About CleanAirHomeLab
We review air purifiers and air quality monitors using CADR data, real filter costs, and honest pros and cons. No manufacturer sponsors. No paid placements. Here is how the site works and how we make money.
What We Do
CleanAirHomeLab.com is an independent air quality review site. We focus on three things:
- CADR-based purifier reviews. We size every air purifier by its Clean Air Delivery Rate, not manufacturer room size claims. CADR is the one figure certified by an independent third party, which is why sizing starts there.
- True cost of ownership. Every review includes annual filter replacement costs. A $200 purifier with $100/year filters costs more over 3 years than a $400 purifier with $50/year filters. We do that math for you.
- Air quality monitor comparisons. We explain what PM2.5, CO2, VOCs, and radon readings mean, which monitors are accurate, and how to use the data to make smart buying decisions.
We do not accept free products in exchange for reviews. We do not run sponsored content. Our rankings are based on manufacturer specifications, AHAM-certified CADR data, owner reports, and calculated filter costs. We do not physically test products — see our methodology below.
Affiliate Disclosure
CleanAirHomeLab.com is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. This is how we keep the site running without charging for content or running display ads.
Affiliate commissions do not influence our rankings or recommendations. We recommend what the data supports, not what pays the highest commission.
Here is exactly which links pay us and which do not:
Amazon Associates (active)
Most product links on this site go to Amazon.com through the Amazon Associates program, using the tag cleanairhome-20. We earn a small percentage when you buy through these links. Amazon does not pay us more to recommend one product over another.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Rakuten Advertising (active)
We are approved with a small number of filter and water-treatment merchants through Rakuten Advertising. Where one of those links appears, it is tracked and it pays us.
Manufacturer links (not paid)
Links to manufacturer sites such as Airthings, AirGradient, Blueair, Coway, Levoit, Midea, Frigidaire and IQAir are plain links. We are notin an affiliate programme with any of them and we earn nothing when you use them. They are here because a manufacturer's own page is the best place to check a current specification.
Contractor and quote services (not paid)
Links to home-service marketplaces are ordinary links. We have no referral agreement with any of them and receive nothing if you request a quote. If that changes we will say so here and label the links.
Corrected in September 2026: this page previously described direct affiliate partnerships with Airthings and AirGradient, including specific commission rates and cookie windows. Those partnerships do not exist, and no Airthings or AirGradient link on this site has ever carried tracking. The claim was wrong and has been removed.
How We Research Products
We do not physically test products. We do not own the units, we do not run them in a chamber, and we do not take our own PM2.5 measurements. This site is desk research: manufacturer documentation, AHAM-certified CADR data, published standards, government guidance, and owner reports. If you want first-party lab measurements, Consumer Reports and Wirecutter buy and test units, and we will point you to them.
Earlier versions of this site used words like "tested," "lab-tested" and "measured with a lab-grade meter." That language implied testing we have never done and was removed in September 2026.
What we actually do, for every product:
- Read the specification from the manufacturer. Every number we publish is taken from the manufacturer's own current product page or documentation, and we record the URL and the date we read it.
- Check the CADR against AHAM. CADR is certified by AHAM, an independent industry body. Where a brand does not participate (IQAir and Austin Air both publish their own figures instead), we say so rather than presenting their number as certified.
- Check whether it is still made. A discontinued model cannot be a primary recommendation here. We check production status at the manufacturer, not at a retailer with old stock.
- Calculate ownership cost, never estimate it. Annual filter cost is computed from the manufacturer's filter price and their stated replacement interval. We do not type in a round number.
- Read what owners report. User reviews surface reliability and noise complaints that specifications never show. These are treated as reports, not measurements.
- Publish the drawbacks. Every product gets real cons. If a recommendation has a weakness, it is on the page.
Specifications drift. Manufacturers revise models without renaming them, and a figure that was right last year can be wrong today. That is why each spec carries the date it was checked, and why we would rather show no number than a stale one.
What We Do Not Do
- No sponsored content. Nobody pays to be listed on this site. If a product is here, it earned its spot through specs and data.
- No free product reviews. We do not accept free purifiers or monitors in exchange for coverage. This keeps our evaluations independent.
- No display ads. We earn revenue through affiliate links only. No pop-ups, no banner ads, no autoplay video ads.
- No commission-driven rankings. Amazon pays 1-4% on all products equally. Airthings pays 25%. If we ranked by commission, Airthings would be #1 on every page. It is not, because we rank by data.
FTC Compliance
In accordance with FTC guidelines, we disclose our affiliate relationships throughout the site. You will find affiliate disclosure notices:
- Above the first set of product recommendations on every commercial page
- Inside every Editor's Pick box, next to the buy button
- In the site footer, on every page
- On this page in full detail, including which links do not pay us
When you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, the retailer pays us a commission. The price you pay is the same whether you use our link or go directly to the retailer. Affiliate links do not increase the product price.
Contact
Questions about our reviews, methodology, or affiliate relationships? We read every message.
Email: hello@cleanairhomelab.com