger Alen BreatheSmart, the FIT50 comes with the HEPA Silver air filter that vanquishes 99 percent of mold particles bigger than 0.3 microns from your home. Plus, you can choose other filters made for smoke, pet odor, chemicals, and more.
  • Energy Star Approved. When working at high speed, the FIT50 still only draws 60 watts of power per hour, which makes it Energy Star approved.
  • Smart Technology. The FIT50 detects mold spores and other contaminants on its own and turns on to remove harmful particles before they get to you.
  • Quiet. The FIT50 was designed to be no louder than a fan, so it’ll provide subtle ambient noise to sleep to while keeping the air you and your family breathe safe.


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3. Alen T500

Best for: Asthma, Mold, and Bacteria
Price: $199

The slender profile of the Alen T500 may make it look dainty, but it’s designed to be super tough on mold, asthma-causing substances, and bacteria. Plus, if your mold problem goes away—and so do your allergies—you can switch the T500 filter to combat odor, pollution, smoke, and other harmful airborne contaminants.

Main Benefits

  • Small Yet Mighty. The T500 is almost a quarter of the size than others of similar design but it’s 63% more effective at removing mold and harmful particles from your home’s air.
  • 500-Sq. Feet of Purification. If you have a bedroom, nursery, or another cozy space you’d like to purify, you can with the T500. This tower air purifier is able to purify up to 500 sq. feet in a little over an hour.
  • Portable. While all of the air purifiers on this list are technically “portable,” the T500 is a cinch to pack up and bring with you to the office, on vacation, or to another room in your home. It even comes with a bag to move it from a moldy basement to a bathroom to a living space—wherever it is needed.
  • Quiet. Keep your children’s rooms clean and safe without hindering their sleep. The T500 runs at its highest setting without so much as a peep.
  • Energy Star Approved. Even on the highest setting, the T500 won’t take more than 52 watts per hour—less than a standard lamp!


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4. Austin Air Allergy Machine

Best for: Mold, Bacteria, and Asthma
Price: $574.99

The Austin Air Allergy Machine is Austin Air’s high performance model designed specifically for allergy sufferers. Made in America and with an all-metal housing, the Austin Air Allergy Machine delivers high coverage area in a simple and robust package.

Main Benefits

  • Large Coverage Area. 1500 square feet of coverage area makes Austin air units some of the highest volume air purifiers available. (Though, they can be a big noisy on the highest speeds.)
  • Medical Grade HEPA Filter. In addition to a several inches thick HEPA-Type filter for capturing large airborne particles such as mold spores, pollen, dust and allergens, there is also a layer of Medical Grade HEPA media to filter our bacteria and virus sized particles.
  • Very Long Filter Life. The high capacity filters provide an extended filter life, only needing to be changed every 2-3 years.


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5. Alen BreatheSmart FLEX

Best for: Mold and Bacteria
Price: $399

The Alen BreatheSmart FLEX air purifier is ideal for people who want to breathe better without spending a ton. Don’t let this svelte appliance fool you; it can remove nearly every last mold spore and germ in 700 sq. feet. Just think how great that’ll be every day of the year—from humid summers to cold and flu season.

Main Benefits

  • Most Bang for Your Buck. Purify up to 700 sq. feet of your home for a reasonable price with this compact BreatheSmart FLEX air purifier.
  • Small and Powerful. The FLEX model is like a flat screen compared to a traditional desktop computer (if you can even remember those from back in the day!). Its slim profile makes it easy to tuck up against a wall so it can cleanse your home’s air of mold spores and bacteria without being noticed. Plus, the FLEX air purifier is only 15 pounds, so you can easily transport it from one room or floor to another.
  • Energy Efficient. When operating on its highest setting, the BreatheSmart FLEX air purifier only draws 35 watts of power per hour. You’ll save on your electric bill while you save your lungs!


