Nothing beats the comfort of relaxing under a fan with improved and filtered air. That’s why many of us want to run a ceiling fan and air purifier at the same time. They say that it circulates the air and offers a nice soothing relaxation. On the contrary, others say that the additional air added by a running ceiling fan could force the air purifier to take up an extra payload. Also, it reduces the air quality.
Thus, we keep finding questions like, “Should I run ceiling fan with air purifier?”
Well, you shouldn’t run a ceiling fan with an air purifier simultaneously. The ceiling fan will circulate the air, so air from the outside surrounding will come inside. Hence, it will contaminate the filtered air that the air purifier has filtered. Thus, you will end up losing the improved air quality dramatically.
However, there’s a catch that most people will ignore. Most air purifiers have a built-in fan that circulates the air in and out of the machine. So, you may not need a ceiling fan at all. Nonetheless, you can run a ceiling fan when the air purifier is not running.
So, let’s jump deep into the discussion.
Should I Run A Ceiling Fan with an Air Purifier?
A ceiling fan moves the air to offer you a breezy and pleasant feel during the warmer days. It ensures a cooler feel without the use of an AC. On the contrary, an air purifier will filter the contaminants from the air to improve its quality for healthier living.
But, can you run the ceiling fan and air purifier simultaneously? Will it be beneficial or impractical?
We researched this question and found that running a ceiling fan with an air purifier doesn’t bring added facilities for you. In fact, it works the other way. You need to understand the functioning of an air purifier to know why you shouldn’t use the air purifier and ceiling fan simultaneously.
When you turn on the ceiling fan, it will create positive pressure and vacuum in the space. Thus, the positive pressure and vacuum will attract from the negative pressure space without vacuum. So, air from higher pressure space will swarm in the vacuumed space.
Consequently, a ceiling fan will draw the air from outside space. Well, drawing air from the outside space might not be a problem. However, the soaked air will also contain dust, pollen, allergens, and other contaminants.
Now, that’s where the problem starts. You may wonder how it is a problem when you have an air purifier, am I right?
You see that an air purifier has a fixed capacity of circulating and filtering air at a given time. Plus, it requires time to filter the indoor air. For instance, effective battery-operated air purifiers with medium capacity can filter 5-6CFM of air.
Hence, when pollutants and dust from the nearby space fill up the indoor, the air purifier might fail to filter it. Plus, added pollutants mean your air purifier will have an extra payload, and it might reduce its performance. On top of it, a ceiling fan will continuously draw air from the outdoor space, so the air purifier will fail to cope with its speed.
Thus, you will be staying in contaminated air even after using an air purifier if you decide to run it with the ceiling fan. You may watch the following video to know how a ceiling fan works and its relation to your home’s indoor air.
What’s the Difference Between an Air Purifier and a Fan?
We have discussed why you shouldn’t use a ceiling fan with an air purifier. It might provoke you to learn the difference between a ceiling fan and an air purifier. They differ in their design, functioning, and utility bills largely. There’re other minor distinctions too.
However, let us suggest an advanced air purifying plus a cooling fan that brings 2-in-1 benefits for you. Yes, the Dyson Pure Cool Air Purifier and Tower Fan combine the cooling fan and air purifier. So, it will relieve you from warms and improve the air quality simultaneously. Therefore, it could be a great investment if you live in tropical regions where you want to simultaneously eliminate toasty warmth and pollutants from the indoor air.
Now, let’s find the differences between ceiling fans and air purifiers.
1. The difference in functions
The ceiling fan and air purifier are two entirely different machines. Similarly, their purpose of creation is different too. For instance, a ceiling fan or regular fan will circulate its air. It keeps circulating the air from the surrounding space. It doesn’t heat or cool the air.
Well, you may wonder why the ceiling fan gives you a cooler feel when it doesn’t cool the air. As the fan circulates the air, the continuous circulation brings cooler air from the surroundings to the indoor space, and so, you enjoy the cooler air. Also, it doesn’t affect the humidity level of the air.
