Best Air Purifiers For Tobacco Smoke

Before trying to find the best air purifiers for tobacco smoke removal, you need to understand that these unpleasant smoke particles are smaller than those that are commonly captured by a HEPA filter.

Tobacco smoke particles are not only unpleasant to smell if you are a non-smoker yourself, but they are also very harmful to your lungs. The dangerous effects of secondary tobacco smoke inhalation are now well understood and scientifically established beyond any doubt.

So, removing tobacco smoke particles is both good for your nose and good for the health of your respiratory system.

HEPA filters are excellent at dealing with air particles that are as small as 0.3 microns but unfortunately tobacco smoke particles are often significantly smaller than 0.3 microns.

As a result, you need to look for an air purifier that comes with additional filters that are specifically designed to capture and eliminate these smaller tobacco smoke, VOC and odor particles from your home environment.

The key to the successful removal of the smaller particles that are produced by tobacco smoking is a high performance Activated Carbon Filter. These activated carbon filters are designed to absorb the smaller particles rather than physically trap them like a HEPA filter.

You will still probably want an air purifier that comes with a good HEPA filter in order to deal with the other common air particles, but if your main concern is tobacco smoke and odors the HEPA quality will be a secondary consideration.

You will also want to ensure that the air purification process that aims to remove tobacco smoke odors and the small nasty VOCs is itself reasonably safe to use indoors. Some air purifiers, for example, emit significant quantities of potentially hazardous ozone gas into the air as a by-product of the cleaning process.

I am very cautious about the issue of ozone gas emissions into the home, and so none of my recommended air purifiers has been found to emit dangerous quantities of ozone gas.

So, which are the Best Air Purifiers For Tobacco Smoke?

Air Purifiers For Tobacco Smoke Removal – Top 3 Picks

Here is my Top 3 list of recommended air purifiers for tobacco smoke removal, starting with the most expensive option and ending with a machine for those on a much smaller budget.

Whatever your budget, you should be able to find an excellent option amongst these air purifiers.

1. IQAir HealthPro Plus

The IQAir HealthPro Plus air purifier is one of the most popular and highly rated premium machines on the market today. As a result, it is the most expensive option out of the 3 machines mentioned within this article.

Its high price tag buys a very powerful machine though and the HealthPro Plus air purifier has received positive endorsements from the American Lung Association and has also won numerous industry awards.

You may be familiar with True-HEPA filters and have heard about how great they are at removing small air particles. Well, the IQAir HealthPro Plus goes above and beyond the performance of a True-HEPA filter.

The HealthPro Plus comes with a PreMax pre-filter to remove the larger particles and then a Hyper-HEPA filter to remove the smaller particles that remain.

What is a Hyper-HEPA filter?

Well, the benchmark for a True-HEPA filter is that it must be able to remove 99.97% of airborne particles that are as small as 0.3 microns in size.

However, the Hyper-HEPA filters are capable of removing a staggering 99.5% of airborne particles that are as small as 0.003 microns in size. That is 100 times more than the other air purifiers on the market that are fitted with standard True-HEPA filters instead.

One of the massive added bonuses of the Hyper-HEPA filter’s impressive performance is that there is no need to add extra ionizer or electrostatic units to the purifiers in order to target the smaller particles, which means that the IQAir HealthPro plus is genuinely 100% Ozone-Free!

“IQAir have been chosen by the American Lung Association as the exclusive educational partner for the air purifier industry. They are committed to lung health and disease prevention.”

Although the Hyper-HEPA filter will do a much better job than the usual True-HEPA filter in removing the smaller particles such as those found in tobacco smoke, the IQAir HealthPro Plus model also comes with a special “V5 Gas & Odor Filter“, which is perfectly suited to removing those nasty unhealthy tobacco smoke odors from your home.

It will also do a very good job of removing other odors like those caused be pets and cooking.

You can discover more of the IQAir HealthPro Plus’s features by either reading my comparison review of the HealthPro Plus vs HealthPro Compact, or by watching the videos below.