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Mold Effects on Your Health

Mold is all around us—floating tiny spores inside our homes and out. Think of it like a bunch of microscopic seedlings that float around until they find somewhere ideal to grow. Mold is an opportunist, looking for humid, warm, damp environments like under sinks, in crawl spaces, near bathrooms and leaky pipes, and basements. Even if you’ve taken steps to prevent mold growth in the home, pets, people, and the breeze can even carry spores in from outdoors. Due to the prevalence of mold both inside of the home and out, it tends to cause a slew of annoying and potentially life-threatening problems, especially when you’re exposed to it in high levels.


How Dangerous Is Mold?
It all depends on the type of mold that you are being exposed to. Technically, blue cheese is a type of mold that isn’t going to adversely affect your health even if you consume it, however other types of mold can actually be lethal.

Mold is a Major Cause of Allergies, Hay Fever & Sinus Infections
According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), molds are a key trigger of allergies and hay fever, which affect nearly 40 million Americans. In fact, the Mayo Clinic discovered that 93 percent of chronic sinus infections are caused by mold. But which molds are dangerous and which ones are simply pesky? Well, it depends on the type.

What is Black Mold? How Do I Know If I Have It?
“Black Mold” is the one type of mold that everyone has heard about. Media exposure and high toxicity with negative health risks have led to a high awareness (and confusion) about Black Mold.
However, just because you see black colored mold, does not mean it is the lethal “Black Mold”. In fact, with more than 100,000 types of mold, the color alone cannot tell you anything about it.

No matter what type of mold you have, you should actively take steps to remove it. Depending on the severity of your symptoms, you may need to remove yourself from the home or environment until you can get the problem remediated. “Black Mold” can cause symptoms from dizziness, headaches, confusion, nausea, allergies, and more. If you experience any of these, call an expert.

We carry Mold spore tests that can be sent into a lab to determine specifically the types of mold that you have in your home. So take a sample, and then get to actively removing it while you wait for the test results to come back. Depending on the result, you’ll know whether you should take more serious remediation steps.



Steps You Can Take to Remediate, Prevent, and Treat Mold.

Air purifiers remove dangerous and troublesome mold spores from your home’s air, but they won’t get rid of the mold itself. In addition to purchasing an air purifier designed to treat mold (since mold grows outside of your home more than it does inside), here’s what you can do:

Buy a Dehumidifier.

We mentioned mold loves a damp, humid, and warm environment. Destroy potential mold habitat before it becomes a problem by using a dehumidifier in your basement or other damp spaces of your home. These tools remove tons of excess water from your air, so you can use it to water the garden and not a flourishing mold colony.


Run Fans.

Good air circulation is a great preventative to a mold problem. When you can, keep windows open and keep air flowing.


Get a sump pump.

Water damage is a huge financial and health hazard. If your home is subject to flooding, get a sump pump to prevent water from seeping in and attracting mold.


Caulk.

Seal leaky pipes so they don’t cause excess moisture and perfect conditions for mold.


Use air conditioning.

To remove excess humidity from the air, run your air conditioning unit. It’ll keep the temperature and moisture levels down so mold chooses another place to grow.


Bleach.

If you find mold, you can clean it with a bleach solution. Be careful and wear goggles and gloves with these harsh chemicals and irritants.


Check Pipes and Roof.

Do a regular inspection of your pipes and roof to ensure nothing is leaking and causing water damage. By now you know how much mold loves H2O.


Keep Gutters Clean.

Preventing leaks and water damage will keep mold from growing. That means your gutters need to function to move water away from your home. Clean them twice per year to keep flooding, leaks, and mold at bay.


Take Shoes Off Outside.

Keep mold spores outside as much as you can by leaving the outside where it is. Take off your shoes in the garage or outside so you don’t track in spores that would love to take up residence in your walls.




Ready to remove dangerous mold from your home’s air? Shop a variety of air purifiers that remove up to 99 percent of dangerous mold particles. Or, take a look at air purifiers that remove dust, VOCs, smoke, odor, and allergens. After all, you are what you breathe.



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