Tested Air is free to read. We plan to pay for it with affiliate links: when a guide links to an air purifier or furnace filter and you buy it, the seller may pay us a commission. You pay the same price.
Today none of our links earn us anything; the purifier links go straight to the maker. If we add affiliate links, we'll mark each one and tag it so search engines know it's sponsored.
What doesn't change because of that:
- We only recommend purifiers with a verified rating. Before we name a purifier, its smoke CADR has to be in the AHAM Verifide directory, which tests units bought at random at an independent lab, and California's Air Resources Board has to certify it as a mechanical cleaner that makes no ozone. Some popular brands that pay well don't pass, so we leave them out. We don't pick by commission.
- The county numbers don't change. They come straight from the EPA and CDC.
- We tell you when you don't need to buy anything. On most days in most counties the air is fine, and a furnace filter upgrade or a DIY box-fan filter is often enough.