Here are a couple of videos showing the IQAir HealthPro Plus in Action …

Check Latest Price of the IQAir HealthPro Plus

Read User Reviews of the IQAir HealthPro Plus

2. Alen BreatheSmart

The Alen BreatheSmart air purifier comes with a washable pre-filter that is designed to remove the larger airborne particles without clogging up the more sophisticated HEPA filter.

Unlike the IQAir machines, however, the Alen BreatheSmart comes supplied with one of 4 different HEPA-filters, depending upon your specific .

So, you don’t get all 4 of the HEPA filters, but instead have to choose the one that is most suitable for your specific needs.

Each of these HEPA filters is said to be capable of removing 99% of air particles as small as 0.3 microns.

The most relevant filter for removing tobacco smoke and other chemical particles is the HEPA-Fresh Plus Filter.

The HEPA-Pure Filter is a specially designed chemical filter that is great for removing smoke, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and heavier chemicals.

So, if you do decide to buy one of the Alen BreatheSmart air purifiers, make sure that you select the HEPA-Fresh Plus Filter option.

If you change your mind later on, or if your air purification needs change over time, you can simply buy a replacement filter of a different type for this machine.

Here are some videos about the Alen BreatheSmart air purifiers …

The Alen BreatheSmart is a high quality air purifier that also boasts a large variety of stylish color options to suit the decor within your home or office.

Check Latest Price of the Alen BreatheSmart

Read User Reviews of the Alen BreatheSmart

There are 3 different Alen BreatheSmart models to choose from. The main differences between them are the recommended room coverages, but there are also some functional differences to consider. You can read my comparison reviews of the range of Alen BreatheSmart air purifiers here:

3. Rabbit Air MinusA2

Just like the Alen BreathSmart, the Rabbit Air MinusA2 air purifier requires you to choose from one of 4 different special filters in addition to their standard HEPA filter.

One of the available special filters is specifically designed to deal with various odors, including tobacco smoke. It is called the “Odor Removal Custom Filter”.

Another one of the special filters is called the “Toxin Absorber Filter” and is designed to target the dangerous volatile organic compounds.

So, you will need to consider what you main concern is in relation to tobacco smoke. Do you want to opt for the Odor Removal Custom Filter, which will be better at removing tobacco smells, or will you choose the Toxin Absorber Filter instead, which will do a better job of removing those nasty VOCs?

In addition to one of these special filters, the Rabbit Air MinusA2 uses 5 other particle removal processes:

Washable pre-filter
Medium filter (1 microns +)
BioGS HEPA Filter (0.03 microns+)
Activated Carbon Filter (includes odor removal)
Negative Ion Generator

The medium filter and BioGS HEPA Filter will do a pretty good job of removing most air borne particles on their, but the activated carbon filter and one of the special filters will work together to remove the smaller tobacco particles.

The activated carbon filter that comes with the Rabbit Air MinusA2 air purifier is of an exceptionally high quality.

Made of high-grade granular activated carbon, the MinusA2 AC filter is much more effective than typical AC filters, which are coated with only a thin layer of activated carbon.

So, even of you choose the Toxin Absorber Filter, the activated carbon filter will still do a very good job at removing the unpleasant odors caused by tobacco smoke.

Here is a video on the Rabbit Air MinusaA2 air purifier …

Check Latest Price of Rabbit Air MinusA2

Read User Reviews of Rabbit Air MinusA2

Budget Air Purifiers For Tobacco Smoke Removal

Not everyone can afford to spend almost $500 on a premium air purifier.

For those on a smaller budget, there is one pretty good all round air purifier that stands out from the crowd. Whilst it won’t come with some of the features that can be found the more expensive models, and probably won’t perform quite as well, it will still do a pretty good job of removing reasonable amounts of smoke particles and VOCs.

If you fall within this category, I would recommend that you take a look at the Honeywell AirGenius HFD-320

1. Honeywell AirGenius5 HFD-320

The Honeywell AirGenius5 HFD-320 air purifier is a great option for those looking for a machine with washable filters to use in small or medium sized rooms.

It comes with an optional “Gas & Odor Pre-Filter” that specialises in removing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and other gases / chemicals from the air in your home.

The AirGenius5 HFD-320 is AHAM certified and its officially tested CADR ratings are: