A Guide to Air Purifiers HEPA Grading
Standard HEPA vs HEPA H13: what's the actual difference?
The grade buried on the spec sheet decides which allergy triggers your purifier catches and which it lets through.
HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air. It's a filtration standard, not a brand and not all HEPA filters are the same grade.
Standard HEPA: the kind in most $60–$120 purifiers. It captures 99.97% of particles at 0.3 microns. For visible dust and coarse pollen, that's plenty. The trouble is that the particles most likely to trigger allergy symptoms are smaller than that.
HEPA H13 captures 99.97% at 0.3 microns AND 99.95% at 0.1 microns. It's the threshold where dander fragments, dust mite debris, and fine mould spores live. Toggle the comparison below to see what each grade actually catches.
Which particles does each grade actually capture?
| Particle | Size | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Visible dust | 10+ µm | — |
| Coarse pollen | 2–10 µm | — |
| Fine pollen fragments | 0.5–2 µm | — |
| Dog dander fragments | 0.1–0.3 µm | — |
| Dust mite debris | 0.1–0.3 µm | — |
| Mould spores | 0.1–0.3 µm | — |
There's one more difference worth knowing: H13 is individually leak-tested per filter under the European EN 1822-1 standard. Standard HEPA filters are tested by batch. A single defective seal on a batch-tested filter can let a stream of unfiltered air bypass the media entirely — and you'd never know.
If the spec sheet doesn't classify the HEPA grade (a label like "HEPA-type" or "HEPA-grade" without a number), it isn't true H13.
We make a HEPA H13 purifier designed for Canadian homes
True H13 filtration, published CADR at 5 ACH, ozone-free ioniser, replacement filters, sub-30 dB Sleep Mode.