The best air purifiers for bushfire smoke

Bushfire smoke is mostly fine particles, and a HEPA purifier is one of the few things you can buy that takes them out of a room’s air. It only works inside the limits the health agencies set out, so this guide starts with their advice and then sizes purifiers to it. Prices are from Bunnings, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Appliances Online on 18 October 2026; for the models also on Amazon Australia, check the current price on Amazon. We compared maker specifications and retailer listings; we have not tested these purifiers in smoke.

What the health agencies say

NSW Health’s page on protecting yourself from bushfire smoke puts staying indoors and keeping indoor air clean first: close windows and doors, switch the air conditioner to recirculate, do not use evaporative coolers because they bring outdoor air in, and avoid indoor sources such as candles and incense. It suggests considering an air purifier with a HEPA filter, and says that to work well it “must be used in small, well-sealed areas”. It also says humidifiers, negative ion generators and odour absorbers do not remove the fine particles in bushfire smoke.

EPA Victoria’s fact sheet on smoke and portable indoor air cleaners adds the practical detail:

• Use a purifier with a True HEPA filter, and take the filter out of its plastic bag before use.
• Purifiers work better in rooms smaller than the maker’s maximum room size; high ceilings need a bigger unit, and a big room may need two.
• Run it in a well-sealed room with doors and windows closed, seal gaps under doors and around windows, and keep people going in and out to a minimum.
• Run it continuously on a high fan speed, away from furniture that blocks the airflow.

EPA Victoria is also candid that while overseas studies have found these devices useful, there is no evidence yet on how well they work in Australian homes. If you are in a group the agencies call more sensitive to smoke, follow your doctor’s advice; a purifier is one step, not a treatment.

Size it for one sealed room

Pick the room you will actually shelter in, usually a bedroom or a closed living area, not the whole house. Then size on air changes per hour: CADR divided by room volume. We use five changes an hour on high as a working target. That is our rule of thumb, not an agency figure, chosen because the agencies stress a small room and a high fan speed, and five changes gives headroom for the gaps every house has.

For a 2.7 m ceiling, add about an eighth to the CADR needed. If your room is bigger than the last row, EPA Victoria’s advice is a second purifier rather than a bigger claim on a box.

The picks

The Philips 3200 is our smoke-season pick because it pairs a high CADR (520 m³/h, tested to GB/T 18801-2022, per Philips) with a low power draw: 36 W at full speed, or about 0.86 kWh a day running flat out around the clock. That matters when the advice is to run it on high for days. It was $399 at JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys. The catch is the filter: two filters at $159, rated for up to a year in normal use, and Philips’ filter page carries owner complaints about stock. Buy a spare set before December.

The Click CADR 400 is the budget answer for a bedroom: 400 m³/h with a HEPA 13 filter for $159 at Bunnings, 45 W at most. Bunnings lists no noise figure or replacement filter, so check the shelf for filters before you rely on it.

The Levoit Core 400S (433 m³/h, $399 at Bunnings and JB Hi-Fi) shows a live PM2.5 reading, which is a useful way to see whether your sealed room is actually clearing. Its genuine filter is $79 at JB Hi-Fi.

For bigger rooms, the Philips 4200 reaches 600 m³/h with PM2.5 and gas sensors and a double carbon layer ($518 at Appliances Online, $649 at JB Hi-Fi), and the Levoit Core 600S reaches 697 m³/h for $599, enough to give a 50 m² open-plan room five changes an hour. The Philips 2200 (420 m³/h) is the best buy if you want one purifier that earns its keep all year, with a filter rated for up to three years in normal use.

Filters in smoke season

Filter life figures assume ordinary household air. Philips says its filter lifetime depends on air quality and usage, and a week of heavy smoke is not ordinary. Two practical steps: buy the replacement filter before the season (JB Hi-Fi listed the Philips 2200 filter at $109, the 3200 pair at $159, the 4200 pair at $179 and the Levoit 400S filter at $79), and check the filter indicator after each smoke event rather than waiting for the yearly reminder. The carbon layer deals with smoke smell and fills up faster than the HEPA layer.

What not to buy for smoke

NSW Health names three things that do not remove fine smoke particles: humidifiers, negative ion generators and odour absorbers. Add evaporative coolers, which it says bring outdoor air inside. Also skip “air purifier fans” and fragrance units sold without a CADR or a HEPA filter. If you also need cooling in a closed-up room, the portable air conditioner guide covers refrigerated units; NSW Health’s advice is to recirculate indoor air, not to bring outside air in.

The main air purifier guide covers everyday use, and the home page lists every guide.

The one trap

Running the purifier on auto or sleep mode. Auto mode lowers the fan as soon as its sensor sees improvement, and the CADR on the box is only reached at top speed. EPA Victoria’s advice is continuous high speed in a closed room. If high is too loud to sleep with, buy more CADR than you need so a middle speed still reaches five changes an hour.