On the other hand, an air purifier will only filter the air. It soaks the pollutant air from the space and releases it after filtering it. The machine might use HEPA filter, activated carbon, UV rays, or ionizer as the filtering option.
Unlike the fan, an air purifier affects the humidity level, as it often releases drier air. So, you might face temporary soring and nosebleeds.
2. Work procedure
The way a fan and air purifier works is entirely distinctive. The fan includes a motor, rotatory blades, capacitor, and flywheels to generate the power and circulate the air. The ceiling fan will almost always run with direct electricity.
On the contrary, an air purifier includes filters and housing mainly. However, some air purifier models contain a fan inside the housing to draw the air from the outdoor. The air purifier can be cordless or corded, depending on its design and model. Thus, you have the luxury of choosing from a battery-operated or corded air purifier to meet your requirements.
3. Filters
As you might guess, the fan doesn’t contain any filters at all. On the contrary, an air purifier might have filters or not. It depends on the type of air purifier you will use. For instance, filter-based air purifiers include HEPA, activated carbon, or electrostatic filters. On the contrary, filterless air purifiers will use ozone, ionizer, or UV-rays to screen out the contaminants from the air.
Next up, a ceiling fan will only circulate the air. It doesn’t soak the air, unlike the air purifiers. The air purifiers will soak in the air and filter it with the different options before releasing it back into the environment.
4. Electricity uses
Most people assume that ceiling fans are power-hungry devices compared to air purifiers. Well, you will be surprised to know that an air purifier and a ceiling fan will require an almost similar amount of power for functioning properly.
However, things will soon turn upside down when you get a larger air purifier. Ceiling fans will almost use more electricity than air purifiers at low or medium capacity. On the contrary, a larger air purifier will require more power for operation than an air purifier.
The chart above showcases the comparative power consumption of the ceiling fan and air purifier. A small ceiling fan will use around 12 watts of electricity, while a low-end air purifier requires 5 watts of power at a low setting. The scenario turns upside down at a medium setting when the ceiling fan consumes almost 1.5X more power than the air purifier. And at a higher setting, air purifiers will use more power than the ceiling fan.
So, it showcases that an air purifier will need more electricity at a higher setting. Thankfully, there’re battery-operated air purifiers that can reduce your electricity bills superbly. On the contrary, a ceiling fan doesn’t have alternatives to lower the electricity bills.
These are the common differences between an air purifier vs. ceiling fan. The discussion shows that these machines work differently and also serve different purposes. Thus, there’s no similarity between them at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a fan with an air purifier?
Although many people think they need a fan with their air purifiers, it isn’t necessary. The air circulation capacity of the fan is of no use for the air purifiers. In fact, air purifiers mostly have a built-in fan inside their housing to draw in the air and filter it to remove contaminants.
Does fan speed affect the air purifier?
Yes, the built-in fan of an air purifier will largely affect the CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) of an air purifier. If you run the air purifier at a higher fan speed, it will reduce its capacity, although it boosts the running capacity to filter the air in a relatively short time. For instance, an air purifier at fan speed 4 will likely filter around 150CFM air, while at fan speed 3, it will filter around 180CFM air, so the relation between the air purifier fan speed and is CADR performance is negative. Thus, you have to be aware of it while increasing the fan speed of the device.
Do fans help air purifiers?
No, ceiling fans don’t have any part to play in the air purifying function. It doesn’t help the air purifier in its function either. Thus, you won’t benefit while using the air purifier and ceiling fan simultaneously. In fact, a ceiling fan will considerably reduce the performance of an air purifier, so; you shouldn’t use it simultaneously.
Final Thoughts
So, here we will conclude our discussion on the topic, “Should I run ceiling fan with air purifier? Ideally speaking, you should never use the ceiling fan with your air purifier. When you run the two devices simultaneously, the air purifier will fail to filter the added pollutants that the ceiling fan brings with the improved air circulation.
Thus, your goal to enjoy germs-free and healthier air with the air purifier will be a total mess. Instead, we suggest you use air purifiers and fans separately to help both machines work with their maximum capacity to deliver you the performance you want.
