An air purifier and a dehumidifier clean the air by clearing out harmful particles and allergens. Although they do the same function, some properties make them different.
Air Purifier vs Dehumidifier
The main difference between an air purifier and a dehumidifier is that an air purifier purifies the air by sending the room air through various stages of filtration. The filtration cleans out the germs and dust present in the air and releases fresh air. On the other hand, a dehumidifier purifies the air by sucking out the moisture from the room. The room temperature gets very low and kills the microbes in the air.
An air purifier is a filtration device used for cleaning the air. The filters that are present in this device trap the microbes that are present in the air and give out clean and fresh air. The particles that it removes are allergens, bacteria, smoke, mould spores, and pet dander. However, it can not remove all the harmful substances, and dehumidifiers are used.
A dehumidifier is a device that cleans out the harmful substance present in the air by sucking in the humidity. After sucking, it collects all the harmful material in an internal bucket present in the device. Low humidity causes the room to get cooler.
The Comparison Table Between Air Purifier and Dehumidifier
| Properties | Air Purifier | Dehumidifier |
| Working | An air purifier filters out harmful substances from the air. | Dehumidifiers kill the harmful substances present in the air by absorbing the humidity from the air. |
| Coolness | An Air purifier does not affect the room temperature. | Dehumidifiers decrease the temperature of the room by fifty per cent. |
| Harmful Particles | It removes the harmful particles of air like mould spores, smoke, bacteria, pet dander, and allergens. | It kills harmful substances like moulds, dust mites, and mildew. |
| Smell | Normal air purifiers do not remove the damp smell. But if it is attached with an activated carbon filter, then it will remove the smell as well. | There is no damp smell in the dehumidifier because of the less humidity. |
| Harmful effect | Although air purifiers do not cause major environmental problems, there are some allegations on ionic air purifiers because they generate ozone readily. Increasing ozone can cause lung damage, throat irritation, coughing, skin cancer etc. | It does not cause harmful effects to the environment. |
What is an Air Purifier?
An air purifier is fitted inside a room to increase the air quality by filtering out allergens from the room. These are very beneficial for asthmatic and allergic patients. It comes with a function to kill second-hand tobacco smoke.
There are two kinds of air purifiers. Those are active purifiers and passive purifiers. An active purifier sends a negative ion that gets attached to pollutants, causing it to stick to the surface. A passive purifier filters out the pollutants and stores them in internal storage fixed in the device.
Certain effective filters, like HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) and UVGI (Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation), are used today.
HEPA filters out 99.7% of pollutants whose size is greater than 0.3 micrometers. These filters are most useful in removing large-size pollutants. Also, it does not create harmful byproducts like ozone that can lead to environmental problems.
UVGI filters force the air to pass through ultraviolet radiation. A fan inside this device causes the air to pass through UV lamps. The placement of UC lamps kills the pollutants, and the presence of a good filter removes the dead pollutants.
What is a Dehumidifier?
A dehumidifier is an air conditioning as well as an air purifying device. It kills the microbes present in the air by decreasing the humidity. A decrease in the humidity leads to a decrease in temperature and an increase in the room’s coolness. It eliminates the growth of mildew and moulds by absorbing water from the air.
Willis Carrier was the first person to make a dehumidifier in 1902. He made this device to dehumidify a Brooklyn printing plant. This method of purifying air is based on separating water and air. A dehumidifier forces the water to evaporate at a lower temperature.
There are many dehumidifiers, such as electric refrigeration dehumidifiers, conventional air conditioners, spray dehumidifiers, makeshift dehumidifiers, ice buildup, and thermoelectric dehumidifiers.
The most commonly used dehumidifier is the Electric Refrigeration Dehumidifier, which uses a fan to drive hot air from the environment into its coil. A storage tank in the back of the device collects water. This device then sends back the cool air to the environment. Electric Refrigeration Dehumidifiers are used when the relative temperature is above 45 percent.
Main Differences Between Air Purifier and Dehumidifier
- An air purifier purifies the air by filtering out pollutants from the air. On the other hand, a dehumidifier purifies the air by killing pollutants.
- An air purifier does not increase the room temperature. On the other hand, a dehumidifier decreases the room temperature.
- The main function of an air purifier is to provide clean air. On the other hand, the main function of a dehumidifier is to kill foreign particles.
- An air purifier has a noise that ranges from soft to hard. On the other hand, a dehumidifier has a sound range between average to high.
- An air purifier is mostly used in homes and hospitals. On the other hand, a dehumidifier can be used in homes, industries, and offices.
Conclusion
An air purifier and a dehumidifier are very devices for the person suffering from asthma, allergies, respiratory issues, and sinus. They are different in all aspects, but they share a common goal of removing pollutants from the air and making it cleaner than before.
References
- https://aaqr.org/articles/aaqr-10-06-oa-0048
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132306001879
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