Your air purifier's running cost could be ₹2,810 to ₹10,210 a year
The price tag is only the start. We add up a year of electricity and filter costs at ₹8 a unit, with every assumption shown, for a home running a purifier 12 hours a day.
- Nov 9, 2026,
- Updated Nov 9, 2026 6:00 AM IST
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Delhi's AQI read 451 at 8 am on 3 November, according to CPCB data cited by ANI. On such days, many homes start pricing an air purifier. The sticker price is the visible number. Electricity and replacement filters come later, and they carry on for as long as the machine runs. Here is what one year can add up to.
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Digit's April 2026 list of purifiers between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000 includes the Cuckoo Respure Copper at ₹15,990, Coway Airmega 150 at ₹15,998, Philips AC2220 at ₹18,999, Honeywell Air Touch P2 at ₹19,400 and Qubo Q1000 at ₹19,900. Prices move, so these are a guide and not today's checkout price.
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Eureka Forbes, which sells purifiers, assumes ₹8 a unit in its running-cost guide. Using that rate, a 35W purifier running 12 hours a day uses 12.6 units a month. That comes to about ₹101 a month, or ₹1,210 a year. A 100W machine on the same schedule would cost about ₹288 a month.
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The same guide gives slab rates of ₹3 to ₹8 a unit for Delhi and ₹4.43 to ₹14.33 for Mumbai. At those extremes, our 35W example costs anywhere from about ₹38 to ₹181 a month. Your slab depends on your total household use, so check your own bill before relying on the lowest figure.
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Eureka Forbes puts HEPA filter life at 6 to 12 months and activated carbon at 3 to 6 months, and says the two generally cost ₹1,600 to ₹9,000. It does not say whether that is per filter or per set. Brands claim longer: 9,000 hours for the Honeywell P2 and 15,000 for the Qubo R700, or about two and 3.4 years at 12 hours a day.
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Take the ₹1,210 electricity bill and assume one filter change a year. Running costs then come to ₹2,810 at the low end and ₹10,210 at the high end. Add a ₹15,990 machine and the first-year total is about ₹18,800 to ₹26,200. These are illustrations. Heavy use in a polluted city can shorten filter life.
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Match the machine to the room: Digit notes most of its picks suit rooms under 400 sq ft, and larger spaces need the highest CADR the budget allows. Look up the replacement filter's price and availability for that exact model. Check noise too. Rajiv Kenue of Havells India told Outlook Money that fan noise at top speed should be around 35 decibels.